i 1 Ie ‘ bb ki er srt eects tT : ft it LeeperSeas wrt aio et Le : Sars. . *ees of Treor ita ‘ tr. eee“297 geen cape ho Mae ae_lN et iatt aa - ==" wigs mee Beet a, : es eee te er <2 =F * a FAnee, AG >> 1Sfatima . . we ee er *. , . trees contact with ERDA and Trust Territory officials. The opportunity for misunderStandings can be held to a minimum. Enewetak atoll now vibrates to the sound of jet transports, Navy landing craft and heavy construction equipment. Nearly 1,000 civilian and military personnel swarm over the sand and shrubs scavenging and burying hot metal and soil. But there are resettlement problems at Eneweiak as well. They are just not as obvious as those at Bikini. The exact extent of the radiation at Enewetak will not be known until the atoll has been surveyed this fall. At least one large island, Runit, where most of the tests were conducted, may have to be put off limits for 24,000 years, the half-life of plutonium. Cultivation of food ‘may not be possible on some islands, depending on ah. all over,” said Chief Johanes Peter, the aging leader of the Enewetak people. Several Japtan residents said they were not convinced that their part of the atoll was free of contamination. When a tuna caught in the Japtan lagoon this summer turned out to be toxic and gave oe . fants Se 7 <r ‘a Ef oe oF 3 Rdsarn, Zt 2,sweie SEene ve + need!ejumps into the This twisted steel ber on Runit Island registers “hot” os the Geiger counter warning zone, The ber is port at Enewetok’s 7,300 cubic yards of cobalt-60 radioactive scrap that is to be buried on Runit. Face musks ond rubber boots protect onlookers from contamination, half a dozen men a stomach ache, the pain was only half-jokingly blamed on the radioactivity. Since the contamination of the Northern Marshalls is a problem without precedent, neither are the remedies. Monetary compensation for injury and loss of land may be the most difficult problemof all. Each atoll was affected in its own way by the testing program and it is still difficult to assess the cost. “At this point, the people of Bikini don’t know what they've lost,” said connected with ERDA and a full understanding of how much,if any, of Bikini can be resettled, Allen said. Congress paid the people of Bikini $325,000 in 1956 and $3 million in a trust fund in 1975 to compensate them for hardships. Before the issue is closed, Allen, who left a flourishing insurance law business in Denver to move to the Marshalls, no doubt will seek a larger settlement. The people of Enewetak may find themselves in the same position. As of eatpatel eeerePaw tee £3Syerateene Tetdtoseaiclateeeheer Pondl lene When a tuna caught in the Japtan lagoon “this summer turned out to be toxic and .gave half a dozen men a stomach ache, the pain was only half-jokingly blamed the outcorne of a test garden. Food, water and basic amenities are short on Japtan, the initial “residence island” for the Enewetak people. The resettlement clearly will not be easy. “Life is.starting 22 *, =. a 4oe eS, x Pee. goes, ss Sicacial os on radioactivity. PESTOete teSAeealte SPOT ARTeg oT, Saat, we Sete FT spe Be) loadeeeeeauen rpgehA adie: George M. Allen, a Majuro attorney who represents the Bikini council. “They've — lost the use of Bikini Atoll for 30 years. They went through very arduous circumstances, from 1946 to 1950, and even nowlife on Kili is very difficult.” Compensation will have to await the compietion of the radiological survey, an analysis of the data by scientists not 5013195 now, they scemwilling to wait and see what the massive cleanup effort will do to their environment. The people of Rongelap and Utirik raise the issue of adequate compensation for accidental injury and death caused by the fallout from the “Bravo” blast. So far, the exposed people of Rongelap have ‘received $10,500 each and the people of gumpses