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southem islands: but no funds have
The Enewetak people have an intense desire to return home, after 33
years on tiny Ujelang Atoll. And on
the basis of this information, the
Enjebi people voted to return to their
island in the north. But the objectivity of the study conducted by Bender
and Brill, whose base is the
government-funded Brookhaven
National Laboratory, has been
questioned. Dr. Rosalie Bertell, a
consultant to the Division of Standard Setting for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said of the
Study:
erm islands. This has caused prob-
the nght to knowthat a value judg-
already moved back to the southern
islands. which the Agency calls
‘relatively
uncontaminated."
Meanwhile. the Department of Energy says the atoll’s northern
islands—where the majority of the
43 nuclear tests occurred—should be
off limits for at least 30 years, since
radiation levels are still high there.
Because of the Department ruling.
millions of dollars have been spent
on building houses and community
facilities
and
on
replanting
thousands of coconut trees in the
been used to rehabilitate the northlems among the Enewetak people as,
‘The population of Enewetak has
ment has been made for them,
traditionally. they are divided into namely that induction of cancer is
two distinct groups: the Dri-Enjebi in their on/y concern. They may, if inthe northern and Dri-Enewetak in formed about hypothyroidism, ap-
the south. Accustomed to their own
chiefs and land, the Dri-Enjebi are
reluctant to live on another chief's
land.
In September 1979, the radiologi-
cal information about Enewetak was
presented by the Departmentof En-
ergy to the people. Michael Bender
and Bertrand Brill, two scientists
hired by Micronesian Legal Services
then testified that their study showed
all the islands to be safe for habitation, including northern Enjebi Island. The chances of adverse effects
were so smail, they had concluded,
that “cancer mortality in the lifetime
of the population is estimated to be
less than a single case.”' They asSerted that the Department of Energy overstated the nsk: ‘"DOE tends
tO exaggerate the problem,”’ said Micronesian Lega! Service Director Ted
Mitchell.¢
lastic anemia, premature aging, benign tumors and other such dis-
orders, make a different judgment.
They ‘reduced’ the radiation dose
of the inhabitants of Enjebi by av-
eraging in the population less ex-
posed. This is like telling one
member of a family his or her nsk of
lung canceris lowered if the other
nonsmoking membersof the family
are included and an ‘average’ msk
given. It is a scientifically ndiculous
approach to public health.
Basing a resettlement decision affecting the lives of 500 people on the
Bender and Brill inadequate health
assessment would be extremely imprudent."’’
:
re
3
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Saleded
‘.
ri
Brookhaven researchers assess U.S.
government data... . The history of
the U.S. testing program was one of
repeated
mistakes
and
miscalculations.” In his view, ‘‘nongovernment radiation experts”
should be included in all such sur-
veys.®
A May 1979 General Accounting
Office report cautioned that ‘‘be-
cause of uncertainty of the long term
effects of exposureto low level radiation. it is possible that the people of
Enewetak could receive doses in excess of current standards.” It also
urged an independent assessment of
Enewetak by ‘experts who have no
direct connections with the nuclear
testing program or the Enewetak
cleanup project ... before resettle-
ment of the people begins.”** This
report was initially withheld from the
Marshall Islands government for
political reasons.
Since deporting an independent
team of Japanese scientists invited
by Marshall Islands leaders to investigate the radiation problems in
1971, the United States has stead-
fastly refused to allow independent
monitoring of the
Marshallese
people and their environment.
President Lyndon Johnson announced in 1968 that Bikint—site of
23 bomb tests—would be returned to
its people. who had been living in
exile since 1946.
In 1969, the Atomic Energy Com-
mission said: **(there is] virtually no
said the problem is ‘‘the inherent
radiation left on Bikini"’ and “the
exposures to radiation of the Brkini
people do not offer a significant
threat to their health and safety.”'°
A small-scale cleanup and re-
having
habilitation program was begun and
December 1980
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 25
Glen Alcalay, a former Peace
Corps Volunteer in the Marshalls.
conflict
of
interest
in