The State - News from Aug. 14, 1985

The government is not required to warn uranium miners of the health risks associated with their occupation, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. A three-judge panel in San Francisco said warning miners of the risk of lung cancer and other diseases associated with radiation exposure from uranium mining is a “discretionary function” and not a duty of the state and federal agencies involved. Eleven Navajo Indian miners were selected from among 200 uranium miners in Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico as a “representative group” to test the issue by suing a dozen federal agencies and research centers.