Chapter 3 THE CLEANUP 3-1 CleanupProposals In 1972 the U.S. government announced that it would ret Enewetak Atoll to the government of the Trust Territory of Islands and, subsequently, to the people of Enewetak, and an clean up and rehabilitate the atoll was initiated. Planning from 1972 to 1977, and the people of Enewetak were involved major decisions. The cleanup operation itself extended from the Pacific effort to the to April 1980. A detaiiad on-site zadiological investigati Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), cleanup by the Department of (DOD), and rehabilitation (homebuilding and crop planting) b Department of the Interior (DOI) were carried out to some ex concurrently. The planning and cleanup operations are descr detail in a lengthy DNA report (1981) and are summarized in sheet (1980). 3-2 DNA fact Cleanup Criteria The environmental impact statement (EIS) for the cleanup, ment, and rehabilitation of Enewetak Atoll (Defense Nuclear 1975) established a series of standards to be met. Radiati the returning population were not to exceed whole body and marrow, 0.75 rem per year to year to bone, and 4 rem over a period of 30 "guides for cleanup planning" were followed 0.25 rem per year the thyroid, 0.75 years to the gona in the EIS s statement: Cleanup of soil containing plutonium can be handled on a by-case basis using the following: (a) less than 40 pci/ soil--corrective act:.on not required, (b: 40 to 400 pCi/g soil-—~corrective action determined on a case-by-case basi considering all radiological conditions, (c) more than 40 pci/g of soil—corrective action required. Tc was recommended that only islands satisfying criterion] (a) si .id be used for zesidence and subsistence agriculture. IsJands sacisfying criterion (b) could be used for agriculture (e.g., coconut trees for copra production) and those satisfying criterion (cj could be visited for food gathering (e.g., fishing and gathering bigdsa' eggs). 9