RESETTLEMENT OF PEOPLE
1974 JUNE Kwajalein: The total Ameri-
is extremely likely to have tragic consequences, particularly for the younger
members of the inhabitants..."
can population in Kwajalein Atoll is
4,114, including dependents, of which
only 36 are military.
3,737 Americans
live on 900 acre Kwajalein Island,
with the remainder on Roi Namur (292)
and four other islands. American ci-
1975 APRIL Enewecak: Iroij (chief) Jo-
anej Peter of Enewetak, appeals to a U.
S. Senate Armed Services subcommittee
vilfans work on Kwajalein as techniclans involved in the missile testing,
medical corpspeople, security guards,
mechanics, electricians, bartenders,
cooks and other jobs needed for the
to provide funding for the cleanup project, so the people can return hone.
Bikini: Representatives of the Kili
Council return to Bikini to inspect the
new houses and review the rehabilication progress.
the U.S.'s “moral commitment" to return
the people to Enewetak.
Enewetak: Lt. General Warren D. Johnson,
head of the Defense Nuclear Agency, asks
operation of the missile range.
the U.S. Congress to fund the cleanup
his agency will carry out. He cites
JUNE Bikini: During regular monitoring
of Bikini, radiological tests discover
"higher levels of radioactivity than
SEPTEMBER Enewetak: The AEC releases
the "Draft Environmental Impact State-
originally thought" and it “appears to
be hotter or questionable as to safety,”
ment - Cleanup, Rehabilitation and Resettlement of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall
Islands."
states an Interior Department represen-
The EIS states that radio-
tative.
activity {1s much greater in the north-
em islands because a majority of the
Bikini: An AEC survey points out that
some wells on Bikini Island are too
radioactive for drinking purposes.
43 nuclear blasts were conducted near
these islands.
Therefore, the EIS
suggests no habitation in the north,
although about half of the people wish
AUGUST Bikini: AEC data on local foods
to return to the northern island of
Enjebi, their ancestral home.
The EIS
proposes dumping radioactive soil and
debris from the other islands in Enewetak into an atomic bomb crater on
Runit Island.
The radioactive material would then be mixed with cemenr to
form a massive concrete dome.
grown on Bikini Island point to the
need to prohibit consumprion of pandanus, breadfruit and coconut crabs.
Enewetak: The U.S. Congress refuses Co
approve funds to cleanup the radioactive debris on Enewetak Atoll.
Bikini:
DECEMBER Enewetak: The Environmental
During medical
tests,
urine
samples from the 100 people living on
Bikini show the presence of low levels
Protection Agency in a review of the
cleanup plan, states: “The fact that
crater entombment is only a semi-permanent solution should be recognized.”
of plutonium 239 and 240.
Enewetak: The cleanup plan is question-
Dr. Conard
of Brookhaven comments that these findings "are probably noe radiologically
significane."
ed by Edward Martell, a scientist formerly involved in the nuclear testing
program in the Marshalls.
He expresses
OCTOBER Bikini: The Bikinians file a
Enewetak Atoll on the basis of the re-
tains that the U.S. possesses and has
used highly sophisticated technical
concern over the "very doubtful merits
of proceeding with the resertlement of
commendations of a Task Group assembled
Dy the AEC and the Department of De-
fense.
The resertlement of such sites
law suic in U.S. federal court, demanding thac a complete scientific survey
of Bikini and the northern Marshall IsThe law suit mainlands be conducted.
equipmenc
co measure radiation at Ene-
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