Washington AG Takes Hanford Workers’ Comp Law To Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and his team appeared in the Supreme Court Monday to defend state protections for workers at the Hanford nuclear site.

The protections in question were passed by the Washington State Legislature in 2018 with strong bipartisan support, and designed to make it easier for Hanford workers to access medical benefits. The law was updated as recently as this year, when lawmakers passed SB 5890, which clarified and strengthened some of the protections outlined in the law.

The Trump administration challenged the law in December 2018, and though the law was upheld by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where it lay until last September, when the Biden administration took up the charge, appealing the decision once again. Ferguson says he tried to convince the Biden administration to turn course, but to no avail.

Washington Deputy Solicitor General Tera Heintz delivered oral arguments in favor of the law before the Supreme Court Monday.

“I’m proud of my legal team for their efforts today,” Ferguson said. “To be blunt, if the Hanford Nuclear Reservation was located outside Washington, D.C., the federal government would not be continuing this cruel legal challenge. As long as I am Attorney General, my office will defend Hanford workers’ ability to access the benefits they earned.”

Ensuring that Hanford workers can easily access their medical benefits is a high priority for Ferguson, because Hanford's nuclear waste workers are often exposed to toxic vapors which can cause harmful medical conditions, including cancer. Back in 2018, Ferguson won $925,000 from the federal government to improve the safety conditions at the nuclear site.

The Hanford Site is a decommissioned nuclear production complex along the Columbia River in Benton County. It employs about 400 people, crews who have been working to clear the site since 1989.