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$408 SEPULVEDA BOULEVARD
CULVER CITY,CAERS90230
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RONALD G. BAKAL
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TELEPHONE
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Novenber 15, 1976
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Dr. Robert Seamans
Office Energy Résearch § Development Admin.
Washington, D. C. 20545
Re:
Our Client:
People of Utirik Atoll, Marshall Islands
Negligence ~ March 1, 1954
Dear Sir:
This office has been retained by the People of Utirik Atoll,
Marshall Islands, United Nations Trusteeship, to scek comensation
on their behalf for damages they have suffered as a result cf the
negligence of the United States Government in the detonation of a
nuclear device on March 1, 1954.
For the last 22 years our clients have suffered from the effects
of their exposure to radiation with only token compensation and
periodic medical treatment which can only be described as experimentation.
Along with the high degree of thyroid tumors, including malignancy,
among the exposed“population, evidence has been detected that second |
generation children are being genetically afflicted. Besides the
direct physical damage, the entire polulation of the atoll suffers
from the emotionai and psychologivai effects of the expectation vi
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continuing health problems. Your agency should be well aware of the
enviornmental impact the radiation has had upon the flora and fauna
- of Utirik Atoll.
Now that the former residents of Bikini Atoll have
been compensated for their property losses by Congressional action,
it is time that the people of Utirik Atoll shall be compensated for the loss of life, continuing diseases, threat of disease, altered
environment and the humiliation of being treated as human guinea pigs.
There are still 40 persons alive in the exposed group living on the
Atoll. This office now demands that cach and every member of that
group be compensated in the sum of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00)
for physical and psychological injury. Further demand is made on
behalf of all other inhabitants of the Atoll in the sum of Sixty.
Million Dollars ($60,000;,000.00) for psychological, emotional and
enviormental damages.
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