410294 LAW OFFICES GINSBURG. FELDMAN, WEIL AND BRESS DAVID GINSBURG MYER FELOMAN J W ROSENTHAL FRANK A WEIL ® € WILLIAM HENRY LEE R MARKS JOHN H. ZENTAY MARTIN JACOBS 1700 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE. N W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006 CABLE JAMES E WESNER FRED w. DROGULA MICHAEL | SANDERS, P.C. “LEGIS' TELEX 89-2422 TELEPHONE 202 637-9000 JOEL S BURTON JAMES HAMILTON ALFRED v EICMENLAUB RICHARD P SILLS, P.C. PETER H RODGERS ALAN S WEITZ ANOREA JILL GRANT JACOB OWECK MARTHA JANE SHAY BRUCE H. RASINOVITZ ROBERT W. HAWKINS JOSEPH E. RESENDE DAVID J. FREEMAN CELIA ROADY GARY J. KLEIN PHILie M. BATTLES, LAWRENCE P. KELLER SCOTT w. STUCKY PATRICIA N, BLAIR GAYLE FORST RICHARD A. COHN G. STEPHEN SAUNDERS ALAN R.YUSPEH SUSAN A.COBGB DAVIO G. BRESS (908-976 October 16, *AOMITTED IN NEW YORK ONLY 1980 IRA T. KASOAN JONATHAN M. WEISGALL JUDITH ANN JACOBSON PETER A. CASCIATO SUSAN BANES HARRIS EOWARD vy. TOLCHIN WRITER'S DIRECT DIAL NUMBER (202) 637-9104 Mr. Hal L. Hollister Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research Office of Assistant Secretary for Environment U.S. Department of Energy EV-3 Forrestal Building Washington, D.C. 20585 Dear Mr. Hollister: As you may recall from the dose assessment meeting on Kili last week, Senator Henchi Balos, the Bikinians' elected representative to the Marshall Island Nitijela, asked DOE . scientists why they now believe that people can live on Eneu Island in light of the fact that government officials just two years ago stated that Eneu Island would have to remain offlimits for 20-25 years, due to unexpectedly high levels of radiation on the island. You and Dr. Wachholz replied that DOE had no knowledge of such statements. Senator Balos was referring to testimony on May 22 and June 19, 1978 before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on the Interior. At the May 22 hearing, for example, Ruth Van Cleve, Director of the Office of Territorial Affairs, stated that her expectation that the Bikinians could be moved to Eneu had been changed by recently-released DOE data declaring Eneu off-limits: "I must tell you ... that we have suddenly been required to recast our preliminary plans in a very major way. The committee will recall that when we testified before you a month ago, we anticipated, on the basis of the best infor- Mation then available to us from the Department of Energy, that if it were necessary to move the people of Bikini Island to an alternative,