Bechtel opposes Yucca lawsuits

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006 | 8:18 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Yucca Mountain workers who claim that exposure to toxic materials made them sick are not eligible for a class action lawsuit, Yucca contractor Bechtel National Inc. argued in court documents this week.

The workers' lawyer plans to continue pressing for class action status.

Nine workers are named in a 2004 lawsuit seeking unspecified damages from Bechtel and five other contractors working on the proposed nuclear waste repository. The lawsuit alleges that as many as 1,200 to 1,500 employees who worked in an exploratory research tunnel have been exposed to toxic substances, including silica dust. Exposure can reduce lung capacity and can even be fatal.

Bechtel lawyers said the cases should not be lumped together as a class action because they involve "individual questions of exposure, injury, medical causation and damages."

"Liability to individual employees present at different times, doing different jobs, in different locations in the seven miles of tunnel, alcoves and niches cannot be determined on a classwide basis," the company said.

The workers will challenge the Bechtel assertions, their lawyer, Joseph Egan, said. He plans to argue that the court has considered far more complex cases as class actions, including asbestos lawsuits. "We think this is an easy call for class certification," Egan said.

Benjamin Grove can be reached at (202) 662-7436 or at grove@ lasvegassun.com.