R.. 410779 The United States conducted 66 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the Marshallisiands. Twenty-two years later tne authorities continue to aisagree on when the islands will be safe for resettlement. GIFF JOHNSON BEST COPYAVAILABLE The U.S. government is now attempting to prove at Enewetak what it couldn’t at Bikini: that it is possible for people to return safely to an area devastated by nuclear weapons. Following completion of a at Brkint and Enewetak. Edward Martell. of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. writing to Micronesian Legal Services, a U.S. government organization representing the Enewetak people, expressed concem over the three-vear, $100 million nuclear cleanup of Enewetak Atol! in the Marshall islands—site of 43 nuclear tests—ihe United States says it is safe for the pecpie who were moved out to return to certain islands. But while the cleanup has been hailed in some quarters as a ‘‘remarkable success,” controversy is developing over whether or not people should return to any mart of the atoll. The Marshall Islands are part of a Commission and the Department of Defense. .. . The recommendation the Pacific, which has been ad- exceeding 40 pCi of plutonium 240/ since World War I. The nuclear weapons testing pregram ended in em depth. !s suitable for human U.N. “strategic’’ Trust Territory of ministered by the United States 1958, after [2 years of 66 atmo- spheric tests. The Defense Nuclear Agency, coordinator of the cleanup, has said it woulu be impossible to lower atoll radiation to pre-test levels, But the cleanup guidelines called for residence islands ta be cleaned to a level of 40 picecuries of plutonium 239/240 per gram of soil. agnculture islands to £0 picocuries per gram and food gathering islands to 160. To accomplish this. thousands of cubic yards of contaminated soil were scraped off the small islands, mixed with cement and encased in a massive concrete dome in an atonnc bomb crater at Runit Island. The basis for the cleanup was strongly questioned in 1974 by a re- searcher who had been mvolved in the 1950s weapons testing program a4 “highly questionable recommendations regarding acceptable levels of plutonium in the soils and the very doubtful merits of proceeding with the resettlement of Enewetak Atoll on the basis of the recommendations ot a Task Group assembled by the Atomic Energy that plutonium soils. with levels not 241 per gram of suil averaged over 15 habitation. can be very seriously questioned. . . . The resettlement of such sites 1s extremelylikely to have tragic consequences. particularly for the younger members of the inhabitants. Progressively worse consequences are to be expected for each successive generation in the affected population group.”"! Martell’s questions and recom- mendations were ignored and the cleanup ttself was plagued by shoddy safety standards. The Defense Nuclear Agency maintained that “the most important consideration in the cleanup opera- tons was the radiological safery of the individuals involved in the operations. "- But Agency policies have been inconsistent. and intormation supplied oy soldiers invoived im the cleanup and by independent repon- Paradise lost ers do not substantiate its claims. One of many reports from Enewetak was publicized in an exclusive television interview, in which a mechanic stated that he and others had worked without protect- ive gear underneath dozens of trucks returning from the plutonium-— contaminated islands. He said ‘*the tires and underside of the vehicles were usually covered with dust and dirt.” but the workers were given no respirators for protection. Press visitors to Enewetak in Apni 1980 noticed similar flaws in Defense Nuclear Agency safety standards. “Standing on any part of Runit Is- land.”’ said a reporter, “‘you must wear rubber boots and a paper reSpirator to prevent breathing plutonium particles. But standing on the concrete dome (a mere 15 feet away) you are not required to wear any protective clothing at all.’’* Runit Island will be quarantined to the Marshallese forever, because of high concentrations of plutonium in the soil. More than [00.000 cubic yards of radioactive soil and débris have been encased in a massive cement deme on Runit, to isolate these hazardous materials from the envi- ronment for thousands ofyears. Nevertheless. islands within three miles of Runit have been designated as safe for ‘‘picnics and food gathering.”’ This prompted a Marshallese observer to comment: “What will happen if birds, crabs. turtles and other animals that land on the off limits island are eaten by the people?” Despite this atmosphere of in- consistent safety measures, many of the 450 Enewetak people have