Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced that a panel of judges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously ruled that Washington has a right to create laws giving workers at Hanford Nuclear Reservation easier access to the benefits they deserve if they become ill because of their work at Hanford.

Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued the following statement regarding reports of potential tank vapor exposures today near the Hanford Tank Farm. He filed a lawsuit in September 2015 regarding worker safety issues at Hanford.

OLYMPIA — Finding that, “given the preventative measures available and now mandated by the agreement of the parties, there is little to no chance of an imminent and substantial endangerment,” U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington Judge Thomas Rice today declined to require safety measures by court order in advance of trial. The federal government implemented those safety measures only after Attorney General Ferguson Bob Ferguson filed a motion for preliminary injunction with the court in July.