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Question 2:
"Information relating to payment for use of Bikini and
Eniwetok Atolls, and payment of compensation for those
people (Marshallese, American, and Japanese) irradiated
by the March 1, 1954 test."
NOTE:
The payments referred to in this item were the primary concem
of the Department of State, the Department of the Interior, and
the Department of the Navy. The following information is based
on material gathered from available AEC files only.
Answer 2:
The former residents of Eniwetok who possessed rights in
land there were paid $175,000.
Of this sum, $25,000 was
paid directly to the islanders and $150,000 was put in a
trust fund invested in U.S.
Government bonds.
This
arrangement is set forth in a document entitled "Agreement
in Principle Regarding the Use of Eniwetok Atoll," dated
November 19, 1956.
The agreement was between the Trust
Territory Government and the natives, with the
U.S.
Government being the ultimate source of the funds.
Similarly,
in 1956 the former residents of Bikini were paid $325,000 for
the use of their atoll.
The
U.S.
Government. furnished housing, clothing,
provisions, etc., to Marshallese irradiated by the March 1,
1954, test.
In addition, the
U.S.
Government has spent
considerable sums for the medical examination and treatment
of those people.
Further, in 1965, the
U.S.
Congress
appropriated $950,000 as ''compassionate relief" for those
same people.
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