Washington --Represented by George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley and co-counsel Joan Manley, workers at the secret Air Force base, "Area 51", in Nevada, filed an emergency petition with the federal court of appeals in San Francis co today to halt an investigation by the government to uncover the names of the workers who brought two precedent-setting cases against the government. A similar filing will be made on September 11, 1996 in the second of the two cases filed by these work ers. This rare petition asks the court of appeals to restrain the federal judge in Nevada, Philip Pro, from clearing the way for field interviews of the workers despite two orders protecting their identities in the face of numerous threats from the govern ment.

The latest confrontation is part of a two-year fight over alleged environmental crimes committed at the secret Air Force base near the dry Groom Lake. At least two workers have died and other workers have become ill from a variety of complications, incl uding a rare, painful skin disease linked to the burning of hazardous wastes. The workers prevailed in one of the two actions and forced the government to admit the existence of the base and to comply with federal laws which had been violated over the cou rse of a decade.

Still, the workers are pressing ahead to force the government to reveal the scope of criminal violations that occurred at the facility. For the first time in history, the Justice Department has claimed in this case that executive privilege allows the Pr esident of the United States to withhold evidence of criminal conduct in the name of national security.

The threatened investigation was first made public in August 8, 1996 when James Morgulec of the Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section asked the court to approve field interviews of base workers. While Morgulec did not serve all of the parties and attempted to seal the filing, a series of legal errors derailed the attempt to move swiftly into the field. Most importantly, Morgulec failed to properly seal the secret filing, resulting in copies being distributed to the media by the clerk's office. Morgulec then attempted to re-seal the material but again violated the sealing rules an d the material appeared verbatim in the media and on the Internet. In addition, Morgulec's filing contained numerous other violations of procedure which have led to a demand that the papers be stricken on this basis alone.

"If an associate at a law firm had attempted to file these papers, he would have been barred by the clerk, sanctioned by the court, and fired by his firm," observed lead counsel, GW Professor Jonathan Turley. "If these workers are to face such dangers, t hey deserve a full hearing and a motion that demonstrates a modicum of legal attention and care." The court, however, is still considering the merits of the Morgulec filings despite charges that the investigation is a thinly veiled effort of retaliation.

The Area 51 workers requested a criminal investigation two years ago and complained bitterly that the Section was intentionally waiting to allow the statute of limitations to run on crimes committed by individual government employees. Suddenly, the Sec tion announced that it would go into the field and interview workers who had prevailed against the government in one of the two actions. Refusing to guarantee the workers that they would not be prosecuted for past disclsoures to counsel about the violati ons, the government has stated that these workers committed crimes by simply retaining counsel to file these actions.

In negotiations over this question, Morgulec specifically retained the right of the government to prosecute workers on this basis. However, federal law requires workers to reveal such representation in interviews of this kind, creating a classic "Catch- 22" situation for the workers. At the same time, the government moved to seize the contents of Turley's office after declaring his files to be "classified." The contents of his office remain under court seal.

The 400-plus page petition and excerpted record alleges that the district court has failed to apply federal rules to the government in the past and has ignored egregious conduct by government counsel in the use of court seals and classification arguments. Given this record, the workers are now fearful that the court will allow the government to retaliate against them. They have asked the court of appeals to order Judge Pro to a llow them to challenge the intervention of the Section and supply evidence (including sworn statements) that the government has already attempted to learn the identities of these workers despite the two prior court orders.

"We will do whatever is necessary to protect these workers and hold the government accountable for these crimes," promises Turley. "While these latest threats are serious, these workers and their families are intent on holding the government responsible for the deaths of their colleagues and the crimes committed at Area 51."