Before a coordinated plan can be developed, responsibility for the plan and for its
execution must be assigned. In addition, a far more comprehensive survey of the
Atoll must be accomplished. No assignment of responsibility for such a survey has
yet been made. Presumably a large part of the rehabilitation effort (including
cleanup) will oceur after the transfer to the Trust Territory Administration.
However, it would seem highly desirable to have the nature, scope and details of
the cleanup agreed before the transfer rather than to have to negotiate them
later. Included in these agreements should be a common understanding of cleanup
standards and criteria.
"Our recent experiences with Eniwetok have demonstrated an urgent need for
ageney-level coordination of future United States actions pertaining to that Atoll.
",... The thrust of the visit (to Enewetak by the Marshallese in May, 1972) as
evidenced by a close-out meeting on May 20th was the urgency of an early return,
the determination on the part of the Marshallese to determine their own destiny
by drawing up their own specifications for rehabilitation, their dismay at the
continuing use of their lands for a variety of apparently unrelated and
uncoordinated purposes and, specifically regarding the(ir) lawyers, their clear
intention to document in detail current and future United States actions for later
use in behalf of their clients. (By a separate informal memorandum, this latter
point has been brought to the attention of the General Counsel, HQ.)
"Because there was no designated spokesman for U.S. Government interests at the
May 20th meeting and because there were issues and questions of multi-agency
concern, my representative who attended at the request of the Deputy High
Commissioner accepted responsibility for two actions:
"a,
to convey to appropriate national level authorities the need for central
U.S. Government coordination of all future actions pertaining to
Eniwetok.
"b.
to convey to the same authorities the desire and the need of both the
Marshallese and, in their behalf, the Trust Territory Administration for
current and accurate information regarding United States actions and
intentions. (In this connection, it is noted that there is in the tape
recorded record of the meeting an acknowledgement by the Deputy
High Commissioner that until March 1972 the Trust Territory
Administration was not aware of the PACE Program, although quite
substantial efforts on that program had then been underway at
Eniwetok for some months.)
"I believe that the conditions set forth in this memorandum strongly suggest the
establishment at the Washington level of a single manager for all future United
States actions pertaining to Eniwetok. I recommend that the Commission seek to
have such a designation made at the earliest possible time in order that timely
funding, planning, coordination and execution may replace the currently
uncoordinated action-reaction cycle." (Miller, 1972.)
A few weekslater, on 17 July 1972, the Assistant Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum to the
Director, Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA), and the Chairman, AEC. In the memorandum, DNA was
requested to initiate planning to identify the scope of work and the resources necessary for the
Department of Defense (DOD) to accomplish the disposal of radioactive debris and other hazardous
materials on the islands of Enewetak Atoll. The memorandum also authorized necessary
coordination with the AEC, the military services and other governmental agencies to gather data for
the cleanup task. It was planned that the DOD, with the technical support of the AEC, would
conduct the cleanup.
An initial interagency meeting was held 17 August 1972 at AEC/HQ. Topics discussed were of
general nature and conclusions reached were only agreements in principle. However, conferees
agreed that it would be appropriate during some part of the radiological survey (already planned to
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