RESETTLEMENT OF PEOPLE
1975 continued
wetak, but has retused to employ it at
Kwajalein: Mid-Corridor landowners and
the U.S. gign the first five year exten-
Bikini.
sion of the 1970 agreement for use of
Kwajalein: The Trust Territory begins
"Operation Exodus," an attempt to get
unemployed people =o leave overcrowded
Ebeye and return to their nome islands.
About 300 people leave voluntarily.
More people, however, continue to migrate to Ebeye; others refuse to leave.
Operation Exodus tails to reduce the
population.
Kwajalein: Of the ~,049 people on Ebeye,
only 53% (3,717 are from Kwajalein
Atoll, while 3,067 are fram other atolls
the Marshalls,
157
from other parts
Gr
2t Micronesia, 27 sare fren Kiribari and
Tuvaiu and *1 from tine 2.
Kwajalein: A severe outbreak of flu fo =j—
~owed by many cases cf spinal meningi-z 4- s
on Ebeve leaves 12 ¢ead end two chilér en
with permanent brain <amace.
and Majuro chaired by Rep.
about job and pay discrimination on Kwajalein, Ebeye residents' limited access
Bikinians' law suit. Three years of
bureaucratic infighting follow among the
Interior and Ener-
zy (formerly AEC) over the costs and
which agency will take responsibility
rate of sickness on Ebeye. Addition-
ally, foul odors and visible pollu-
tion are part of the normal envi-
812
ronment in which people must live
and work and the children must
play."
"Ebeye Redevelopment” Study,
Trust Territory Government,
April 1978.
1976 Kwajalein: The more than 1,000 Marclerks, equipment cperators, taxi drivetc.,
missile range functioning.
to keep
the massive cleanup, scheduled to take’
three years.
1977 MARCH Enewetak: About 50 of the
MAY Enewetak: The cleanup operation at
Enewetak begins.
About 700 Army men
and civilians arrive for the first
phase. The cleanup must remove an estimated 125,000 cubic yards of nor-contaminated debris, to be dumped in the
ocean, and about 100,000 cubic yards
of soil and debris contaminated with
plutonium and other radionuclides, to
be put in a bomb crater on Runit Island
and sealed with a cement cap.
shallese work on Kwajalein primarily at
service and maintenance jobe: office
cooks,
funding for the Enewetak cleanup, to be
coordinated by the Defense Nuclear
Agency.
Congress authorizes $20 million and military logistic support for
1947, returned to Japtan Island in
southern Enewetak Atoll to help in the
rehabilitation program.
"As with the shortage of water,
the lack of proper sanitary facilities is a major cause of the high
gardeners,
Enewetak: The U.S.Congress approves
Enewetak people who have lived on Ujelang in a U.S.-imposed exile since
for the survev.
ers,
to the excellent Kwajalein hospital and
the social problems from overcrowding on
Ebeve, Rep. Mink calls the situation on
Ebeye "a patent violation of basic human
rights,'' and demands strong corrective
action on the parts of the Defense and
Interior Departments.
No action follows.
northern Marshalls as a result of the
wey»
Patsy Mink.
After hearing Marshallese testimony
duct an aerial radieticn survey of the
CFT
cx
;
JULY Kwajalein: U.S.House of Represenratives subcommittee on Territorial and
Insular Affairs holds hearings on Ebeye
DECEMBER Bikini: The &.S. agrees to con-
departments of State,
The new agreement calls
for payment by the U.S. of $704,000 a
year ($352 per capita based on 2,000
eligible).
the
es
Bikini: The level of radicactive stron~
tium 90 in well water on Bikini Island
is found to exceed the U.S. maximum
limites.
(continued on page 29)
a ee ee eee
zn
their islands,