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,