The U.S. Supreme Court last week invited the Solicitor General to weigh in on the issues in a significant class action, in which the plaintiffs allege plutonium contamination. Merilyn Cook, et al. v. Rockwell International Corporation, et al., No. 10-1377 (U.S.).

The plaintiffs were more than 15,000 property owners near the former Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant in Colorado. In 2006, a jury found against defendants Dow and Rockwell. In 2008, the federal trial court ordered the companies to pay a total of $926 million in damages. The 10th Circuit reversed.