Justices Rebuff Chemical Firms, Unseal Agent Orange Papers

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, over protests by seven chemical companies, refused today to withhold from public disclosure voluminous chemical company documents about Agent Orange, a herbicide suspected of causing cancer among Vietnam veterans.

The court, without comment, let stand an order unsealing the documents from a lawsuit that led to a $180-million settlement for alleged victims of Agent Orange.

The case was settled before U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein in New York City in 1984 when seven chemical companies agreed to set up a $180-million fund for the veterans and their families. More than 120,000 people eventually may claim benefits.

Weinstein then ordered the voluminous documents unsealed unless the firms could show a need to keep particular papers secret. The companies had argued that trade secrets might be disclosed, hurting them financially.

That order was upheld by the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals last June.

The Vietnam Veterans of America said it will assemble a team of experts to begin going through the documents as they are made available over the next 60 days.

Mike Leaveck, spokesman for the organization, said it is looking for any evidence that the Defense Department and the chemical companies had early knowledge of potentially harmful effects on humans of the herbicide.