Uranium suit can move on, judge says

Plaintiffs are seeing
$600 million in damages.

PIKETON, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that neighbors of a former uranium-processing plant suing because of health problems can proceed with their case, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said Saturday.

The suit was first filed against Divested Atomic Corporation in 1990 by residents who lived near the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which once enriched uranium for weapons and nuclear fuel, but closed in 2001.

Plaintiffs can go forward on their claim that the plant contaminated their neighborhood with hazardous products, including carcinogenic materials, from its site, said Stanley Chesley, a Cincinnati lawyer who represents plaintiffs in the case.

Though the suit can claim hazardous materials were left in the neighborhood, U.S District Judge Walter Herbert Rice said there was not enough evidence for residents to claim that any of the contamination was from radioactive material.

A telephone conference call was scheduled for Sept. 4 to set a trial date, Chesley said.

The plaintiffs are seeking $600 million in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as money for medical monitoring and cleanup costs.

Lawyer’s comments

“This case has taken a very, very long time,” Chesley said. “We’re going to treat this as a brand new case. We’re going to get to the bottom of this, to the truth, just like we did with Fernald, which was covered up for years.”

Piketon is about 65 miles south of Columbus. Another plant in Fernald, about 20 miles northwest of Cincinnati, processed uranium metal used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons beginning in 1951. It was the subject of a $78 million settlement between the federal government and local residents in 1989.

The settlement included funding for monitoring and medical testing through 2008 for residents. Fernald workers also sued and reached a $20 million settlement with the government in 1994 that included lifetime medical monitoring.