Mr. G. S. Zumwalt _ae wet bate A word about the quarantive on Runit and about the "dump site" on Tilda. First, the quarantive was imposed on Runit in the spring of 1972 when we found that there were pieces of metal with a high plutonium assay on and near the surface at some Locations on that island. Although these presented no particular hazard to people working on Runit, we wanted to isolate that contamination and not run the risk of spreading it, by vehicle tire or shoe sole, for example, to boats and other atoll locations. Evidence from the cleanup operation is that the primary plutonium hazard (resuspension of particles of respirable size) is extremely low even under the extraordinary conditions of sur- face disturbance and soil movement. As to the "dump that you refer to the monument and underlying buried made causeway between Sally and Tilda. We have made measurements in that area and the Defense Department site", I assume debris on the manmany surface has conducted fairly extensive sub-surface investigations. It appears that the debris which is buried there is very well contained, and that short of excavating to a depth of several feet it is difficult to imagine any way of becoming exposed to a radiation hazard in that area. I hope that this letter places at least some of your concerns in clearer “perspective. Please do not hesitate to write me again if you have further questions. Sincerely, Soap ~ Rogef/ Ray 7 Assigtantyf r Pacific Operations ce w/encl of G. S.. W. Weyzen, DOE/H M. E. Kaye, EPA/LV walt ltr.:) A “ ween 34