A federal judge had been asked to reschedule the trial in the Hanford Site chemical vapors lawsuit to Feb. 5, 2019, a delay of more than two months.
If U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice agrees, this would be his ninth rescheduling order in the case, with most of the delays intended to give the plaintiffs and defendants more time for settlement negotiations. Significant progress has been made in talks on improving chemical vapor safety measures, the parties stated in a motion filed on Monday in U.S. District Court for Eastern Washington.
The lawsuit dates to September 2015. In December, Rice agreed to delay the trial from Aug. 29, 2018, to Nov. 26, 2018. In the schedule approved by the judge at the time, plaintiffs were required to disclose their expert witnesses on Wednesday. The parties are asking for a deadline extension to April 9.
Washington state, the watchdog group Hanford Challenge, and the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598 sued the Department of Energy and its tank farm contractor at Hanford, Washington River Protection Solutions, demanding better protection from chemical vapors for workers at the Hanford radioactive waste tank farms.
Rice ruled in November 2016 that current protections, such as required use of supplied air respirators, adequately protect workers until trial. But he also said that “the court does not deny that vapor exposures have occurred or that employees have experienced serious vapor-related illnesses.”
