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:
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