Lawsuit Blames Worker’s Death on Nuclear Plant

The survivors of a San Onofre nuclear plant engineer who died of a rare kind of cancer sued the operators of the plant Tuesday, alleging that his cancer was the result of radiation leaks at the plant.

The suit, asking for unspecified damages, was filed on behalf of the widow and two children of San Onofre engineer Gregory McLandrich, who died in 1991 at the age of 42 from cancer of the abdomen. It is the third such cancer suit against Southern California Edison, operator and majority owner of the nuclear plant on the coast north of Oceanside.

The first suit resulted in an out-of-court settlement in favor of a former inspector with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The second, filed by a worker whose firm built the nuclear plant, is pending.

McLandrich worked for Edison at San Onofre in the mid-1980s when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission cited Edison for allowing radioactive particles called “fuel fleas” to be tracked into supposedly sterile areas of the plant.

Richard Rosenblum, Edison vice president, said that the company is convinced that nothing at San Onofre is responsible for McLandrich’s death and that it will vigorously oppose the suit. All three suits have been filed by Los Angeles attorneys Don Howarth and Suzelle Smith.