DRAFY 12/6/78 ACD |Qa FOLPA DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMOUNT TO BE OFFERED THE MARSHALLESE IN SETTLEMENT OF NUCLEAR CLAIMS A conservative approach to arrive at a figure for negotiating radiation damage land claims must involve setting a value in fee for the land. Such an approach is conservative because in effect, it amounts to paying a full "purchase price" for the land. The value should be consistent with work done in connection with preparation for the Kwajalein base negotiations where KMR land was appraised to have a value in fee of $4,668 per acre, and mid-atoll corridor land was appraised to have a value in fee of $3,500 per acre. The land subject to radiation claims varies in quality, but is considered to lie in value between that assigned to KMR and that assigned to the mid-atoll corridor. Thus, for Our purposes it is reasonable to assume a value in fee of $4,000 per acre. Eniwetok Atoll has a total land area of 1,760 acres, but only about 1,100 acres are subject to a damage claim. At $4,000 per acre, about $4.4 million. the value in fee of this land is This figure must be adjusted for amounts already paid as compensation. Eniwetok has received ex gratia cash payments of about $1.2 million and have been given clear title to land worth about $.4 million (Ujelang), for a total of $1.6 million. However, the $2.8 million remaining for Eniwetok ($4.4 million value in fee less $1.6 million compensation) does not take into account the extraordinary $95 million effort now underway to clean up that atoll. For practical purposes, this should satisfy any remaining Eniwetok land claim because it makes them whole. Bikini Atoll has a total land area of about 1,900 acres, all of which are subject to a damage claim. Using the same valuation figure of $4,000 per acre, the value in fee of this land is about $7.6 million. The Bikini people have received about $3.4 million in compensation, but it is open to question whether these payments should in any way be considered as compensa-~ tion for land damage as opposed to compensation for disruption of the people's lives. Depending on whether Or not these payments are offset against the $7.6 million land value, the Bikini claim value would range from $4.2 to $7.6 million. TT TT