[NukeNet] Suit Filed Today Over Energy Dept Violations of Freedom of Information Law

[Marylia Kelley]

Read on...

for more information, contact:
Loulena Miles, Staff Attorney, Tri-Valley CAREs, (925) 443-7148
Marylia Kelley, Executive director, Tri-Valley CAREs, (925) 443-7148

for immediate release, November 14, 2006
ENERGY DEPT. VIOLATES FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW,
LIVERMORE LAB "WATCHDOG" FILES FEDERAL LAWSUIT

Tri-Valley CAREs Sues on 5 Separate Freedom of Information Act Violations;
Lawsuit has National Implications as Group Asks Court to Rule on Agency
Pattern of Abuse


LIVERMORE -- Today, Tri-Valley CAREs filed a major lawsuit in the federal
district court in San Francisco against the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) for
numerous failures to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the
nation's leading open government statute.

The DOE has failed to provide responsive documents as required by law for
as long as three years on five separate information requests. The DOE's
failure to respond thwarts the community's basic right to know, according
to the group's litigation.

"The DOE has been thumbing its nose at the law," charged Tri-Valley CAREs'
Executive Director, Marylia Kelley. "Moreover, these FOIA requests involve
potentially catastrophic releases of plutonium and biological agents from
Livermore Lab operations," said Kelley, who lives down the street from the
Lab.

The 5 FOIA requests that are the subject of the litigation involve
unclassified information on the feasibility of developing earth-penetrating
nuclear weapons, the environmental  implications of a terrorist attack or
catastrophic accident on Livermore Lab's existing plutonium stockpiles, the
Lab's "10-Year Site Plan," and the Dept. of Homeland Security's bio-warfare
agent research plans at Livermore Lab.

"These documents will provide information about the dangers faced by our
community from spills, accidents, releases and potential terrorism," said
Kelley. "Keeping this hidden does nothing to protect the public," she
continued. "Instead, it renders us unable to press for changes that will
truly safeguard worker and community health and the environment."

"The DOE's illegal conduct frustrates Tri-Valley CAREs' efforts to educate
the public regarding key activities at the Livermore Lab," said Tri-Valley
CAREs' Staff Attorney, Loulena Miles.

Miles continued, "The DOE has exhibited a 'pattern and practice' of not
responding to FOIA requests in the manner prescribed by statute. Routinely,
the DOE has failed to fulfill Tri-Valley CAREs' FOIA requests and those of
other individuals and organizations within the allotted timeframe."

The suit filed today also asks the judge to issue a court order appointing
a Special Counsel to investigate DOE's pattern of failing to comply with
the law. The Special Counsel would then determine whether disciplinary
action is warranted and against whom. "A positive ruling could set a
precedent with national implications," stated noted New Mexico FOIA
attorney, Steve Sugarman, who is assisting Tri-Valley CAREs with the case.

Tri-Valley CAREs was forced to bring similar lawsuits against DOE in 1998
and 2000. Only after filing and pursuing these cases did DOE finally
produce documents as required by law.

"Tri-Valley CAREs should not have to file lawsuits in order to obtain
public information, concluded Staff Attorney Miles. "The FOIA was enacted
specifically so that organizations like ours would have free access to
records that disclose the operations of the government. Fundamentally, this
lawsuit is intended to vindicate the public's right to be informed and to
comment knowledgeably on the country's nuclear and other programs that
impact our lives and our future."

Presently, the DOE stands poised to launch "Complex 2030," the agency's
blueprint for revitalizing U.S. nuclear weapons design and production
capability. The agency's continued refusal to provide needed information
having a direct bearing on future activities at Livermore Lab therefore has
an ongoing deleterious impact on public discourse.  The DOE will be holding
meetings in Livermore and Tracy on December 12, 2006 to receive public
comment on the scope of future activities at Livermore Lab and other sites
in the nuclear weapons complex.

"The government is proposing a major transformation of nuclear programs as
well as housing biological warfare agent facilities at the Livermore Lab's
main site and site 300. The DOE's refusal to release vital, unclassified
information at this time makes it impossible for the public to meaningfully
comment on these plans," noted Miles.

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A FAXED COPY OF THE COMPLAINT FILED TODAY CAN BE OBTAINED IMMEDIATELY
BY CALLING TRI-VALLEY CAREs AT (925) 443-7148.  IT WILL BE AVAILABLE ON OUR
WEBSITE SOON AT www.trivalleycares.org

Marylia Kelley,
Executive Director

Tri-Valley CAREs
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA  94551

Ph: (925) 443-7148
Fx: (925) 443-0177
Web: www.trivalleycares.org
Email: marylia at trivalleycares.org or marylia at earthlink.net