I’m trying to reduce a file cabinet of old documents to a box or two, a bunch of scans, and a couple of bags of trash. It isn’t easy. I keep finding notes that remind me of “the story behind the story” told in published articles.

Back in the late 1970s, while I was on the staff of the American Friends Service Committee, my research in government documents turned up footnotes citing three apparently unclassified reports on previous accidents involving the U.S. Navy’s nuclear weapons arsenal. So at the beginning of 1979, I filed a freedom of information request for copies of the reports. It was turned down immediately, and I filed an administrative appeal, which was also rejected.

On July 3, 1980, a federal lawsuit was filed against the Navy to force release of the unclassified portions of the reports, with myself and the AFSC as plaintiffs. I did much of the document research, and a friend handled the legal work.

It took five frustrating years for the case to finally be resolved. The Navy grudgingly disclosed 125 pages of material from the reports, including a breakdown of the number of accidents, along with the level of seriousness, during the period from 1965-1977.

The New York Times ran a story triggered by a press release which I wrote and was distributed out of AFSC’s national office, as did dozens of other newspapers across the country.

The NY Times reported:

The Navy made public the numbers on nuclear accidents and incidents in response to queries based on a press release issued by the American Friends Service Committee, which is engaged in a lawsuit against the Navy in Hawaii in an effort to get information on nuclear accidents.

In the course of the suit in Federal District Court, the committee obtained Navy reports on nuclear accidents and incidents from 1965 through 1977. A query to the Navy produced the more recent figures.

In a statement, Ian Lind, director of the Quaker organization’s office in Honolulu, said, ”The documents reveal that the Navy’s nuclear accident record is far more extensive than the public had previously been led to believe and is of immediate concern, especially to those living near nuclear installations.”

There was one error in the story. At that time, I was the “former” director of AFSC’s Hawaii office.

What I didn’t recall is that the Navy was ordered to pay $15,682.50 in legal fees. A federal judge found that we had “substantially prevailed,” that the information disclosed was of significant public interest.

In a ruling on the issue of awarding legal fees, the court noted:

Although only 125 of 855 pages were released the information obtained was significant. The specific weapons and specific causes of the accidents were redacted. However, the frequency of accidents the general type of accident, and the overall cause (human error, mechanical failure, act of God) were released in summary form. There was extensive news media coverage of the information released. More than 60 newspapers across the country carried the story. Congressman Ted Weiss sent plaintiffs a personal letter expressing appreciation for the “invaluable contribution” the information made by informing both Congress and the public.

Here are a few historical tidbits.

“NAVY CITES 2 ACCIDENTS WITH NUCLEAR ARMS“, NY Times, January 16, 1986. I think the link will only work if you have a NY Times subscription.

According to the byline, it was a “special to the New York Times” by Richard Halloran. I hadn’t remembered that Halloran had written this piece for the Times. Fifteen years later, we crossed paths again, media-wise. Check the entries for March 26 and 27, 2001, which can be found here.

Federal Court opinion regarding legal fees, January 20, 1987.

“Order granting in part and denying in part motion for final disposition,” June 11, 1986