be: WIJ Bair BNW J Fox BNW JA Hébert HARC AOLS9S SM Nealey HARC W Swift BNW MT Wood HARC Human Affair Research Centers December 16 t YYOON FE Alot Stree (Od Box $395 Seattle Woohungton Gatos Telephone (265) $25.41 bu 1376 CABLE Dr. Joseph Maher Of€ice of Administrator .for Environment and Safety M.S. E-201 Germantown, Maryland Dear Dr. 20767 THARCSEA ‘BEST COPY AVAILABLE Maher: Issues pertaining to the current relocation and rehabilitation program of the Marshall Islands has been brought to my attention by Dr. John Hébert at HARC. He suggested that I respond to you concerning my thoughts about potential problems concerning ERDA's Current and continued involvement in the: rehabilitation effort. As I understand it, three federal agencies (i.e., United States Energy Research and Development Administration, United States Department of Defense, and the United States Department of the Interior) are participating in the rehabilitaticn, specifically the rehabilitation of Enewetak, and in general the adjoining islands and atolls in the Marshall Island chain. ERDA'sS main responsibilities consist of providing assistance and advice te Defense and Interior concerning safety levels of radioactive soil and finding a disposal solution for contamination soil. Again, I understand that steps have been taken by ERDA to communicate risks of contamination to Marshall Islanders. Latter largely unsatisfactory. efforts have been assessed as being The processes and consequences of evacuation and removal of persons from their homelands Home and work the culture and styles have concerned me for some time. Invariably, lifestyle of the relocatees are dramatically altered. patterns must in the new community. be adjusted to accommodate existing life- Often value conflicts emerge between residents and relocatees adding to the complications. Issues of this kind are complex, and frankly, not well understood by social scientists. The status of the Marshall Islanders appears to fit this pattern and T fully expect adjustment problems to occur. RehabLllitation of Enewetak, Bikini, Japtan and some of the other atolls in the Marshall Island chain is unique sance there are risks associated with the move. This risk introduces new considerations to the issue. Fortunately, for social science, there are some examples avallable that could provide some insight. One possibility is to consider why people would want to return to or rebuild in a high risk environment. Some examples of this follow: 5011120