Wersgai. island away from the lagoon. A routine radiological survey of Bikini Island conducted in June 1975 yielded ominous results. It revealed that the island's interior was too radioactive for.housing and that some wells there were contaminated with radioactive plutonium. Furthermore. it showed that while coconuts were safe. breadfruit and pandanus. two staples of the Bikinian diet. contained unacceptably high levels of radiation. The survey report concluded that if the Bikini re- settlement program proceeded as planned, the people would receive external gamma radia- tion in excess of federally prescribed limits. The Bikinians. frustrated and confused by the contradictory information they were rc- ceiving, brought suit in federal court in Oc- tober 1975 to force the United States to stop the resettlement program until it conducted well water on Bikini Island exceeded accept- able U.S. standards. Coconuts, formerly thoughtsafe. turned out tocontain high levels of radiation, and the islanders were told that they could eat only one a day. Medical examinations revealed that the people living on Bikini had absorbed doses of cancer-causing radioactive elements—such as strontium. plutonium, and cesium—in excess of those con- sidered safe by U.S. experts. In early 1978 U.S. sctentists concluded that the Bikinians’ alarmingly high levels of internal radiation were caused by their consumption of locally grown foods planted as parc of the Bikini rehabilitation project: U.S. officials immediately informed the 139 people living on Bikini Island that they could no longer eat locally grown food but were tosubsist solely on food and water brought in from the much-discussed comprehensive radiolog- the ourside. Bikinians openly conceded their ignorance as had been initiated in the mid-1970s to pro- ical survey of the atoll. In the complaint the to the atoll’s safety, ignorance which, it now turns out. was shared by the U.S. govern- ment. The Bikinians stated: ‘‘For us to make an intelligent decision to resettle Bikini Atoll, we must be able to weigh our desire to return against the radiological risks of returning. We have not been provided with that informa- tion... .”" Settlement discussions quickly followed the filing of the lawsuit, and the United Srates readily agreed to conduct the survey. Never- theless. governmental infighting continued over which agency would pay for the survey, and how much it would cost. The Defense Department. asked in 1976 to estimate the cost of a radiological survey of the entire northern Marshall Islands, put the figure at $2.58 million. The House Interior Appro- The outside food supporr system. which vide supplements co local food grown on Bikini, was a complete failure. Although the trust territory government scheduled monthly trips to take food to Bikini Island, it did not have enough ships to provide regular service. Ships did not call on Bikini for two or three monthsat a time, so the people on theisland, having exhausted their supply of imported food. had no choice but to eat the contaminated food they grew themselves. By March 1978 Interior concluded that Bikini Island would have to be declared off limits for long- term habiration for at least 50 years. and it began to plan moving the people living on Bikini Island five miles south to Eneu. : One month later a medical team arrived on Bikini ro test the islanders again. Ironically. the Bikinians. who still did nor understand $2.6 million for the survey in 1977, but Defense took no action, saying it needed more money. This squabble over paying for the survey lasted three years. During this time the fears of the Bikinians were borne out; tests in 1977 showed that the level of strontium 90 in the the risks to which they were being exposed, offered coconuts—the most radioactive crop on the island—to the arriving scientists as a sign of friendship. Examinations showed what was described as an “incredible” oneyear, 75 per cent increase in body burdens of radioactive cesium 137. U.S. scientists stated that the people living on Bikini may have 88. 89. Priations Subcommittee promptly budgeted