4OV7 82
United States Department of the Interior
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
Mr. Bryant S. Zebedy
Clerk of the Marshall Islands Nitijela
Post Office Box 24
Majuro, Marshall Islands
Dear Mr.
JU
N29 978
96960
Zebedy:
I wish to acknowledge on behalf of Secretary Andrus,
receipt of the certified copy of Resolution No.
the Nitijela,
the
15 N.D.-l of
"A Resolution requesting the Government of the
United States of America to immediately conduct a
radiological survey in the Marshall Islands."
I feel constrained to point out that paragraph 4 of this
resolution makes a very broad and sweeping statement, that
as far as I am aware of, is not borne out by recent
radiological data.
This is the statement, "Whereas, recent
radiological data, accumulated by the United States
Government
indicates an extraordinarily high incidence of
apparently radiological induced physical disorders among
Marshallese residents, outside what was originally thought
to be the range of contamination caused by the nuclear
explosions at Bikini and Enewetak; particularly, on Likiep
Atoll and Wotje Atoll”.
Recently, when the Marshall Islands Political Status
Delegation was here in Washington, it raised this question
with respect to Likiep Atoll but the question rested not on
"recent radiological data accumulated by the United States",
but rather on data collected by a Marshall Islands Likiep
Survey team and presented to the Department of Energy and to
Our Department by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the
Marshall Islands Government, Mr. Anton DeBrum, at a meeting
here on May 16, 1979.
This Department and the Department of Energy assured
Mc. DeBrum that priority attention would be given to the
reduest that a medical survey be conducted of the people of
Likiep Atoll.
We will
discuss
the other
aspects of
the
resolution,
il.e.,
the portions requesting a radiological survey of the
Northern Marshalls, with the Department of Fnergy.
It
appears to me that most, if not all, o€ this request may
have been met by the recent radiological survey conducted on
| cc:
}Dr. Walter Weyzen, DOE, with copy of
enclosure.
ane
wt
REMSTE ERO DPBOYpacn a
abo