A federal judge in Salt Lake City has dismissed a lawsuit by 17 Marysvale residents who believe they or their deceased relatives were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation in local uranium mines 30 years ago.

A similar suit by other Marysvale mining families was settled five years ago for $1.2 million, but a new interpretation of Utah law has resulted in a different outcome for the second group of plaintiffs.The case dismissed this week as well as the earlier case involved claims against Foote Mineral Co. and Vanadium Corp. Vanadium operated the Marysvale mines from 1949 to 1968, but Foote acquired the company in 1967.

In both cases, the miners and their families claimed that the company and the government - for whom the company mined the uranium - were aware of the health risks but withheld that information from the miners.

Also in both cases, Foote's lawyers argued that the mining families' only remedy was through the state's workmen's compensation program.

Before 1989, a person could seek a claim outside of the program if he or she could demonstrate that the injury was intentionally caused. Based on earlier court interpretations, the miners claimed that the company must have intended to harm them because it had a "substantial certainty" that they were being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.

However, last year, in a case known as Lantz vs. National Semiconductor, the Utah Court of Appeals applied a new standard to the definition of "intentional," requiring a finding of "conscious and deliberate intent to injure."

In dismissing the latest lawsuit, U.S. District Chief Judge Bruce S. Jenkins said he carefully reviewed the Lantz case and also whether the federal court had an obligation to follow the decision of an intermediate state court. He noted that the Utah Supreme Court has yet to define "intentional."

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Jenkins said the mining families must now review their evidence and determine if they can in good faith allege a conscious deliberate intent, the judge said, giving them them 20 days to decide.

Meanwhile, all of the Marysvale mining families and southern Utah families who were exposed to fallout from atomic testing in Nevada are waiting for Congress to complete its work on a $100 million radiation compensation bill.

The Senate passed the bill earlier this month, but it must go back to the House for approval before it reaches President Bush's desk. Under provisions of the bill, fallout victims are eligible for $50,000; uranium mine victims could get $100,000. Attorneys who file claims for compensation would receive a percentage of the payments.

Rep. Wayne Owens, D-Utah, one of the bill's sponsors, was the lawyer for the Marysvale mining families before his election to Congress. The case was later taken over by Kenley Brunsdale, but he, too, dropped it after accepting a job on Owens' staff. The families are currently represented by New Mexico attorney Stewart L. Udall, who was Owens' partner.

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