A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
inal EMBL building eventually proved inade.
in 1956 was
ne needs of the scientists and
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anansan of the laboratory occurred in 1959
-* Toster of the University of Hawaii initiated
:-3ram in shark physiology and behavior. For
) . ++ -qra:t. two’ interconnected parallel tanks were con“eeucted, which allowed sharks to swim in an oval pattern.
14:. facility permitted Tester and his colleagues to hold
and condition sharks, to test their reactions to various
chemical stimulae. and to elucidate some of the anatomical
and neurological bases for their aggressive behavior.
Ni:clear testing activities at Enewetak ended in late
ey
+, . .! the declaration by President Eisenhower of a
ilealnein lie ade ed ee a eR Ta ein tne Auden age
bepaie. eres
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- companied by a similar Soviet moratorium)
ar testing. The 1958 moratorium, Griginally a
baear commitment. was actually continued until September 1961. At that time, the Soviets suddenly resumed
testing at a high rate. Even then, however, the United
States, in its response, did not return to testing in the
Marshall Islands. Although the AEC continued to administer the Pacific Proving Ground until it was transferred to
the Navy in 1960. AEC gradually withdrew activities and
- rest or, Medren until EMBL was the only active facility
-.d. This made support such as power, water,
-reeping and messing, and logistics difficult. In 1961
iMisL moved from Medren to Enewetak Island where an
active support infrastructure still existed. The laboratory’s
new home. became a building on the lagoon side of
Enewetak. Island. previously used as a recreation center
- (Figs. 4 and 5). This building was. modified to provide two
small air-conditioned rooms for the protection of instruments and chemicals. A rectangular aquarium was con-
“ved in the center of the large main room which was
un” three sides and open to the lagoon. A sea" system was installed, and living quarters were pro
«iced for EMBL personnel and visiting scientists in a building across the lagoon road from the laboratory complex.
_~Mithough adequate, this facility had one important drawback. Boat operations required the use of the utility pier at
the northeast end of the island, making loading and
unloading difficult. and necessitating the carrying of equip-
" Ment and specimens between the pier and the laboratory.
“559, another move was in order.
this same year, the directo.ship of EMBL passed
; ~! irom Robert W. Hiatt to Vernon E. Brock, and then, a
#4 months later, to Philip Helfrich. Helfrich continued as
director until January 1, 1975. In 1969, military activities at Enewetak dictated
eae
another move for EMBL, this time to the vicinity of a
large. three-story dormitory building which had been con-
Structed on the ocean side, toward the middle of Enewetak
Island. The new location was a complex of aluminum build:
Previously used as library, recreation center, and
390m. This location was more desirable because ofits
--¥simity to sleeping quarters, food service facilities, and
The boat an7uet In addition, it included a large,
5002
7
covered lanai—which was supplied with running seawater
for aquaria—and two portable swimming pools used as
holding tanks. With about twice the space that had previ-
ously been allocated, the new facility included a large general laboratory, a shop, photo darkroom, library, equip
ment room, communications room, a dive locker, and a
separate building for the storage of hazardous chemicals °
{Fig. 6}. In the early 1970s, EMBL acquired its own communication system, providing a voice and teletype link to
the University of Hawaii.
MOVES TOWARD RESETTLEMENT
’
The year 1972 brought significant political develop
ments which were to have a lasting effect upon the future
of the people of Enewetak and upon the fortunes of
EMBL. Politica! status talks had been going on for several
years between the government of the United States and
representatives of the people of the Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands (TTPI). These talks were aimed at ultimate
termination of the United Nations trusteeship over the
Micronesian Islands (with the United States as trustee) and
the establishment of one or more new and independent
self-administering political entities. During the 1972 talks,
responding to the pleas of the people of Enewetak for the
return of their home islands, the United States took the
first steps toward that return. In April, Ambassador Hayden Williams, the President's personal representative to
the talks, was joined by High Commissioner Edward John-
ston of the TTPI in a public statement. of U. S. intentions.
It provided that military use of Enewetak would shortly be .
completed, thus permitting the atoll to be returned to the
administration of the Trust Territory, and that steps necessary to rehabilitate the islands for resettlement could then
begin.
|
Later in 1972, the AEC’s Nevada Operations Office,
using the resources of its national laboratories and contractors, mounted a massive radiological survey of Enewetak
Atoll as a preliminary step toward cleanup,and rehabilitation.”These activities are described in official reports
(U. S$. AEC, 1973;:U. S.
DOE, 1982; Holmes and
Narver, 1973; and U. S. DNA, 1975). Although EMBL
did not participate directly in either the 1972 survey or
the cleanup, the director and other scientists consulted and
assisted in many ways. While applied science and eng} .eering were at work to restore the atoll, the basic studies of
EMBL continued apace. Although this tiny, remote
research station might have been overwhelmed by the
enormity of tne cleanup effort (thousands of men, over 3
years, at a cost of more than $100 million), those respon-.
sible in the AEC (now the U. S. Department of Energy)
and the U. S. Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), recognized
the lasting worth of the science program and saw to it that
the laboratory’s interests wereprotected.
In 1978, the U. S. Coast Guard LORAN Station, .
which had occupied a complex of buiidings at the eastern
end of Enewetak Island, was closed. By agreement with
DNA and with the people ci Enewetak, DOE obtained the