Court Refuses To Order Tests For Downwinders

A federal appeals court refused Thursday to consider ordering health tests for people exposed to radiation from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Saying courts cannot interfere in a federal cleanup process, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s decision.

The judge had ruled that a federal agency - which completed a preliminary health assessment of Hanford in 1989 but has not ordered testing of residents - was part of the ongoing cleanup process that is immune from court review. The 3-0 appeals court ruling agreed with the reasoning.

A group called the Hanford Downwinders Coalition sued in 1993, seeking to require individual health testing of residents exposed to radiation. U.S. District Judge Alan McDonald dismissed the suit and was upheld by the appeals court.