490
RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL
Enewetak and the adjacent reef were accelerated in June 1979 as northerp
island cleanup operations were ending.
Two suggestions by H&N-PTD were implemented to improve debris
disposal procedures. First, a dozer was placed on the BC barge and deb.
was loaded aroundit. At the dumpsite, the dozer would pushthe debyjg
overboard. It could push up to 500 cubic yards of material overboard jn
less than 30 minutes comparedto 1-1/2 days required for a crane to offloag
the barge. Next, to reduce barge loading time and offset a shortage of
operational dump trucks, dump truck beds were salvaged from
uneconomically repairable 20-ton trucks and placed on flatbedtrailers to
be loaded with debris. Craneslifted the loaded dump beds and depositeg
the debris directly on the barge.44
In August 1979, a USAE 12-1/2-ton crane with clamshell was positioneg
on two connected USNE floating causewaysections to assist the Water
Beach Cleanup Team in recovering debris from shallow water. Debris was
picked up with the crane and loaded on the causewaysfor transportto the
dump site. The crane-causeway combination could deliver-300 to 500 cubic
yards of debris per trip to the dump site. It replaced the hazardousandless
efficient system of dragging debris ashore, trucking it to the cargopier, and
barging it to the dump site. 45
Numerous concrete slabs and all of the aircraft aprons were removed
well ahead of schedule to permit early planting of coconut trees. On 27
October 1979, the JTG Command Group,plus the J-1 and J-3 offices,
were moved from Building 15 to trailers on the fringe of the coreareato
permit conversion of Building 15 to a dri-Enewetak Council Hall. The Base
Exchange was movedto threetrailers near Building 462. On 24 December
1979, the J-2 and J-4 offices were movedto the trailer complex so that
Building 16 could be rehabilitated.46
With the end of the project in sight, the troops were accomplishing the
final camp cleanup much more quickly than anticipated. In mid-October
1979, the Commander, JTG was informed by the element commanders
that all remaining USAE and USNEtasks would be completed on or about
15 December 1979 (Figure 9-4). These tasks, scheduled for completion on
1 April 1980, would be complete 3-1/2 months early. The element
commanders therefore recommended major reductionsin strength on 19
December 1979, leaving only those personnel necessary to accomplish the
29 January 1980 retrograde sealift and contingency missions, such as
Explosive Ordnance Disposal and equipment maintenance. The cleanup
project would essentially be completed on 15 February 1980 rather than 15
April 1980.
The Commander, Field Command, Brigadier General John H. Mitchell,
was briefed on the proposed new demobilization schedule during his 6-8
November 1979 visit to the atoll. The work remaining to be accomplished
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