PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMO
VED
3.
Some people expressed
their general
feeling about
said that the general attitude is the same as in the past.
come and do as they vant.
the survey.
Thev
They (the team)
One person said that he is afraid of Dr. Conard.
The general feeling is that the team acts as though thev own the island when
they come for the survey.
At 14:30 with everyone aboard,
the Militobi departed Rongelap for Utirik.
Unknown to the Committee, young QMas also aboard.
a! as the
Unknown to
ship left the lagoon and Rongelap fell from sight,
it would be
the last time he would ever see his home.
The “ilitobi weighed anchor at Utirik Island at
19:30 on September 15,
1972, after Captain Poznanski had guided it through the treacherous passage
in the atoll's reef.
A meeting with the magistrate and people of Utirik was
arranged and held at 17:30 hours.
A brief statement was made hy the Committee and its consultants were
introduced.
team.
Dr. Conard then did the same and introduced the members of his
He announced that there would be a daily sick call,
that there would
be a movie, and that there would be a party before they left.
The Committee
then asked if there were any questions from the people.
One questioner asked Dr. Conard if the people still had radioactivity in
their bodies.
bodies,
Dr. Conard replied that all people have radioactivity in their
that the people of Utirik received a small amount of radioactivity
from fallout, and that the amount that they have is below the amount that is
hazardous to man.
A second question was:
people of Rongelap?
Dr.
How did the people of Utirik compare with the
Conard explained that
129
[O1413b:
the Rongelapese receive about