They made the mess, you pay for it.

The huge verdict against two former Rocky Flats contractors will be paid by U.S. taxpayers, not the corporations that jurors said harmed property owners near the now-demolished nuclear bomb factory south of Boulder. A World War II-era law that Congress again extended last year shields nuclear contractors from liability. The U.S. District Court case in Denver against Dow Chemical and Rockwell International should rekindle debate about the law and why government supervision of nuclear sites was so sloppy.
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Without doubt, the government should have been more diligent at Rocky Flats and far more candid about problems as they happened. When the bomb factory opened in 1953, few environmental laws were on the books, but common sense should have prevailed at the then-Atomic Energy Commission. By the 1970s, the new Department of Energy should have ensured that contractors followed the spirit of laws passed in that period.

until manufacturing ceased in 1989, Uncle Sam's oversight of contractors was dubious. Rocky Flats had serious fires in 1957 and 1969. Barrels of nuclear wastes were kept on an outdoor asphalt lot, letting radioactive dust get raked by the area's incessant winds. The plumes polluted private properties not only adjacent to the facility but also downwind, according to claims made by 12,000 property owners in the class-action lawsuit.
It took a decade for Rocky Flats to be cleaned up, but the lawsuit took 16 years. The trial started last October, and the jury got the case in January. Tuesday's $554 million award will be cut to no more than $342 million as federal law caps punitive damages. The verdict or award may be reversed on appeal, but Uncle Sam will pay the legal bills, $58 million and rising. Two years ago, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall asked the government to settle the case because he worried about the costs. But as they weren't really on the hook, contractors may have lacked incentive to resolve the matter.
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The dearth of accountability sounds familiar. In 1989, the FBI raided Rocky Flats for violating environmental laws. While Rockwell eventually pleaded guilty to 10 criminal charges and paid an $18.5 million fine, no employee was held culpable.

http://www.denverpost.com/editorials/ci_3513198