8 ae Attachment Uses by Past Mun ws Residents Vacate Atomic-Test Atoll ; Associated Poss HONOLULU, May 21—Chickens, pigs, canoes and dismantled houses were up- loaded today at a central Pacific island that will be the new home for 327 people whose atoll was covered by nuclear faliout 31 years ago. ; Seventy residents of Rongelap Atol and their possessions arrived at Majetto Island aboard the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warnor, according to Dick Dillman, a San Fran- cisco-based spokesman for the environmertal organization. Once the unloading was completed, the 150-foot motor-sail ship was scheduled to make the 100-mile trip to pick up more res- idents, Dillman saki Greenpeace b~ estimated that 2 complete evacuation would take four trips, be sasd. Rongelsp, in the Marshall Islands, was evacuated in 1954 after s U.S. nuclear test called Operation Bravo. The islanders were alowed to return m 1957. : - However, fear that lingering contamr pation may pose a threat to children ied atoll leaders to decide to leave the island agzin. TRozer of the U.S. Department of Energy has said radiation levels on Rongelap pose no health threat and are, on average, lower than in someparts of the United States. ~— s Friday, May 10. 1985 MARSHALL ISLANDS JOURNAL Volume 16, Number 19 i Editorials EVACUATE WASHINGTON erhaps the answer to the radiation problem on RongeJap Atoll has finally been found, albeit unintentionally, by the Deparunent of Energy which discount fears of lingering radiation hazards with the now well-worn ana- logy that Rongelap radiation fevels are no higher than those in Washington, D.C The DOE would do well to explain to Washington resident how their city resembl es an atoll that was contaminated with fallout from at least four separate nuclear tests. If Washington is as “hot" as Rongelap, and Rongelap radiation is equal to or higher, in some Cases, than islands in Bikini then the answer $s obvious: evacuate Washington, D.C without delay. 39