A local nuclear activist said she is relieved a judge ordered a 1990 suit against Divested Atomic Corporation to proceed after all of these years.

?People will hear the truth about what was done to the workers and community,? Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety and Security President Vina Colley said.

Colley said she was an electrician at Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant from 1980 to 1985.

A federal judge last week ruled that neighbors of the plant can sue because of health problems, a lawyer for the plaintiffs said.

A trial date is expected to be set on Sept. 4.

The suit first was filed by residents who lived near the plant, which once enriched uranium for weapons and nuclear fuel, but closed in 2001.

The U.S. Department of Energy owns the plant and currently leases it to the United States Enrichment Corp.

USEC is not involved in the legal proceedings, however.

Plaintiffs can proceed with their claim the plant contaminated their neighborhood with hazardous products, including carcinogenic materials, from its site, said Stanley Chesley, a Cincinnati lawyer who represents plaintiffs in the case.

Though the suit can claim hazardous materials were left in the neighborhood, U.S. District Judge Walter Herbert Rice said there was not enough evidence for residents to claim that any of the contamination was from radioactive material.

The plaintiffs are seeking $600 million in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as money for medical monitoring and cleanup costs.

Colley said because she lives outside of the 10-mile radius of the plant, she is not directly involved in the suit.

But she said the suit would bring to light the health concerns of former workers like herself.

?If you know the community is affected, then the workers are affected too,? she said.

Colley is a fixture at most public meetings regarding the plant and other nuclear issues, and does not hesitate to speak up during the meetings.

Besides her involvement with PRESS, Colley is a member of National Nuclear Workers for Justice.

?This is very emotional,? she said. ?All the things I've said are now coming true. It's scary for my family, the workers and the community.?

Colley said she has refinanced her house three times to support her activism.

?I've put my family through hell with this,? she said.

The diffusion plant was built in 1952, when the federal government selected Goodyear Tire & Rubber Corp. to be the plant's operator. Divested Atomic Corporation became the plant's operator in 1986.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. JEFF BARRON can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236.