Dr. Carl J. Johnson; Weapons Plant Critic

Dr. Carl J. Johnson, an early and outspoken critic of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant, has died of complications from heart surgery. He was 59.

Johnson died Thursday at the Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, said his son, Frederick.

Johnson was forced to resign as Jefferson County health director in May, 1981, after his publication of studies showing a higher incidence of cancer in areas of Jefferson and Denver counties close to the Rocky Flats plant 16 miles northwest of Denver.

Johnson sued numerous county officials over the firing. He received a $150,000 settlement in January, 1985.

Recent Acknowledgement

Johnson’s supporters said the government is now starting to acknowledge points that he had been making for years.

For example, the Department of Energy recently compiled a modernization report that calls for improvements in the nation’s nuclear weapons facilities through the year 2010.

According to a summary of the $250-billion Energy Department plan, Rocky Flats’ recycling buildings would be upgraded between 1990 and 1997 to continue operating safely as the plant is gradually shut down and relocated.

Johnson, a Sims, Ind., native, received his medical degree in 1965 from Ohio State University College of Medicine. He also held a master’s degree in public health from the UC School of Public Health at Berkeley.

He became Jefferson County health director in 1973.

Served in South Dakota

After his resignation, he spent five years as a medical officer with the South Dakota Health Department in Pierre, S.D. He recently returned to Denver.

As the controversy surrounding Rocky Flats built over the last four months, Johnson appeared and spoke at several public forums.

He also served as a colonel in the Medical Corps of the U.S. Army Reserve from 1970 until his death.

He is survived by his wife, Kathryn, and three sons.