Ataj1 Balos of the Congress or Micronesia O© tne
of the Pacific Islands,
Congressman Balos'!
1rust Lerritory
statements concern primarily three points:
1) that the United States "knowingly and consciously" allowed the
people of Rongelap and Utirik to be exposed to fallout from the 1954
weapons test detonation; 2) that the Rongelapese have been inadequately
compensated monetarily; and 3) that the medical care they have received
subsequent to their exposure has been of questionable quality.
The assertion that the people were deliberately allowed to be exposed
to fallout is categorically unacceptable,
The site for the detonation
and the conditions under which the detonation was to take place were
selected with extreme care so as to prevent any adverse consequences,
not only to the personnel involved in the tests but to the inhabitants
of any distant islands surrounding the test area,
Unfortunately,
there
was an unpredictable and unexpected shift in winds which carried the
ensuing fallout into areas inhabited not only by Marshallese, but by
personnel engaged in the test activity.
This was not foreseen and in
no way can it be considered deliberate,
The matter of compensation for the exposed islanders was considered by
the 88th Congress of the United States and a bill was passed to provide
for the settlement of claims of certain residents of the Trust Territory
of the Pacific Islands, This act, Public Law 88-485, authorized payment
of $950,000 (less legal fees) by the Secretary of the Interior to the
82 exposed inhabitants of Rongelap or to their survivors,
his heirs, received approximately $11,000,
Each, or
Mr, Balos has stated that
the 23 Japancse fishermen also exposed to fallout from the same incident
received $2 million dollars,
This statement, however, is misleading.
The Japanese Government did receive $2 million dollars,
and by agree-
ment, it was left to the discretion of the Government of Japan as
to how the money was to be apportioned among the various claimants
+ filed by OE
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