146 RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL DNA, in October 1976, had the markings repainted by its base support Economy Act of 1932,!7 furnished Field Command the services of its contractor, Holmes & Narver, Pacific Test Division (H&N-PTD) to cleanup project. atoll commander exercised operational control over H&N-PTD’s engineering, repair, maintenance, and operations services, and established work requirements by issuing base regulations, annual work orders, and special work orders as required. Extension of this system to Enewetak Atoll would provide effective, flexible contractor support for the cleanup project. When the proposal! was discussed with the Director of ERDA’s Pacific Area Support Office (PASO), Mr. William J. Stanley, in September 1975, it was learned that he too had considered and supported the . Other Enewetak Camp rehabilitation work which was accomplished by POD contractors in 1975 and 1976 included: rehabilitation of the electrical distribution system; repair of water storage tanks; and repair of the salt water pump station.!5 These projects were beyond the capability of the MATSCO base support work force. It appeared that, although POD charged an overhead fee for its services, it would cost less to use POD’s contractors to design and execute the work than to augment MATSCO’s capability. These projects took more time and money than the Commander, Field Command had anticipated; however, they vastly improved the essential support systems that would be needed throughout the entire project, and they provided Field Commandvaluable experience regarding the engineering problems,the logistical difficulties, and the high cost of working on the remote atoll of Enewetak. |t { 147 A more effective and less expensive means of providing contractor support—by extending the Johnston Atoll support system to include Enewetak Atoll—was proposed by Mr. David L. Wilson, of Field Command. At Johnston Atoll, the Energy Research and Development contractor.!3,!4 After these rehabilitation and repair efforts, the runway handled heavytraffic, including C-5 cargo aircraft, for the duration of the i . the repair project began. The center section of the 3,000 feet of runway was replaced, depressed areas werefilled, a seal coat was applied, and airfield markings were painted on the new surfaces. The repairs were highly satisfactory with the exception of the markings. Within 4 months, the paint was peeling in large flakes. This condition caused growing concern until 4 Mobilization CHANGE OF CONCEPTS AND CONTRACTORS: 1975 - 1977 The original concept was for the Corps of Engineers to include base camprehabilitation, maintenance and operation in the contract for cleanup of the atoll. This concept had to be changed, however, based upon the Congressional decision to make maximum use of military manpower to accomplish and support the cleanup project. While much of the rehabilitation, operations, and maintenance work could be performed by military personnel, a number of jobs remained for which the military services were not manned, since they were normally performed byctvil service or contract labor. These would have to be performed by a base support contractor at Enewetak Atoll. The existing MATSCOcontract was suitable only for caretaker operations. A new contract was required to upgrade iné Enewetak Camp Trom caretaker stalls ano tO provide Disc support during the cleanup project. Field Commandattempted to develop a new contract with sufficiently detailed specifications for competitive bid, but which also was broad enoughto allow for the unidentifiable exigencies which were sure to occur during the project.!6 It was a very difficult task, and there was considerable doubt that a satisfactory contract could be developed and awarded in time to support the project. Administration’s Nevada Operations Office (ERDA-NV), under the operate and maintain the Field Command base there. Field Command’s concept.!3 A formal evaluation and economic analysis was conducted whichindicated that a savings of $200,000 per year could be realized by not entering into a separate Enewetak Atoll contract for the cleanup. One civilian and two military man-years previously devoted to administering the caretaker contract were to be saved. Also, adoption of the proposal permitted reallocation of resources between the atolls to accomplish priority tasks andfacilitated maximum utilization of DNA resources to accomplish DNA missionsin the Pacific.!9-29 Use of H&N-PTD to design, engineer, and accomplish major repair and rehabilitation projects at Enewetak also resulted in significant savings over the use of POD contractors for such projects. After several months of negotiation, the proposal was approved for H&N-PTD to replace MATSCO as the Enewetak Atoll support contractor effective | April 1976.2! Preparations to upgrade Enewetak Camp from caretaker to standby Status began in February 1976, when teams from Field Command and H&N conducted a survey of equipment and facilities. During his 10 February 1975 visit to the atoll, Director, DNA, Licutenant General Warren D. Johnson, USAF, had ordered a general cleanup of the camp, including storage areas where unserviceable and serviceable exccss material from the test period had been commingled and abandoned in great disarray. This cleanup was accomplished by the two-man Field tii Rittenberry, USAF, in conjunction with their equipment survey. In a period of 24 days, they cleaned out and put in order 42 buildings, removing 170 dump truck loads of salvage and trash.22.23 The transition from MATSCO to H&N-PTD began in mid-March 1976 and, on | April 1976, H&N-PTD became the base support contractor for