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Home , Bikini Atoll, Duals, Ebeye Island, Elugelab, Enewetak Atoll, French Polynesia

b , KARSHALL ISLANDS CHRONOLOGY - ERRATUM SHEET

Page 12. column 1 and 2. “1955 - March 9 United Xations. . .‘I and “May Enewetak . . .”

This should read. L956 - IMarch 9 ..,“and IMay Enewetak .--*‘ Marshal

ACHRONOLOGY: 1944-1981

LISRARY - ~ASHINCTGN, D.C. 2054-5

MICRONESIA SUPPORT COMlITTEE

Honolulu, Hawalt F- ‘ifm ti R.EAD TICS ~RO?OLOGY: Weapons Testim--even numbered left hand pages 4-34; destruction of island home- Lands and radioactive wntamination of people, land and food sources. Resettlement of People--odd numbered right hand pages 5-39; the struggle to survive in exile. There is some necessary overlap for clarity; a list of sources used concludes the Chronology on pages 36 and 38.

BIKINI IN 1946, PRIOR TO THE START OF THE NUCLEAR TESTS.

1st edition publishe'dJuly 1978 2nd edition published August 1981 “?aRTlEGooDoFM ANKlND..~

Marshall Islands people have borne the brunt of U.S. military activity in , from nuclear weapons experiments and missile testing to relocations of people and radio- active contamination of people and their environment. All, as an American military com- mder said of the teats, “for the good of mankind and to end all world wars.”

Of eleven United Nations Trusteeships created after World War II, only Micronesia was designated a “strategic” trust, reflecting its military importance to the . Ihe U.N. agreement haa allowed the U.S. to use the islands for military purposes, while binding the U.S. to advance the well being of the people of Micronesia.

Western nuclear powers have looked on the Pacific, because of its small isolated popu- lations, aa an “ideal” location to conduct nuclear activities unwanted In their own .

In addition to Bikini and Enewetak, the U.S. has tested nuclear weapons at Johnston and Christmas Islands; the British at and In ; and the French con- tinue to test at and in “French” . More than 180 atomic and hydrogen bombs have been detonated in the Pacific since 1946; over 100 by the United States.

The health and safety of people, be they Marshallese or American citizens and military personnel, has been a very low priority in the U.S. government’s nuclear testing program. As Commissioner Libby of the Atomic Energy Commission said in 1953: “People have got to learn to live with the facts of life, and part of the facts of life are fallout.”

The Chronology tells the story of U.S. military activities In the Marshall Islands and their effect on Marshallese peoples’ lives and environment. It is a story that has remained untold for too long.

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TABLE OF m

WEAPONSTESTING RESETTLEMENTOF PEOPLE

)peration CROSSROADSbegins at Bikini 4 Bikinians’ First Relocation, 1946 5

Bravo H-bomb test at Bikini, 1954 6 Enewetak People Moved to Ujelang, 1947 9 tidioactive Fallout Contaminates People 8 Kwaj alein Landowners Evacuated for Tests 13

?ongelapese Return Home, 1957 12 Crisis on Ujelang 17

Kwajalein Missile Tests Begin 16 Bikini Declared Safe for Habitation 19

Inadequate Medical Treatment Protested 22 Enewetak Cleanup Planned 23

Enewetakese Force Cancellation of Tests 24 Ebeye: A Biological “Time Bomb” 27

Study Shows Unexpected Cancer Increase 26 Bikini Resettlement Attempt Fails 31

Marshallese Health problems Worsen 32 Kwajalein People Occupy Islands 33

Sources 36 Bikini, A Nuclear Waste Bump? 37 3 1945 AUGUST 6 : The U.S. drops a 13 kiloton atomic bomb on city, killing approximately 100,000 people. Three days later a second atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki city, killing approximately 70,000 people.

NOVEMBER Washington: American military and political leaders begin planning nuclear experiments for further devel- opment of nuclear weapons. Two tests, . code named , are planned to demonstrate the effects of 947 DECEMBER Enewetak: The Navy atomic explosions on naval vessels. A decides that will be search is begun for an appropriate used for a second series of nuclear ex- : testing site. periments. I 8 1946 : JANUARY Washington: Navy offi- 1948 APRIL Enewetak: Operation SAND- cials in Washington, D.C. announce that STONE begins and includes three atomic I in the Marshall Islands blasts ranging in strength from 18 && fulfills all climatic, geographical and 49 kilotons, detonated from towers: X- other requirements for Operation CROSS- Ray (April 151, Yoke (May 1) and Zebra ROADS (4',500miles away from the U.S.; WY 15). i. lc- L a small population of 167; a protected -s-s*. anchorage; and under the control of the U.S.). 1951 APRIL Enewetak: Operation JULY Bikir.i:Operation CROSSROADS be- GREENHOUSE begins. This series in- gins and includes two atomic bomb cludes four atomic tests exploded on blasts, Able (July l), an air drop, and towers: (April 8), Easy (April 211, Baker (July 25), an underwater test. George (May 9) and Item (May 25). Easy These bombs 3re about the size of the test is 47 kilotons; information on the atomic bor.3dropped on N(agasaki,Japan. others remains classified. Approsi- About 42,030 military men and scien- mately 3,200 military men participate tists participate in this test series.. in this series.

1947 JULY The Marshall Islands, along with the Caroline and Mariana Islands, formerly under a Mandate to the Japanese, become the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific, administered by the United States.

"Ships remaineq-in the 1952 NOVEMBER Enewetak: Operation during de'anation and fallout pe- IVY begins. It includes the first riods ad were subjected to mn- thermonuclear (hydrogen) device test, siderabie fallout (during Opera- Mike (November 11, estimated at 10.4 tion Greenhouse)." megatons (750 times greater than rbe Studies of Participants in Nu- Hiroshima bomb). King (November i6) is clear Tests, National Academy described as a "high yield" 500 kiloton of Sciences, September 1980. (continued on page 6)‘ Excerpt from the United Nations and housed by the U.S.Navy on Aomon and Trusteeship Agreement for the Bijire Islads in Enewetak Atoll. United States Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands: 1946 JANUARY Bikini: Washington, D.C. Rrticle 6--"In discharging its - officials select Bikini Atoll for the ligations under Article 76(b) of first series of nuclear bomb tests and the Charter, the administering au- its population of 167 must be moved thority (U.S.) shall: immediately. 2. promote the economic advance- ment and self-sufficiencyof the FEBRUARY Bikini: One month after the inhabitants, and to this end shall decision was made in Washington, D.C. regulate the use of the natural to use Bikini Atoll for nuclear'experi- resources; encourage the develop- ments, the military governor of the ment of fisheries, agriculture, Marshalls obtains the consent of Biki- and industries; protect the inha- ni's paramount chief for the relocation bitants against the loss of their of his people. The American military lands and resources; and improve governor informs the Bikinians that the the means of transportation and scientists are experimentingwith communication; nuclear bombs ti. ..for the good of man- 3. promote the social advance- kind and to end all world wars." The ment of the inhabitants, and to Bikinians, with no alternative, agree this end shall protect the rights to leave their home. and fundamental freedoms of all elements of the population without discrimination;protect the health of the inhabitants..."

1944 FEBRUARY Enewetak: United States forces attack and overcome major Japan- ese fortificationson Enewetak Atoll after heavy pre-invasion bombardment in which some Marshallese are killed.

FEBRUARY Kwajalein: U.S. forces capture from the Japanese after heavy fighting. Americans recruit Mar- THE TRUST TERRITORY OF THE PACIFI shallese to remove battle debris and ISLANDS (MICRONESIA) COVERS A LA1 build warehouses, air strips, air craft AND OCEAN AREA OF THREE MILLION hangers and other military facilities SQUARE MILES. on Kwajalein Island. Families join Marshallese workers at Kwajalein labor camp. MARCH Bikini: As the Bikinians prepare to leave, approximately 250 naval ships Kwajalein: The world's largest atoll is 150 aircraft for observation and trans- made up of approximately 93 tiny coral port and thousands of military and sci- islands that encircle an 839 square entific personnel begin arriving for mile ocean lagoon. Total land of Operation CROSSROADS. 93 islands is only 6.64 square miles. MARCH Bikini: Because the Americans sai 1945 Enewetak: The Americans build a that Bikini would be returned to its , barracks, warehouses and other people at the conclusion of the tests, base facilities to carm on the Pacific the Blkinians believe their move ie war. The Enewetak people are fed,clothed (continuedon page 7) 1.: ‘Bjlmllmmlmlmmlm WEAPONS TESTING nmmmmmmmmmmmmm~ 19'52continued

: atomic test. The Mike blast vaporizes Island leaving a crater one mile in diameter and 175 feet deep in : I the .

: NOVEMBER 16 Enewetak: , 150 miles southwest of "ground zero" is : contaminated with radioactive fallout from the 500 kiloton King test. : m "Prior to ...and for weeks lead- ing up to the blast the prevailing : upper level teughs indicated that wind was blowing to the vicinity : of our island." U.S. MILITARY COMMANDERS ARRIVE IN Gene Curbow, HQ Weather Report- TO TELL THE BIKINIANSI : ing Element, iU.S.Air Force) on THEY MUST LEAVE TREIR ATOLL TO MAKE 1 , 1954. WAY FOR THE NUCLEAR TESTS. : : I 1954 at Bikini and Enewetak lasting through : JANUARY Rongerik: 25 Air Force May. The series includes Bravo, a*Q- and 3 Army men arrive on Rongerik Atoll, megaton hydrogen bomb blast, and five 125 miles east of Bikini, to set up a other tests. Koon test (April 7) is z weather monitoring station in prepara- listed at 110 kilotons; information on tion for Operation CASTLE. This nu- the others..$@ains classified. Approx- : clear test series is to include the imately 7,200 military men participate largest announced hydrogen bomb explod- in this test series. : ed by the L.S. The Rongerik weather I station begins regular observations to Bikini: At 6:45 a.m., the Bravo determine temperature, barometric con- surface detonation creates a blinding : ditions and wind velocity up to and in- flash of light followed by a fireball cluding 100,000 feet allove sea level. of intense heat, tens of millions of : degrees, shooting upward at a rate of I FEBRUARY Roilgelap: John Anjain, the Ha- 300 miles an hour. Within 10 minutes I gistrate oi , is warned the giant nuclear cloud reaches more by an American Navy friend that the than 100,000 feet. Winds several hun- e Rongelap people may be in danger from dred miles per hour at the center and the upcoming Bravo hydrogen bomb test. 76 to 100 miles an hour at the blast's .: But he doesn’t know the date of rock the placid lagoon like a full test, and says there are no orders from scale . I: Washington to evacuate the people. I Rongerik: The weather station men in- "The sky was suddenly completely f tensify their observations, as the test lit up, brighter, if possible than date draws near, checking surface wind daylight itself...The shock wave I directions and barometric conditions that came after the initial blast hourly and upper level weather condi- -.. was so tremendous that all the : tions ever'y two hours. They report to pre-fabricatedbuildings were 1 Joint Task Force-7 (JTF-7) Head- damaged in one way or another. quarters that winds are blowing east Almost all of the windows just : from Bikini towards Rongerik and blew out." m other inhabited atolls. Xmald Laker, Air Force radio operator, Rongerik Atoll, 1954. MARCH Bikini: Operation CASTLE begins : (continued on page 8) 1946 continued they choose to JULY Bikini: Bikini magistrate Juda ie temporary. Therefore,_ - re-settle on nearby Rongerik Atoll, 125 flown to view the results of the first miles east, although they recognize its atomic test. Detonated over the lagoon, drawbacks: poor quality , un- the bomb had caused little,visible usable well water and many species of damage to the islands. When he reports fish which are edible on Bikini but are this, the Bikinians' desire to return poisonous at Rongerik. home intensifies.

BIKINI ATOLL DECEMBER Rongerik: The Bikinians' situ- ation on Rongerik worsens. Food short- ages occur during late 1946 and early 1947.

1947 MAY Rongerik: A disastrous fire damages an estimated 30% of the produc- tive trees on Rongerik.

JULY Rongerik: The situation on Rongcrik further deteriorates. A medical officer, after visiting Rongerik, reports the Bikinians "visibly suffering from mal- nutrition." BIKINI ATOLL, SITE OF 23 ANNOUNCED NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS AUGUST Rongerik: An investigat?o? board eppointed by the U.S. administration to look into the Bikinian's pligb: meets with the people on Rongerik and reports: relocation is accomplished with little insufficient food, a bankrupt store, planning. ‘Ihe people are moved swiftly low supplies of water and only one from Bikini to uninhabited Rongerik, brackish well on the island. Pe whose 17 islands barely contain one- board's report concludes: "It wouJ.d ap- half square mile of dry land surround- pear that their departure from Ronge- ing a lagoon of only 55 square miles, rik has been too long delayed." compared to Bikini's 2.3 square miles of land and 299 square mile lagoon. SEPTEMBER Rongerik: Harold Ickes, a fcr- mer cabinet member under Presilznt MAY Rongerik: Less than two months Frankiin Roosevelt, in a nationaliy after their arrival the Bikinians ex- syndicated newspaper column makes Feri- press anxiety over Rongerik's meager 0:~scharges against the Navy ads,inj.s- resources, and make the first of many tration for neglecting the Bikinians orI requests to return home. Rongerik and arouses a storm of criti- cLsm. Enewetak: In preparation for the July atomic tests at Bikini, the Enewetak people are evacuated to Meek Island in "The built a model vil- Kwajalein Atoll, and the Rongelap and lage on Rongerik that anyone woulc? Wotho people are relocated to. be proud to live !;)...Thz natives for the duration of the Bikini tests. are delighted, enthusiastic about the atomic bomb, which has aiready Rongerik: The people of Rongelap Atoll, brought them prosperirly and a nw just 25 miles from Rongerik, catch fish Tromislng future.n and prepare food and transport it by U.S.Navy press statement, April outrigger canoes to Rongerik to help 1, 1946. the Bikinians. (continued on page 9)

7 1954'continued

Bikini: JTF-7 ships are located in mo- Rongerik: The 28 Air Force and Army men, nitoring positions about 40 miles east although providing hourly weather re- of Bikini. Within minutes of the ex- ports to Enewetak headquarters, are not plosion, Navy personnel see the east- warned when Bravo will be exploded. ward movement of the radioactivecloud Within hours of the blast, 125 miles and the ships begin to record a steady away, radioactive ash begins falling on increase in radiation levels. All men them. "If you can imagine a snow storm are ordered below decks and hatches and in the middle of the Pacific, that's watertight doors are sealed. what it was like," said one Rongerik Air Force man. Bikini: Hundreds of millions of tons of material from Bikini's reef, islands Rongerik: The weather station reports and lagoon are lifted into the air by the fallout to the Enewetak JTF-7 head- Bravo. Approximately one and a half quarters but receives no instructions hours after the blast, a "gritty white about precautions to take. A second ash" begins to fall on the 22 fishermen message is transmitted to Enewetak re- aboard the Japanese fishing vessel, the questing evacuation, but headquarters "Lucky Dragon." The fishermen are un- replies that there are no airplanes aware that the ash is fallout from a available to evacuate Rongerik. nuclear test. Soon after the fallout, they begin showing the effects of acute Utirik: Almost 275 miles east of Bikini, radiation exposure: itching skin, nau- the Utirik people are the last to ex-q< sea and vomiting. perience the fallout from Bravo. The fallout begins late in the day and is Rongelap: About three to four hours af- described as "mist like." ter the blast, a white, snow-like ash -_. r. begins to fall on the 64 people living Bikini: Ailiniizae, Ailuk, Bikar, Liki- on Rongelap and the 18 Rongelapese on ep, Rongelap, Rongerik, Taka, Wotho, Ailinginae, about 100 miles east of Utirik, Jemo and Mejit are contaminated Bikini. The Rongelap people receive with radioactive fallout from the 15 no official warning of the Bravo test, megaton Bravo test at Bikini Atoll. nor any notification of precautions to take to protect themselves from the MARCH 2 Rongelap: Radiation monitoring fallout. The radioactive dust soon personnel from Kwajalein arrive by sea- forms a layer on the island 2 inches plane at Rongelap, spend 20 minutes deep. It turns the drinking water a taking radiation measurements, tell the brackish yellow and contaminates the people not to drink the water, and food. Ry nightfall, as a result of leave to report their findings. their exposure, the people begin.to ex- perience severe vomiting and diarrhea. Rongerik: The weather station men con- tinue sending radio messages to JTF-7 Atomic Energy Commission press re- headquarters requesting evacuation. lease following "Bravo" blast,1954: "During the course of a routine MARCH 3 Rongerik: More than 48 hours atomic test in the Marshall Islands, after their exposure, the Americans are 28 United States personnel and 236 evacuated from Rongerik by an Air-Sea residents were transported from Rescue plane beginning at approximatel: neighboring atolls to Kwajalein Is- 12 noon. -i land according to a plan as a pre- cautionary measure. These indi- Rongelap: Joint Task Force-7 ships be- vi were unexpectedly exposed gin the evacuation of the 64 people 0;: to some radioactivity. There were Rongel;;, an2 the 18 Rongelapese on Ai- no burns. All were reported well. iinginae Atoil. After the ,vmpletion of the atomic tests, the natives will be returned NARCH 4 Utirik: Approximately 72 hours to their homes." (continued on page 10) RESEllUMENTOFPEOPlE

1947 continued OCTOBER Rongerik: Navy officials an- nounce the Bikinians will be moved to Ujelang, the western-most atoll in the Marshalls.

NOVEMBER 22 Ujelang: Ten Bikini men and 20 Navy Seabees go to Ujelang and begin construction of a new village.

DECEMBER 2 Enewetak: The Savy announces that Enewetak Atoll will be used for the second series of nuclear tests, and its inhabitants must be moved immediate- ly.

DECEMBER 27 Enewetak: The 145 people of THE BIKINI.4NS ARE MOVED INTO A Enewetak are quickly relocated to un- TEMPORARY TENT CAhlP OIG KWAJALEIN inhabited Ujelang, and the Bikinians FOR SIX MONTHS DURING 1948, AS remain at Rongerik, despite having THEY LOOK FOR A NEH' HOME. built housing at Ujelang. Photo by Leonard Mason

Ujelang: The atoll has ,only one-third the land area of Enewetak's 2.26 square FEBRUARY Rongerik: During Dr. Mason's miles and a much smaller lagoon: 25 second week on Rongerik, he is joined miles compared to Enewetak's 390 square by a Trust Territory representative who miles. immediately notifies the administration of the critical conditions. Within 24 1948 JANUARY Rongerik: University of hours, a medical officer and food are anthropologist Leonard Mason flown to Rongerik. After examining the arrives on Rongerik to independently Bikinians, the doctor states their con- assess the situation for the Trust Ter- dition to be that of a starving people. ritory . MARCH 14 Rongerik: The Bikinians are evacuated from Rongerik and taken to a temporary camp at the Navy base on Kwa- jalein. The Rongerik resettlement at- tempt has lasted two years and one week.

APRIL Kwajalein: A search begins for an alternative resettlement site for the Bikinians.

JUNE 1 Kwajalein: After consideration of several atolls, the Bikini people vote in favor of moving to Kill Island, pri- marily because it is uninhabited and not controlled by a paramount chief.

SEPTEMBER Kill: hn advance party of 24 Bikini men and 8 Seabees arrive on Klli to begin construction of new THE BIKINIANS, STARVING ON RONGERIK Because of rough seas, lumber, roofing ATOLL, ARE EVACUATED A SECOND TIME and'tools for constructing the village BY THE NAVY IN 1948. have to be brought ashore on rafts.

(continued on page 11) \ 9 TESTING mmmmmmmmmmrmmmm~ 1954 continued I after Bravo, the Utirik people are mediately ceased. If the experiments.. : evacuated by a Navy LCU. should be judged absolutely necessary for the eventual well being of all peo- : MARCH 5 Kwajalein: Many of the exposed ple of this world...all possible pre- people from Rongelap, Rongerik and Uti- cautionary measures to be taken (and) rik, evacuated to the Kwajalein Navy all human beings and their valuable : base, continue experiencing symptoms of possessions be transported to safe dis- severe radiation exposure: itching and tances before such explosions occur..." : burning of the skin, eyes and mouth, I nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. The ma- I jority of the Rongelap people and the .EThe first shot (Bravo) has 28 Americans suffer from skin burns on been variously described as devas- : their necks, arms and feet and loss of 'tating,out of control and with I body and scalp hair beginning about other exaggerated and mistaken two weeks after their exposure. characterizations. I do not wish t to minimize it ...but at no time MARCH Japan: Two weeks after their ex- was the testing out of wntrol." : posure, the fishermen on the "Lucky Admiral -LewisStrauss, U.S.AEC, m Dragon" arrive in Japan. Within a at a Washington, D.C. press short time, the radio operator is dead conference after the "Bravo" t of leukemia, and other crew members are shot. I ill. Within two years the Japanese e.4 government receives $2 million in com- pensations from the U.S. government for APRIL United Nations: The Trusteeship 4 the "Lucky Dragon's" exposure. Council approves a resolution in re- sponse to the Marshallese petition sup- t porting coz:rnued U.S. nuclear testing, "When we arrived on Kwajalein but requesting that added safety pre- : we started getting burns all over cautions be taken and urging the U.S. B our bodies and people were feeling to compensate the Marshallese for loss 1 dizzy and weak,...After two days of land. I something a,?peared under my fin- I gernaiis azd then my fingernails APRIL 26 Bikini: Ailinginae, Rongelap m came off and my fingers bled. We and Rongerik Atolls are contaminated I all had burns on our ears, shoul- with radioactive fallout from the Union 1 ders, necks and feet and our eyes test at Bikini Atoll. The yield of I were very sore." this bomb remains classified informationfl Etry Enos, Rongelap Atoll. I MAY 5 Bikini: Ailinginae, Bikar, Ronge- i lap and Rongerik Atolls are contaminat- I ed with radioactive fallout from the MARCH 27 Bikini: Following the Bravo Yankee test at Bikini Atoll. The yield test, the off limits zone around Bikini of this bomb remains classified infor- :_ is enlarged eight times. The area in- mation. cludes the inhabited atolls of Rongelap, Utirik, Ujelang and Likiep. NO island- MAY 16 Rongerik: The 28 Americans ers are ever evacuated before subsequent evacuated from Rongerik are.pronounced tests, however. fit, and released for active duty after medical examinations at Kwajalein and APRIL 20'United Nations: 111 Marshall- Tripler Hospital in Hawaii. They re- ese, elected and traditional leaders ceive no further medical follow up des- from more than 10 atolls, petition the pite their exposure to at least 78 rads United Nations Trusteeship Council re- of whole body radiation. questing that "all the experiments with lethal weapons within this area be im- (continued on page 12) 1948 continued NOVEMBER 2 Kili: The total Bikini com- are relocated from squalid shacks in th, munity of 184 people arrives on Kili Kwajalein Island lab& camp near the U. after a 7-month stay on Kwajalein. Kili S. military installation to Ebeye Islanc (with .36 sq. mile of land) has advan- three miles away. The Navy constructs tages of good agricultural soil and frame houses, cook houses and outhouses stands of quality coconut trees for on Ebeye for 370 people. export. Prior to World War II, the Japanese had used the island as a Kwajalein: Until 1958, the Kwajalein copra plantation. The Island's draw- Navy Station's primary functions are in backs include a lack of lagoon or pro- supporting the nuclear testing at Ene- tected anchorage. The full force of the wetak and Bikini. ocean pounds Kili from November through May, halting fishing and isolating the 1952 Ujelang: The people make repeated island. Because the Bikinians were requests for sail cloth and paint for used to gathering fish from a protected upkeep, repair and operation of their lagoon with their nets, spears and out- sailing canoes, as well as fishing net rigger canoes, the new Kili environment material and fish hooks, but their causes many problems. orders do not arrive on the field trip ships.

,#...Both the Bikini and Enewe- OCTOBER Ujelang: A U.S. Navy LST takes tak people have been relocated on the 169 Ujelang people to a point 100 other land that,has been deeded to miles farther away from Enewetak, which them and have been given consider- is to be the site of the first hydrogen able assistance in their resettle- bomb test as part of . ment and readjustment." U. S. Representative Benjamin DECEMBER Ujelang: A spccinl field trip Gerig to the U. N. Trusteeship ship arrives, but brinRs only enough Council, 1956. sailcloth for two canoes. 5 out of 13 sailing canoes are unusable for lack of sails. The long awaited order of 1949 Ujelang: The Enewetak people liv- marine paint for wooden hulls was ing on Ujelang are totally dependent on “filled” with .ten gallons of red paint the infrequent (every 3-6 months or for metal and 16 quarts of enamel la- longer) and unreliable Trust Territory beled “for garden furniture.” Few of field trip vessels for food and other the other materials can be used, dis- needs. Vast distances (640 miles to appointing the people who planned to the District Center at , 410 miles paint the canoes after the copra har- to Kwajalein and 290 miles to the clos- vest. est inhabited atoll, Ujae) prevent Mar- shallese craft from sailing to Ujelang to pick up copra or to supply trade "Canoes and fishing are the life goods. of Vjelang. Without the canoes we cannot get to the other islands in 1951 JANUARY Kili: The 40-foot ship pro- the lagoon to harvest coconuts. vided for the Bikinians by the adminis- Without the fishing equipment, we tration is washed into the Kili reef by cannot catch fish to get enough to the heavy surf and sinks with a full eat.” load of copra. Rough seas and a short- An Enewetak Iroij (chief). age of vessels cause food supplies to run critically low more than once from 1951 to 1953, even necessitating an air 1954 Kwajalein: The Navy Station em- drop of emergency rations at one point. ploys.226 Marshallese, only 32 of whom are from Kwajalein Atoll. The popula- JANUARY Kwajalein: About 550 Marshallese (continued on page 13)

11 1 t.. ~~mm~mmmmmmmmm~ WEAPONS TESTING mmmmmmmmmmm~mmm~ 1954 continued halted and that the Bikini and Enewetak az people be compensated for their islands. 1

were returned our home the U.S. gave four large pontoons with drinking water and of C-rations...Theyleft and told us not

CONTAMINATED BY HIGH LEVEL RADIOACTIVE FALLOUT FROM THE BRAVO TEST, THE RONGELAP PEOPLE ARE CHECKED FOR RADIATION WITH GEIGER COUNTERS. Navy Photo. MAY Enewetak: beg* at Enewetak and Bikini. This test se- MAY Rongelap: After three months of ex- ries includes 17 atomic and hydrogen aminations and treatment at the Kwaja- bombs through!July. The Lacrosse test lein Navy base, the Rongelap people are (May 5) at Eqeyetak is listed as 40 resettled temporarily on Ejit Island in kilotons. Three hydrogen bombs are Majuro Atoll, as high radiation levels tested at Bikini: Cherokee (May 21) on Rongelap prevent their return. listed at "several megatons;" Zuni (May 28) at 3.5 megatons; Tewa (July 21) at Utirik: Receiving what the AEC doctors 5 megatons; information on the other term "small" amounts (14 rads) of ra- tests remains classified. diation from Bravo, the Utirik people return home from Kwajalein. Brookhaven doctors state: "Their island was only slightly contaminated and considered 1957 JULY Rongelap: A Brookhaven re- safe for habitation." port for the ABC states that "in spite of s.lightlingering radioactivity" JUNE Bikitii: Radioactive contamination Rongelap Atoll is safe for habitation. 130 times above normal levels is de- The people exposed in 1954 return home, tected at n testing point 312 miles along with more than 200 Rongelap peo- west of Bikini. A Japanese government- ple who had been away from the atoll sponsored scientific team sampling during the Bravo test. Brookhaven doc- ocean water and marine life reports tors call this unexposed group "an ideal that radioactive contaminants are found comparison population for the studies." in the ocean from the northern Mar- shalls :gcstward almost to the M3ri3na Utirik: On the gounds that the lower ex- Islands, 3.000 mi 1 cs away. posure of the Utirik people is less ha- zardous (14 rads compared to 175 for the Rongelap people) Brookhaven doctors ex- amine the Utirik people only once every three years. 1955 MARCH 9 United Nations: Nar- shall Islands representatives again 1958 petition the U.N. Trusteeship Council Rongelap: Stillbirths and mis- requesting that the nuclear testing be (continued on page 14) 1954 continued tion of Eheye Island (a 78 acre island less than one mile long and 650 feet wide) grows to 980 people.

1955 Kill: Trust Territory ships with supplies continue to have difficulties off-loading supplies at Kili because of rough seas.

1956 NOVEMBER 19 Ujelang: The Ujelang people have received no compensation for the loss of their home atoll, Ene- wetak, and are now offered $25,000 in cash and a trust fund of $150,000 with semi-annual interest payments at 3 1/3X by the U.S. government. Faced with ENEWETAK PEOPLE ON UJELANC ATOLL harsh living conditions, the people ac- IN THE EARLY 1960s cept and sign an agreement which says Photo by Leonard Mason. in part: (l... The Government of the United States shall possess the full use rights to Enewetak Atoll until such time as it will not be necessary a year) to be divided among the to occupy and use the Atoll in the in- Bikinians on Kili. terest of the maintenance of interna- tional peace and security" and "...This 1957 NOVEMBER Kili: Typhoon Lola hits agreement was made voluntarily and Kili and causes extensive damage to without any compulsion or coercion crops in addition to sinking the Biki- whatsoever." nians' supply ship.

NOVEMBER Kili: As problems worsen on 1958 JANUARY Kili: Typhoon Ophelia Kili, the Trust Territory government causes great destruction on Jaluit and selects a site in nearby other southern atolls. All the Kili to start a community. Three people living on Jaluit are forced to Bikini families move from move back to Kili as the satellite to the site in Jaluit, 30 miles north. community becomes uninhabitable. During 1957, several other families alternate with these first settlers as 1960 Kili: Rough seas once again pre- housing is erected and food crops (co- vent the field trip vessels from pro- conuts, pandanus and ) are planted. viding adequate service to Kili Island. The Bikinians face food shortages once NOVEMBER Kili: Representativesof the more. Kili people sign an agreement giving the U.S. government "full use rights to Kwajalein: The residents of Roi Namur Bikini Atoll. ..future claims by Bikini- Island, in the northern part of Kwaja- ans based on the use of Bikini by the lein Atoll, are relocated to Ennubirr Government of the United States...or'on Island about two miles away, and to the moving of the Bikini people from Ebeye. Ennubirr becomes an indigenous Bikini Atoll to Kili Island, shall be labor camp for the base facilities at against them (the representatives)and Roi Namur, similar to Ebeye for Kvaja- not against the Government." In return, lein workers and their dependents. the Bikinians are given "full use rights" to Kili and several islands in Jaluit 1961 OCTOBER Kwajalein: The inhabitants and $25,000 in cash and a $300,000 trust of are relocated to Ebe.yeby fund yielding semi-annual interest pay- the Navy, as Lib is in the new "impact ment of S4,972.50 (about $15 per person (continued on page 15) 13 L 1958 continued carriages among exposed Rongelap women tioned on Enewetak Island during Gpera- rise to more than twice the rate in un- tion HARDTACK I. They witness 22 nu- exposed Marshallese"womenfor the first clear blasts, living within lo-20 miles four years following their exposure in of the explosions. More than 90 naval 1954. vessels and 40 planes are involved in . supporting HARDTACK I. The 8.9 megaton Rongelap: , a Marshallese Oak test's radioactive cloud covers Ene- traditional leader, files a law suit in wetak Island; no one is evacuated, al- Federal court seeking $8 million though lagoon swimming is off limits compensation for the Rongelap people. for three days. At no time following The judge dismisses the case citing the 21 other tests is lagoon use re- lack of jurisdiction. stricted.

Rongelap: A Brookhaven report by Dr. Robert Conard shows that after the Rongelapese were returned to their is- lands in July 1957, their body burdens of radioactivity rapidly increased. In just one year, the Rongelap peoples' body levels of radioactive cesium 137 rose 60-fold. strontium 90 rose 20- fold and zinc 65 rose 8-fold.

MAY Enewetak: Operation HARDTACK (Phase I) begins at Enewetak and Bikini and continues through August. This series includes 32 nuclear tests (22 at Enewe- tak), one test north of the Marshall Islands, and two hydrogen bombs explod- NUCLEAR CLOUD FROM ONE OF MANY ed in the atmosphere near Johnston Is- TESTS IN THE PACIFIC. land, approsimately 700 miles southwest of Hawaii. At ,Enewetak, Cactus test (May 6) is listed at 18 kilotons, Koa MAY 27 Enewetak: Ujelang Atoll, home of test (May 13) at 1.37 megatons, and Oak the displaced Enewetak people, is con- test (June 29) at 8.9 megatons: infor- taminated with radioactive fallout from- mation on the other blasts remains clas- the Magnolia test. The size of this sified. blast remains classified, but indica- tions are it is in the magaton range.

"Even though... the radioactive JUNE 11 Bikini: Ailinginae and Wotho contamination of Rongelap Island Atolls are contaminated with radio- is considered perfectly Safe for active fallout from the Maple test. human habitation, the levels of AUGUST 18 activity are higher than those Enewetak: With the Fig test, found in other inhabited locations the last explosion in Operation HARD- in the world. The habitation of TACK I, the U.S. concludes its nuclear 1 these people on the island will testing program in the Marshall Islands, m afford most valuable eCOlOgical following 66 announced atomic and hy- radiation’ data on human beings." drogen bomb tests at Bikini (23) and I' Brookhaven National Laboratory Enewetak (43). More than $2.5 billion fl J-year report on Rongelap and is spent during the testing program in a vtirik. the Marshalls. : Kwdjalein: With the completion of the 1 Enewetak: Military personnel are sta- 1961 continued zone" for incoming Inter-Continental the 750 acre island, or about $10 per Ballistic Missiles shQt from California. acre a year, and provides that the U.S. will "improve the economic and social conditions of the Marshallese people, n. . .It is the conviction of the particularly at Kbeye..." United States that it has the re- sponsibility not only to its people Kwajalein: The central two-thirds of but to all the peoples of the free Kwajalein's lagoon becomes a new "im- world to maintain at a maximum its pact area' for missiles. Faced with capacity to deter aggression and several hundred inhabitants on the preserve peace. Thus it believes islands bounding this area, known as that -.-further tests are...abso- the "Mid-Corridor," the Defense and lutely necessary for the eventual Interior l)epartmentsdecide the 'most well being of all the people of practical and economic solution to the this world." range safety problem" is to relocate U.S. statement to V.N. Trustee- the people to . The Army ship Council in response to a begins an "Ebeye Improvement Project," petition from'Marshal1 Islands which includes the construction of 78 leaders (April, 1956). cement block units each containing four one-room apartments, and also a sever system, fresh and salt water 1963 Kwajalein: A case of polio in the distribution systems, and a power plant, American population on Kwajalein starts No funding, however, is budgeted for an epidemic in the northern Marshall maintenance and upkeep of these facil- Islands. Although the polio vaccine ities. was discovered 8 years earlier, no one had been given shots. 212 cases of DECEMBER Kwajalein: The first 28 severe residual paralysis resulting apartment units are completed and as- from polio are recorded among the signed to the Mid-Corridor people. 18,000 inhabitants of the Marshall Islands. The rate in the U. S. is about one patient with severe residual "We cannot make enough copra. paralysis per 1,000 cases of polio. The reason is that the people have to eat it, and the rats also eat it . ..We also need sail cloth and "band means a great deal to the other materials to equip our ca- Marshallese. It means more than noes . ..The conditions on Vjelang just a place where you can plant are worse now...there are more your food crops and build your people now, especially children houses; or a place where you can who are too young to work or to bury your dead. It is the very work hard, but who must also eat. life of the people, Take away their We did not clromplainwhen the Navy land and their spirits go also." told us we had to leave our atoll Petition from Marshall Islands of Enewetak.--We clooperated with leaders to United Nations, March the Americans . ..Now we need help 1956. badly, 'we ask America for help in our~suffering. Help us, or send us home." Enewetak leader on ujelangJ969. 1964 Kwajalein: A 99 year lease for Kwajalein Island (the command base of the Pacific Missile Range) is signed by the Kvajalein landownersand the 1965 JANUARY Kvajalein: Xarshallese from U. S. Government. l'helease provides the 13 inhabited Mid-Corridor islands $750,000 in compensationfor use of (continued on page 17)

15 1 1958 continued: Atomic Energy Commission's nuclear ex- goon becomes an "impact area" for in- a periments at Bikini and Enewetak, the coming Inter-Continental Ballistic Mis- I importance of the Kwajalein Navy base siles (ICBM's) shot from Vandenberg Air B diminishes. The Navy places it on the Force Base in California. military base surplus list. 1

” 1960 . ..Several of my babies who Kwajalein: An "impact area" for were healthy at the time they were incoming missiles is established, ex- born died before they were a year tending from the southern tip of Kwaja- old . ..AZtogether I lost four ba- lein Atoll southwest 50 miles to Lib Is- bies. My son Winton was bornjust land, whose inhabitants must be relocat- one year after the bomb, and he ed. has had two operations on his throat for thyroid cancer." Kwajalein: , technical buildings, Minji Kel, . missile assembly and missile launching facilities are built on Kwajalein Is- 1959 land. Related radio receivingltrans- Rongelap: The Rongelap people mitting equipment and living quarters are warned by Brookhaven scientists not are constructed on and Ennyla- to eat the plentiful coconut crabs, con- began islands, located on opposite sides sidered a delicacy in the Marshalls, be- of the lagoon about 8 miles north CQ cause of high radiation levels. No Kwajalein. other restrictions are placed on food consumption. Kwajalein: A major radar installation, ’ computer buildings and a launching site Kwajalein: The Navy base's importance for firing %;siles are constructed on re-emerges as it is chosen as the test- Roi Namur Island, 40 miles north of ing site for the Nike-Zeus anti-missile Kwajalein Island. missile tests; Roi Namur Island (in the northern part of Kwajalein Atoll) is selected as a center for studying mis- 1961 : sile re-entry characteristics; and the Kwajalein: The first Zeus mis- m Naval Station is renamed "Pacific Mis- sile is test fired from Kwajalein. It 1 sile Range Facility Kwajalein." is being developed to destroy incoming m enemy missiles. I Enewetak: In support of Kwajalein's Pacific Missile Range, Enewetak's la- 1962 : JULY Kwajalein: A Zeus missile ! successfully intercepts, for the first 3 time, an ICBM shot from Vandenberg Air I Force Base. 1963 Rongelap: The first thyroid ! tumors begin appearing among the Ronge- 3 lap people exposed in 1954. Also, a I higher than normal incidence of growth 1 retardation among young Rongelapese is , reported. 1964 KWAJUEM fiTw Kwajalein: The prime user of : (continued on page 18) 1 I6IIIIRm~~W~~~~m~~~~ # - -.

1965 continued are relocated from the hazard zone to 1967 Bikini: United States Government Eheye. A payment of $25 a month is pro- agencies begin considering the possi- vided for each of the"194. people resid- bility of the Bikini people returning ing on the islands, although more than to their home atoll. 1,000 people have customary land rights in these islands. Bikini: An ABC study states of Bikini: "Well water could be used safely by the natives upon their return to Bikini... It appears that radioactivity in drink- ing water may be ignored from a radlo- logical safety standpoint."

Ujelang: After twenty years, the pro- blems of the displaced Enewetak people on Ujelang have mounted until the situ- ation approaches a crisis. Field trip ships continue to be erratic in visits and materials for keeping sailing ca- noes operational are badly needed. Co- pra production is low (only l/3 of the 1952 level), as the trees are old and newly planted trees will not bear for five years or more. Although cats have been brought in, rats are destroying the copra, and when supplies of rice and flour are exausted, the people eat the coconuts instead of making copra to BIKINI IN 1946: A SELF-SUFFICIENT sell. PEOPLE PRIOR TO THEIR RELOCATION BY TRE NAVY IN 1946. Ujelang: Housing built by the Navy in Photo by Leonard Mason 1947 is severely deteriorated and there are no materials for repair or main- tenance. While the housing supply is Kwajalein: With increasing military less, the population has grown to 285. activity at Kwajalein, employment of The large community council house and Marshallese increases to 663 people. the copra warehouse blew down years ago The population on Ebeye rises to 3,500 in a typhoon, and the sheet metal people. church and community center is rusting away. 1966 Kwajalein: The Ebeye population grows 1,000 in a year to 4,500 people, OCTOBER 20 Ujelang: A Trust Territory living on the available 66 acres (the supply ship arrives at Ujelang to find Coast Guard station on the tip of Ebeye the people with no copra to sell and uses 12 acres). no money to buy needed food and sup- plies. Almost all of the nearly 300 Kwajalein: An addendum to the 1964 Mid- people board the ship, demanding to Corridor Islands lease is negotiated, leave Ujelang for Hajuro to protest to increasing subsistence payments to the the government that they have no food 194 displaced people on Ebeye from $25 and are starving: Ataji Bales, a to $40 a month. government official on board, after 7 hours of efforts to persuade the people JUNEKwajalein: With the new impact area to give up their plan, agrees to stay for missiles in Kwajaleln's lagoon, Mb with them on Ujelsng, saying "If you Island, 50 miles south, is no longer in will die, I will die with you." He the impact zone. Its residents are re- calls for help by radio and promises turned home after five years on Ebeye. (continued on page 19) 1964 continued I’< 8 I the missile range is the Army Ballistic of Eniwetak (not to be confused with Missile Defense program, which tests, Enewetak Atoll), Omelek, Gellinam and : : among others, the M$nutemen, Titan, Po- Legan. On Ennylabegan, additional tel- 1 laris, , Spartan, Nike and Zeus emetry equipment is installed and liv- a : missiles. The range also supports Air ing quarters built. Force and Navy testing of ICBM's, Inter- I mediate Range Ballistic Missiles, and Rongelap: The Rongelap peoples' body : Sea Launched Ballistic Missiles. levels of radiation, which jumped in : 1958 after living one year on their con- I : JULY 1 Kwajalein: Command of Kwajalein taminated islands, have remained at the a is transferred from the Navy to the same level since then, according to 3 Army, and the missile range is renamed Brookhaven's 12 year report. I t "Kwajalein Test Site." At this time I a the range consists of facilities on I five islands: Kwajalein, Roi-Namur, : Eniwetak, Gugeegue and Ennylabegan. 1966 JANUARY Rongelap: The U.S.Con- gress approves an ex-gratia payment of r’ Kwajalein: A new "impact area" for in- $950,000 (approximately $11,000 per ca- coming Inter-Continentai Ballistic Mis- pita) to the exposed Rongelap people : siles is established. The central two- for injuries resulting from their ex- thirds of the lagoon, called the "Mid- posure in 1954. : Corridor," is designated as the new target area because it is surrounded by JUNE Rorigelap: Of the 29 children wh8c islands with missile tracking and test- were under 10 years old in 1954 (includ- : ing devices. The 47 islands, many in- ing 4 in utero during the fallout) 15, habited, that bound this part of the or 52% have developed thyroid abnormal- -__L : lagoon are in the hazardous zone. The ities. 5 ?G. new target area provides a recovery r basin protected from enemy patrols. Rongelap: A Bookhaven medical report shows little difference in radioacti- : SEPTEMBER Kwajalein: President Lyndon vity levels between those exposed in Johnson announces the U.S. has an oper- 1954, and those who had not been there : ational system for shooting down Soviet in 1954, but moved back after 1957. , developed from tests called Moreover, the body levels of radioacti- : "Project 437" begun in May 1963 at Kwa- vity of these previously unexposed I jalein. Rongelapese was 10 times greater than that of Marshallese living on Kili Is- : land in the southern Marshalls.

: 1965 FEBRUARY Enewetak: The Air Force assumes control of the missile “One of the things that has f range at Enewetak Atoll. bothered us over the years is the I fact that the AEC doctors have Kwajalein: To gather information on the never bothered to explain our : atmosphere re-entry of missiles fired problems to us--instead they treat from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a va- us as if we were merely children 3 riety of instrumentation and tracking and we resent that." II facilities and helicopter landing pads Jirda Biton, Utirik Atoll. I are built on the Mid-Corridor islands : I 1965 JULY The Congress of Micronesia, a territory-wide legislativebody mod- m holds its first session after being created by an eled on the U. S. Congress, I 3 executive order of President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. (continuedon page 20) ! c REsEmEMENTofPEoPlE 1967 continued food within two weeks. . petition the Congress of Micronesia (COM), soliciting aid in "righting a NOVEMBER 3 Ujelang : The supply ship grave injustice done" by the U.S. gov- returns with food. ernment. Only 194 out of 1,470 Mid- Corridor landowners are eligible for DECEMBER Ujelang: After receiving in- compensation,amounting to $40 a month. formation on the Ujelang crisis, the The petition states: "Electric bills High Commissioner sets up a Rehabili- and house rentals exceed $40 each month tation Committee with one coordinator and already some of us have been threat- in and one in Majuro. ened with eviction. ..Anyone born since the relocation is not considered eligl- Ujelang: The people send thanks to ble for compensation..." The Marshal- members of the Ebeye protestant chapel lese point out that they were accustom- and to the Rongelap people for provid- ed to growing food on the "off-limits" ing them with clothing during the cri- islands, not possible on overcrowded sis on Ujelang. Ebeye.

Ujelang: A rat control program for Uje- Kwajalein: The Congress of Micronesia lang is set up using donations of $300 responds with a resolution requesting from visiting Americans to pay a bounty the High Commissioner to reopen nego- of SC per rat to Ujelang people who tiations on the amount of compensation bring in dead rats to be tallied. for the Mid-Corridor people.

Ujelang: The annual charity drive col- SEPTEMBER Ujelang : The Marshall Islands lection by Americans working on Enewe- Nitijela ()passes Resolu- tak is given to the Trust Territory tion 16, addressed to the President of for Ujelang relief. the United States, the Trusteeship Council and others, concerning the 1968 JUNE 1 Ujelang: Five Ujelang lead- present conditions on Ujelang and the ers petition the United Nations Trus- need for discussion to set a date for teeship Council to help them set a date the Ujelang people to return to Enewe- for the return of Enewetak Atoll to tak. their people. OCTOBER Ujelang: The people report they JUNE uj elang: The people request that have left only 14 pounds of rice and their Trust Fund be increased. It is f.lourper person which will last only $150,000, yielding about $16 per person 3 weeks. They have no or annually. edible pandanus. Ujelang representa- tives to the Nitijela say that if con- Bikini: President Lyndon Johnson pro- ditions "are not improved on Ujelang mises the 540 Bikinians living on Kili Atoll by January 1969, they will all and other islands a permanent return to get on a ship, come to Majuro and camp Bikini after the ABC concludes: "The in front of the administration build- exposures to radiation that would re- ing." sult from the repatriation of the Biki- ni people do not offer a significant NOVEMBER 20 Ujelang: The people are out threat to their health and safety." of flour, rice, sugar and other lmpbrt- ed foods. The recent measle and chick- AUGUST Ujelang: The announcement that en pox epidemic was very serious and Bikini will be returned to its people ten deaths resulted. The people are causes deep resentment among the Ene- still waiting for materials for repair wetakese, who protest because they also and replacementof houses and community wish to return to their ancestral home. buildings.

Kwajalein: The Mid-Corridor landowners (continued on page 21) 1966 continued Rongelap: Brookhaven scientists take fense Nuclear Agency and the Air Force Marshallese food items from Rongelap sponsor the Pacific Cratering Experi- (pandanus fruit and coconuts) to the ments (PACE) on Enewetak. More than U.S. to consume under laboratory con- 220 tons of explosives are brought to ditions. After several weeks' study, Enewetak for this series of tests which they report: "The intake of strontium will simulate nuclear bomb blasts. 90 over a seven day period was twenty times higher than normal and that of DECEMBER Rongelap: A Japanese medical cesium 137, sixty times higher than survey team, including a thyroid spe- normal." cialist, comes to the Marshall Islands at the request of Marshallese leaders 1968 APRIL Kwajalein: The Kwa- to conduct an "independent" medical jalein Test Site is renamed the survey. The American Trust Territory "Kwajalein Missile Range" (KMR). administration refuses the medical

1969 OCTOBER The Congress of Micronesia, representing all six Micronesian districts, begins negotiations with the United States to end the U.N. Trustee- ship in favor of a new political status. *e

1970 Kwajalein: Two additional ra- dars (ALCOR and ALTAIR) become opera- tional as part of the Kiernan Re-Entry Measurements Site (KREMS) on Roi Namur Island, combining with the TRADEX ra- dar (completed in 1963) to track mis- siles re-entering the earth's atmos- phere.

APRIL Kwajalein: Illeginni Island in the Mid-Corridor is selected as the site for SPARTAN and SPRINT missile launches. The Illeginni facility is constructed and is cpntrolled from Meek Island 17 miles across the lagoon.

Konrdd P. Kotrddy, M.D.: "The Army's pOSitiOZI was sum- med up to me one day when a high- level command officer at Kwaja- lein remarked that the sole pur- pose of the Army at Kwdjalein is to test_missile systems. They ROI NAMUR ISLAND IN THE NORTHERN have no concern for the Marshal- PART OF KWAJALEIN ATOLL IS A MAJOR lese and that it is not of any RADAR AND MISSILE TRACKING STATIONS imprtance to their being at Kwajalein." : team permi;sion to travel to Rongelap and Utirik in what the administration : 1971 SEPTEMBER Enewetak: The De- terms as visa problems. The Japanese, : (continued on page 22) I RVOFPEOPLE

1969 JANUARY Ujelang: USDA feeding pro- "removal of all test related debris gram for Ujelang is authorized to begin with disposal at sea of all radioactive with shipment from Saipan on January 16. debris." The three dump sites are located less than one mile from islands JANUARYKwajalein: The Congress of Mi- in the atoll. croaesia again "supports the griev- ances of the Hid-Corridor and supports OCTOBER Bikini: The cleanup phase is their efforts to return to their is- finished. The phase two rehabilltation lands." The COM votes to send a re- encounters serious problems with the presentative to accompany the people withdrawal of military personnel and if they attempt to return in defiance equipment and the end of weekly air of the lease agreement. service to Kwajalein.

APRIL21 Kwajalein: Mid-Corridor resl- Bikini: Following the limited radiolo- dents living on Ebeye issue an ultima- gical cleanup, Bikini is declared safe tum to the High Commissioner demanding for reoccupation. The AEC states: that the U.S. compensate all the people "There's virtually no radiation left and allow them access to their islands and we can find no discernible effect for food growing, or they will return on either plant or animal life." to their islands without permission. The Army and Trust Territory govern- ment believe the Marshallese are bluf- "I was disturbed by the ‘demand’ fing and ignore the warning. of the innnediate commifment of all agencies, all funding and all per- Kwajalein: Of 669 Mid-Corridor landown- sonnel by January 21. I am sure ers who had voted to return, 31 protest you must realize that such a time- with a sail-in to their islands, report- table is unrealistic...I am as much edly forcing cancellationof two missile concerned as anyone, but I am not test operations. going to be stampeded or panicked by a January 21 deadline or strike Kwajalein: Promising action to negotiate threat..." their demands, the Trust Territory re- High Commissioner Norwwd's re- turns the 31 Mid-Corridor people to sponse to proposal for action Ebeye, after six days of illegal occupy- on the Ujelang crisis, 1969. ing their islands.

AUGUST 19 Ujelang: Protests of the Ene- 1970 FEBRUARY Ujelang: Ujelang repre- wetak people stimulate the U.S. Congress sentatives have a series of meetings to provide a trust fund of $1.02 million with Trust Territory officials in Sai- to try to stop their efforts to return pan to work out agreements on requests to Enewetak. for Ujelang. The people are assured funds for permanent housing if It is Bikini: The Bikini cleanup and reset- determined within the next five years tlement is planned to extend over a that a return to Enewetak is not pos- period of eight years to allow for matu- sible. ration of coconuts and other crops. The Atomic Energy Commission and Defense De- MARCH Kwajalein: Untreated sewage Is partment plan the first phase: cleanup piped directly into the lagoon near of radioactive debris on Bikini. The Ebeye. A Trust Territory health re- Trust Territory government assumes re- port etates: u...The shoreline water sponsibility for the second phase: re- is grossly polluted; most of the sam- planting the atoll, constructinghouses ple points being over one mlllion times and relocating the convnunity. the least acceptable standard set by Guam." Bikini: The radiation cleanup includes (continued on page 23) ,

j971 continued

therefore, stay on Majuro and one doc- 19 73 after completing certain “unspeci- tor comments: "The team was welcomed fied activities” currently underway on by the islanders who strongly desired the atoll. our investigation work."

"Time and again the mnnittee found that the people did not understand anything about their exposure, the possible effects on themselves and to their children and on their environment." Congress of Micronesia Report on Rongelap and Vtirik, Febru- ary, 1973. 1972 Rongelap: An agreement is made between the Trust Territory administra- tion and Marshall Islands elected lead- ENEWETAK ATOLL, SITE OF 43 ers that the annual Brookhaven medical ANNOUNCED NUCLEAR TESTS. %_,< survey in March will include three Ja- G panese medical specialists.

FEBRUARY Utirik/Rongelap: The Congre.ss MAY Enewetak: Five Enewetak leaders and of Micronesia creates a Special Joint their lawyers_lmake a brief visit to Ene- Committee to investigate the problems of wetak and ar$z&o.cked at the damage from the irradiated people living on Rongelap the 43 nuclear tests between 1948 and and Utirik Atolls. 1958. Very disturbing to the leaders was the information that one-half of a MARCH Rongelap: After the Brookhaven 4O-acre island had recently been strip- medical survey ship leaves for Rongelap, ped of soils in preparation for the Marshallese discover that the T.T. gov- Pacific Cratering Experiments (PACE). ernment has ignored the agreement, and The initial phases of the "unspecified only one Japanese doctor, who has no activities" which had already taken background in treatment of radiation place included 190 holes drilled into sickness or thyroid disease, is on board. the reefs and land for ejcplosive charges As a result, the Rongelap people refuse and 86 trenches dug in different parts to allow the Brookhaven doctors to ex- of the atoll, as well as detonation of amine them, until the U.S. agrees to in- six tons of explosives. clude independent doctors on their sur- vey‘ team. Enewetak: A draft EIS as required by

1972 DECEbBER The U.S. begins separate negotiations with the Mariana Islands toward that district becoming a U.S. commonwealth, after the rejection of this status by the rest of Micronesia.'. Military plans for an air base on Tinian Is- land are a focus of American interest in the Marianas.

APRIL Enewetak: The U.S. announces it NEPA was filed by the two Defense De- will surrender Enewetak by the end of (continued on page 24) i ; . I

REsmgMmoF~ 4 1970 continued DECKER Kwajalein: A new agreement is of rice, flour, sugar, and canned meat signed by Mid-Corridor landowners and for over two weeks. A typhoon in June the U.S. providing $420,000 per year destroyed the breadfruit crop. A ship (approximately $285 per person, based which arrived earlier brought them a on 1,470 people) to the people dis- large check for their trwt fund inter- placed by the missile teats. The est payment, but had no food or goods agreement has a five year review which they could buy with it. clause. OCTOBER Bikini: The AK announces that 1971 Bikini: The rehabilitation program coconut crabs can be eaten only in is still proceeding at a snail’s pace. limited numbers because they are radio- With erratic shipping and no air ser- active. As it grows, the crab6 eat vice, construction and agricultural their shells, which contain radioactive supplies arrive late. The replanting strontium 90, and concentrate high of coconuts at Bikini and Eneu Islands levels of radiation. is finally completed. I Bikini: Because of information on the radiological contamination of Bikini supplied by the AEC, the Kili council votes not to return the entire com- munity to Bikini at this time, but says it will not prevent individuals from returning.

Bikini: Three Bikini families move back to Bikini. They move into newly constructed houses on Bikini Island along with about 50 Marshallese work- ers involved in construction and main- tenance of the buildings.

1973 OCTOBER Enewetak: The results of ENEWETAERADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP CREW a highly sophisticated aerial radia- TAKING SOIL SAMPLES ON tion survey are published by the ABC Defense Nuclear Agency Photo as the 3-volume Enewetak Radiological Survey. This study provides a frame- work for the proposed nuclear cleanup DECEMBER Ujelang: Not placated by the operation. 1969 Trust Fund “compensation,” the Ujelang people declare their intention Enewetak: Runit Island in eastern Ene- with a notice in the Marshall Islands wetak Atoll, the site of 18 nuclear newspaper: “We, the representatives of tests, is quarantined. High concen- the displaced people of Enewetak are trations of plutonium on this island making public notice of our intent to mean habitation will not be possible return to our island of Enewetak before for 240,000 years. the end of 1972.” Kwajalein: The Kbeye population is of- 1972 FEBRUARY Ujelang: American offi- ficially estimated at 5,263 people cials are notified that unless the En- living on 66 acres. About 600 Marshal- ewetak people are granted permission to lese are employed by the missile return home, they will institute legal range, 200 work as domestics on Kwaj- action. alein and 139 other6 are employed by the Trust Territory on Ebeye. AUGUST 30 Ujelang: A supply ship ar- rives to find the people have been out (continued on page 25) 1972 continued I I partinent agencies sponsoring PACE, but in the Marshalls to conduct quarterly 1 the EIS was not made available to the visits to Rongelap. Complete medical a Enewetakese. surveys are still conducted yearly at Rongelap and every three years at Uti- 3 rik. "Our conclusion concerning the : human test on the people of Ronge- JANUARY Kwajalein: A eorld Health Or- I lap is that it was a great mistake ganization survey of Micronesia shows to permit the people of Rongelap that during a five year period, 1967- to return to their island in July 1971, there were "328 cases of cata- : 1957, without sufficient work hav- racts discharged from hospitals in the 8 ing been done to remove radioactive Trust Territory; .244of them, or 74% pollution from the island." were from the Marshalls." The report 3 Report of the Japanese medical notes: “The heavy exposure to micro- survey team to the Marshal1 wave radiation by the residents on Kwa- : Islands, December, 1971. jalein has been suspected by some peo- g ple as a possible cause of the inciden- m ce of cataracts in the Marshalls." The D SEPTEMBER Enewetak: The Enewetak people source of microwave radiation is the I file a law suit to halt all PACE activ- atoll's missile tracking radar, with I ities until the final Environmental Im- major installationson four islands and 1 smaller ones on others. 9:,? pact Statement (EIS) is prepared, charg- ti I ing a violation of the National Environ- I mental Policy Act provisions. MARCH 26 Ujelang: A NEPA required pub- 1 lit hearing on PACE takes place on Uje- I_ lang (see bmion page 30). OCTOBER Enevetak: A federal judge in a grants the Enewetak people a I temporary injunction against PACE ac- APRIL 4 Enewetak: Following the Ujelang fl tivities. hearing, a second public hearing on PACE a is held in Honolulu. Environmental a NOVEMBER Rongelap: John Anjain's son, groups, university students and faculty, m Lekoj, one year old .whenexposed to ra- lawyers, congressionalrepresentatives I diation on Rongelap in 1954, dies of and other citizens testify in opposition I myelogenous leukemia at the National to the PACE project. Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. I (At the age oLc 13, he was first taken I JUNE 8 Enewetalc:The U.S.Air Force calls m to the U.S. for removal of thyroid nod- off the PACE program in the face of ules; his mother, father, and two I court action by the Enewe& people and brothers have also had thyroid surgery). m aroused public opinion. I II Bikini man living on Kilir 1973 Utirik/Rongelap: Because of "Why is it you Americans are so the Marshallese insistence on improved smart and powerful that you can E medical treatment and evaluations, Bro- send men to the moon, but you can't 8 okhaven stations physician Knud Knudsen help us with our problems here on 8 Ki_.li?" I I I 1974 MRU-! With impetus gained from the separate Marianas negotiations, the m Marshall Islands Nitijela (Legislature) requests the U.S. to enter into direct status talks with the Marshall Islands, apart from the Congress of mcronesia, : vhich has been negotiating for all of Micronesia. In 1977, the U.S. begins separate political status negotiations with the hrshall Islands and in : addition tc the Congress of Micronesia. page 26) m (continued on - I ~ENloFfmPlE . .

1974 JUNE Kwajalein: The total Ameri- is extremely likely to have tragic con- can population in Kwajalein Atoll is sequences, particularly for the younger 4,114, including dependents, of which members of the inhabitants..." only 36 are military. 3,737 Americans live on 900 acre Kwajalein Island, 1975 APRIL Bnewetak: Iroij (chief) Jo- with the remainder on Roi Namur (292) anej Peter of Enewetak, appeals to a U. and four other islands. American ci- S. Armed Services subcommittee vilians work on Kwajalein as techni- to provide funding for the cleanup pro- cians involved in the missile testing, ject, so the people can return home. medical corpspeople, security guards, mechanics, electricians, bartenders, Enewetak: Lt. General Warren D. Johnson, cooks and other jobs needed for the head of the Defense Nuclear Agency, asks operation of the missile range. the U.S. Congress to fund the cleanup his agency will carry out. He cites Bikini: Representatives of the Kili the LJ.S.‘s “moral commitment” to return Council return to Bikini to inspect the the people to Enewetak. new houses and review the rehabilita- tion progress. JUNE Bikini: During regular monitoring of Bikini, radiological tests discover SEPTEMBER Enewetak: The ARC releases “higher levels of radioactivity than the "Draft Environmental Impact State- originally thought” and it “appears to ment - Cleanup, Rehabilitation and Re- be hotter or questionable as to safety,” settlement of Enewetak Atoll, Marshall states an Interior Department represen- Islands.” The EIS states that radio- tative. activity is much greater in the north- ern islands because a majority of the Bikini: An AEC survey points out that 43 nuclear blasts were conducted near some wells on Bikini Island are too these islands. Therefore, the EIS radioactive for drinking purposes. suggests no habitation in the north, although about half of the people wish AUGUST Bikini: ABC data on local foods to return to the northern island of grown on Bikini Island point to the Enjebi, their ancestral home. The EIS need to prohibit consumption of pandan- proposes dumping radioactive soil and us, breadfruit and coconut crabs. debris from the other islands in Ene- wetak into an atomic bomb crater on Enewetak: The U.S. Congress refuses to Runit Island. The radioactive materi- approve funds to cleanup the radio- al would then be mixed with cement to active debris on Enewetak.Atoll. form a massive concrete dome. Bikini: During medical tests, urine DECEMBER Enewetak: The Environmental samples from the 100 people living on Protection Agency in a review of the Bikini show the presence of low levels cleanup plan, states: "The fact that of plutonium 239 and 240. Dr. Conard crater entombment is only a semi-per- of Brookhaven comments that these find- manent solution should be recognized." ings “are probably not radiologically significant.” Enewetak: The cleanup plan is question- ed by Edward Martell, a scientist for- OCTOBER Bikini: The Bikinians file a >merly involved in the nuclear testing law suit in U.S. federal court, demand- program in the Marshalls. He expresses ing that a complete scientific survey concern over the "very doubtful merits of Bikini and the northern Marshall Is- of proceeding with the resettlement of lands be conducted. The law suit main- Enewetak Atoll on the basis of the re- tains that the U.S. possesses and has commendations of a Task Group assembled used highly sophisticated technical by the ABC and the Department of De- equipment to measure radiation at Ene- fense. The resettlement of such sites (continued on page 27) 25 :z ’ ~r~mmmmmmmmmrm8 IVEWONSTESTfNG nm1mmmm11mmmmmm~

i z I 1975 APRIL Rongelap: Nelson Anjain tion. At lower doses, as in the adult I of Rongelap Atoll, participates in the group, a greater number of cells would 1 : first Conference for a Nuclear Free Pa- be spared for malignant transformation." m cific held in , , seeking inter- : national support for the Marshallese. DECEMBER Utirik: The people refuse to : The 93 representatives of 22 Pacific and submit to a quarterly examination by Dr. m : countries at the conference Knudsen of Brookhaven. The L.A. Tties 8 strongly endorse the Rongelap peoples' points to a "monumental culture claShll I : attempt to gain independent medical aid. between AEC doctors and the Utirik peo- I ple as the cause of the peoples' refusal 1 : of the medical examinatibn.- i I 1976 Rongelap/Utirik:A Brookhaven : e report shows that to date, 20 out of 29, 1977 I or 69% of the Rongelap children who were JUNE Rongelap/Utirik: The U.S. I under 10 years old in 1954 have develop- Congress approves more than $1 million m 3 ed thyroid tumors. Of the total Ronge- in compensation for the inhabitants of lap population of 86 exposed in 1954, Rongelap and Utirik who were exposed to : 30, or 35% have developed thyroid tumors; radiation in 1954. A payment of $25,000 at Utirik, 10 out of 157 or 6% of the will be made to anyone who has had a : people who were exposed in 1954 have de- thyroid removed or has developed hy$& veloped thyroid tumors. thyroidism; to anyone who develops a ra- : diation related malignancy such as leu- : Utirik: The people of Utirik, whose kemia; and $~OO,OOO to the survivors of t original exposure in 1954 of 14 rads any exposed&&son who dies. $100,000 I was less than one-twelfth of the Ronge- each is set aside for Rongelap, Utirik, lap peoples' exposure, suddenly show a and Bikini for construction of community : higher rate of thyroid cancer. This facilities. The law provides that: "A thyroid cancer took 22 years to develop. payment made under the provisions of : this section shall be in full settle- ment and discharge of all claims against : JULY Utirik: The people react angrily to the U.S. government." $1,000 is to be this development because for 22 years provided to each of the original 157 : the Brookhaven doctors have told the peo- Utirik people exposed to radiation in ple not to expect any adverse effects 1954. from their contamination. In a letter to : the Atomic Energy Commission, the Utirik people say they "are very dis- 1978’ . t tressed and angry as a result of the AUGUST Northern Marshalls: A ! radiation. The people feel that the (AEC) Department of Energy (DOE) report re- : program is in need of vast changes." veals that in addition to Bikini, Enewe- tak, Rongelap and Utirik, ten other 5 : Rongelap/Utirik: Brookhaven's 22 year atolls or single islands "received inter- summary of medical findings points out mediate range fallout from one or more : : the reason for a higher amount of thy- of the megaton range tests;"'including I roid cancers in the people exposed to Ailinginae, Ailuk, Bikar, Jemo, Likiep, B : low doses, rather than in those exposed Mejit, Rongerik, Taka,;Ujelang, and I I to high doses: "...The thyroid doses in Wotho. This information, that at least fl the Rongelap children (700-1,400 rads) 1,600 more Marshallese were contaminated u : were high enough to cause many cells to with radiation, is not released until m die...and thus reduce the number of 20 years after the nuclear testing stop- # : cells at risk for malignant transfonna- ped. I : (continued on.page 28) I I REsTnmNroFPEmE 1975 continued wetak, but has retused to employ it at Kwajalein: Mid-Corridor landowners and Bikini. the U.S. Pign the first five year exten- sion of the 1970 agreement for use of Kwajalein: The Trust Territory begins their islands. The new agreement calls "Uperation Exodus," an attempt to get for payment by the U.S. of $704,000 a unemployed people to leave overcrowded year ($352 per capita based on 2,000 Ebeye and return to their home islands. eligible). About 300 people leave voluntarily. More people, however, continue to mi- JULY Kwajalein: U.S.House of Representa- grate to Ebeye; others refuse to leave. tives subcommittee on Territorial and Operation Exodus fails to reduce the Insular Affairs holds hearings on Ebeye population. and Majuro chaired by Rep. Patsy Mink. After hearing Marshallese testimony .iCwajalein:Of the 7,049 people on Ebeye, about job and pay discrimination on Kwa- only 53% (3,717 are from Kwajalein jalein, Ebeye residents' limited access Atoll, while 3,067 are from other atolls to the excellent Kwajalein hospital and in the Marshalls, 167 from other parts the social problems from overcrowding on of Micronesia, 27 are from and Ebeye, Rep. Mink calls the situation on and 71 from the U.S. Ebeye t~a patent violation of basic human rights," and demands strong corrective Kwajalein: A severe outbreak of flu fol- action on the parts of the Defense and lowed by many cases of spinal meningitis Interior Departments. No action follows. on Ebeye leaves 12 dead and two children with permanent brain damage. Enewetak: The U.S.Congress approves funding for the Enewetak cleanup, to be DECEMBER Bikini: The U.S. agrees to con- coordinated by the Defense Nuclear duct an aerial radiation survey of the Agency. Congress authorizes $20 mil- northern Marshalls as a result of the lion and military logistic support for Bikinians' law suit. Three years of the massive cleanup, scheduled to take bureaucratic infighting follow among the three years. departments of State, Interior and Ener- gy (formerly ABC) over the costs and 1977 MARCH Enewetak: About 50 of the which agency will take responsibility Enewetak people who have lived on Uje- for the survey. lang in a U.S.-imposed exile since 1947, returned to Japtan Island in southern Enewetak Atoll to help in the “As with the shortage of water, rehabilitation program. the lack of proper sanitary facil- ities is a major cause of the high MAY Enewetak: The cleanup operation at rate of sickness on Ebeye. Addition- Enewetak begins. About 700 Army men ally, foul odors and visible pollu- and civilians arrive for the first tion are part of the n&&.2 envl- phase. The cleanup must remove an es- ronment in which people must live timated 125,000 cubic yards of non-con- and work and the children must taminated debris, to be dumped In the play." ocean, and about 100,000 cubic yards "Ebeye Redevelo$ment"Study, of soil and debris contaminated with Trust Terricdry Goverrnnent, plutonium and other radionuclidee, to April 1978. be put in a bomb crater on Runit Island and sealed with a cement cap.

1976 Kwajalein: The more than 1,000 Mar- Bikini: The level of radioactive stron- shallese work on Kwajalein primarily at tium 90 in well water on Bikini Xsland service and maintenance jobs: office is found to exceed the U.S. m clerks, equipment operators, taxi driv- limits. ers, gardeners, cooks, etc., to keep the missile range functioning. (contintud oawa 29) _ . 4 1

x - ~mmmmmmmmmmmmm~ wEAfQNsTEsnNG 8mmmmmmmmmmmmmm~ 1978 continued i z "The theory was put forth that MAY Rongelap/Utlrik:Nelson Anjain, Ll- 1 Vtirik received-low radiation so jon Eknilang and Almira Matayoshi from 1 a detailed follow up was not nec- Rongelap, Norman Matthew from Utirik essary. Now the facts of the thy- and Alvin Jacklick from Kwajalein, take I roid cancer at Vtirik have stronq- part in the Nuclear Free Pacific Con- ly shown that the theory was wrong. ference/l980 in Hawaii. The conference : The people ask if this thyroid endorses proposals for supporting and I problem has suddenly occurred, is carrying out a medical survey independ- I it not possible that the experts end of the Brookhaven (DOE) program. have been wrong for so many years : and that more problems will occur MAY Northern Marshalls: The U.S. Congress B in the future?" approves Public Law 96-205, directing Konrad Kotrady,M.D., a former the Secretary of the Interior to provide Brookhaven resident physician a medical program for the people of Bi- in the Marshall Islands. kini, Enewetak, Rongelap, Utirik and any other islands who may be found to be suffering from radiation related ill- SEPTEMBER Northern Marshalls: A radio- nesses. logical survey of the Northern Marshall Islands, forced by the Bikinians' 1975 JULY Northern Marshalls: An American lawsuit, begins with Lawrence Livermore medical doctor, Reuben Merliss, ’ *s Laboratory scientists (on contract with the Marshall Islands for two weeks,"FL n- the DOE) collecting soil, water and terviewing and informally examining food samples. people from different atolls. He re- ’ ports: “Th~;,~eople. . .have no great

1979 FEBRUARY Rongelap: Following completion of the Northern Marshalls- radiological survey, DOE scientists warn Rongelap people not to visit or gather food on the northern islands in their atoll because of unsafe radiation levels

MAY Kwajalein: Marshall Islands Govem- ment representatives,during a Defense Department briefing in Washington, D.C. learn that missiles fired into Kwaja-.. lein lagoon bontain radioactive uranium.

1980 APRIL Rongelap: John Anjain and Julian Riklon from_Rongelap participate in the first Citizens’ Hearings for Ra- diation Victims in Washington, D.C. The Hearings provide an opportunity for ex- change among and publicity for radiation victims, including: military veterans exposed to nuclear testing, nuclear power workers, miners and others exposed to uranium, and civilians exposed to N- PREPARING COPRA (DRIED COCONUT) testing near the . FOR MARKET. Photo by Robert Wenkarn. (continued on page 30) 1977 continued

JUNE Bikini: A Department of Energy tertainment provided by bars, TV, films (DOE) study based 'on 1975 data states: and other activities is attractive; 4) "All living patterns involving Bikini many find work at Kwajalein exciting Island exceed Federal (radiation) and it has the highest rate of pay a- guidelines for 30 year population vailable in Micronesia. doses."

OCTOBER Bikini: U.S. scientists record 0 . ..At Kwajalein 7 American an 11-fold increase in radioactive trained and liceqsed physicians cesium 137 in the 130 people living on care for a population of approxi- Bikini, who are taking in higher than mately 3,000 residents. At Ebeye "acceptable" concentrations of cancer one Trust Territory physician and causing radiation from the water and one volunteer physician care for food growin in the island's still radio- a population estimated to be 7,000 active soil. to 8,000." Konrad Kotrady,M.D., U.S.House Bikini: The DOE tells the people living Territorial and Insular Affairs on Bikini Island to eat only one coco- Subconmittee Hearings, Majuro, nut per day, rather than their normal July 14, 1976. 5 to 10, and begins sending in all food for consumption to Bikini. Kwajalein: The Alexander study notes Bikini: Trust Territoy field trip ship that while American civilian employees service to Bikini is erratic. Food im- of the missile range can shop at all ; ports arrive late forcing people to eat the stores with subsidized low prices the radioactive foods grown on Bikini. on Kwajalein (average of 35-50% less than Ebeye prices), similar to a mili- Kwajalein: Although the Ebeye Field tary post exchange, Marshnllese KMR Hospital is just three years old, its employees cannot. iron roof is deteriorated and leaking badly. During rainstorms the inside of MARCH 1 Kwajalein: With negotiations at the hospital is flooded with one to two a standstill, Handel Dribo leads a re- inches of water. occupation of Omelek. Lack of compensa- tion, only limited access to his islands DECEMBER Kwajalein: Handel Dribo leads for food growing and overcrowding on 40 landowners in an occupation of - Ebeye force Dribo's action. lek and two other small islands in the Mid-Corridor, protesting lack of compen- sation for their use by the Army. Al- "Bikini may be the only global though these islands are in the Mid-Cor- source of data on humans where ridor, they are not covered by the 1970 intake via ingestion is thought lease agreement. The Marshallese with- to contribute the major fraction draw after U.S. officials promise a of plutonium body burden...It is prompt settlement. possibly the best available source of data for evaluating the transfer 1978 JANUARY Kwajalein: A study by' Dr. of plutonium across the gut wall William Alexander, "Wage Labor,-Urbani- after being incorporated into bio- zation and Cultural Change in'the Plar- logical systems." shall Islands" cites the reasons people Lawrence Livermore Laboratory live on Ebeye: 1) many families are Study on Bikini, 1977. supporting their children in high school or college with wages earned at Kwaja- lein; 2) while the hospital care is "ap- APRIL 7 Kwajalein: The U.S.Ambassador palling" by U.S. standards, it is better to the Micronesian Status Negotiations, than on the outer islands; 3) the en- (continued on page 31) 1980 continued faith in these (DOE) physicians...1 am PACE HEARING ON UJELANG - 1973 also impressed with.the failure of the Seven PACE military and civilian physicians to communicate findings and personnel, Trust Territory Officials, prognosis to the people...These basic interpreters, hearing officers, re- rights of a patient have been in a porters and others arrived by ship large part ignored...1 found very few at Vjelang to find the community well Marshallese who were acquainted with prepared for their visit. People the nature of their pathology. I re- come out in small boats wearing card- ject firmly the thought that the people board signs saying "ENANA PACE" (PACE were too primitive or uneducated to ab- IS BAD). The Americans go through a sorb such information, since I have welcoming arch to shake hands with found this not to be true." the entire community, many of whom are wearing "ENANA PACE" signs. . OCTOBER U.S.: Scientists with the U.S. PACE officials did not take the Center for Disease Control report that prospect of opposition seriously. the number of leukemias found in ser- "Local opposition is a fact of life vicemen exposed to the "Smoky@'nuclear in so many military projects," com- test in 1957 is almost three times the ments one PACE representative. expected rate. The Americans spend a day and a half presenting slide shows, films +,+ and photographs of proposed PACE ti "For me and the other people on high explosive tests. They argue Rongelap, it is life which matters that "the tests would help to pro- most. For you it is facts and fig- tect the free;world and were thus ures. We want our life and our in the inte&& of all present." health. In all the years you‘ve The Enewetak magistrate responds come to our Island, you've never to PACE officials: "My people and I once treated us as people. You've ...do not like PACE; we do not want never sat down among us and really PACE to continue; and we want you to helped us honestly about our prob- take this message to your people." lems. You have told people that The magistrate said if PACE is as the 'worst is over,' then Lekoj safe for the atoll as the Americans Anjain died. I am very worried say it is, President Nixon and High that we will suffer again and again." Commissioner Johnston should be told Nelson Anjain, Magistrate of this and the PACE tests could take Ronyelap in a 1975 letter to place,near the White House and the Dr. Robert Conard, Brookhaven Commissioner's residence. During National Laboratory. occasional pauses in the magistrate's speech, the people respond in unison with a resounding "PACE is BAD." DECEMBER Northern Marshalls: Loma Linda Other members of the tmnmni ty University completes a study for the speak, questioning the morality of Interior Department on the proposed PACE and suggesting that if the medical program according to PL 96-205. Americans went ahead they would At an Interior Department-sponsored sail to Enewetak to be killed in meeting in Washington, D.C., spokes- the explosions. At the end, the people for the Marshall Islands Govern- magistrate thanked the Americans ment state-their "most strenuous excep- tion to the statement in...the Loma for coming, and presented gifts of Linda report that 'there are minimal ra- handicrafts to them; the people sang diation related health effects evident three songs, one "Oh, how I love my I atoll" in a very emotional conclu- in the Marshalls.' The statement in the The Americans were taken a- report apparently was based entirely on sion. : back, one commenting, "What the hell 1 a cursory review of incomplete medical records, brief interviews with a limit- is going on here?" I (continued on page 32) 1 - v- RESEIWMENTOFPEOPl.E

7978 continued Peter Rosenblatt, agrees to renegotiate nounces plans to move the people from U.S. payments forwse of Kwajalein, end- Bikini "within 75 to 90 days." ing the occupation of the Mid-Corridor Islands. JULY Klli: Department of Interior offi- cial John DeYoung describes Kill Is- APRIL Kwajalein: A Trust Territoy study, land's school, community facilities and "Ebeye Redevelopment, Gugeegue and homes as being "awfully shabby." Be- Carlson Development" again reveals se- cause Kili has been considered the Bi- rious public health hazards on Ebeye: kinians temporary home since 1948, lit- 08,000 people live on just 66 acres, tle money has been appropriated for up- giving it an extrapolated population keep and maintenance of houses, or for density of 65,000 people per square building permanent community facilities. mile (compared to Washington, D.C. with 12,400 per square mile); SEPTEMBER Bikini: Trust Territory offi- l Most of the housing is substandard cials arrive at Bikini to re-evacuate and deteriorating; the 139 people living on the atoll. 036% of the available work force is unemployed; Bikini: The Northern Marshalls radiolo- aMore than 50% of the people are gical survey, forced by the Bikinians' under 14 years old; 1975 lawsuit, is finally begun, after l The Ebeye Hospital is "in poor con- the people are relocated from Bikini. dition" and "equipment, supplies and staffing are also major problems...;" Kwajalein: An annual Interior Depart- *The electrical power plant )lsys- ment report states: "No segregation... ternis severely limited and results in exists in the Trust Territory in either numerous brownouts...." the public or the non-public schools. Children of any race, religion or color Kwajalein: The American population on may attend any school...in the Trust Kwajalein Island is estimated at 3,000. Territory." Marshallese living on Ebeye The amenities provided for the Ameri- cannot send their children to high cans include air conditioned housing, a school on Kwajalein, however, even hospital staffed by seven medical doc- though Ebeye doesn't have one. tors, a high school, tennis and hand- ball courts, swimming pools, parks, a golf course, bowling alley, teen club "On July 4th, 1976, only a mat- and free movies. ter of hours after T.T.Acting High Commissioner Peter Coleman had fin- Kwajalein: Ebeye has one basket .ball ished telling the United Nations court and a baseball field, and no Trusteeship Council there was no other recreational facilities. To gain segregation at h'vajalein(a state- access to Kwajalein, Marshallese must ment he would not dare make on obtain a visitors pass issued in limit- Ebeyel, the command of Kwajalein ed numbers for business purposes, such Missile Range celebrated the Amer- as going to the airport, bank or Trust icon Bicentennial by closing Kwa- Territory office. jalefn Island to any Marshallese ...So American Independence was Bikini: ?ledical examinations reveal ra- celebrated at Kwajalein Atoll by diation levels in many of the 139 peo- enforcement of all out and total ple on Bikini well above the U.S. maxi- segregation." mum "permissible" level. Congress of Micronesia Repre- sentative Ataji Balos, July, MY Bikini: Interior Department offi- 1976. cials describe the 75% increase in ra- dioactive cesium found in the people as "incredible." Interior Department an- (continued on page 33) mm~mmmmmmmmmmm WEAPONS TESTING mmmmmmm~mmmmmmm c I 1 1980 continued ed number of Harshallese citizens and a nAcwrding to (a DOE) survey... quick reading, without independent ana- the radiation on Rongelap, espe- lysis, of reports prepared by the Brook- cially in the northern part of the haven National Laboratory." atoll, is higher than the level of

JANUARY The Marshall Islands and the U.S. initial a Compact of Free Associa- tion, indicating general approval of this status, which gives the Marshall Islands control over their internal and foreign affairs, to the degree that this control doesn't conflict with U.S. authority for security and defense.

1981 U.S.: American ex-military men radiation on Eneu in Bikini...We 1 exposed to radiation during nuclear are told by DOE doctors not to eat tests at Bikini and Enewetak, report an the food on the land and fish in : increasing rate of sickness in them- the ocean near these islands.... selves and their children, including More alarming is the fact that we : dizzy spells, continuous fatigue, leg have been eating the food and liv- t.!g@ and back aches, skin problems, tumors, ing on these islands since the AX cataracts, cancers, sterility, and de- told us it was safe in 1957." formed and mentally retarded children. John Anjain, former magistrate Many of these problems began within of Rongel$ii.1980. weeks or months of their radiation ex- posure, but the U.S. Veterans Adminis- tration refuses to acknowledge these disabilities as "service-related." "There was a general complaint of diming vision some five or six years ago on Utirik, probably due APRIL Northern Marshalls: The Marshall to an increased incidence of cata- Islands Atomic Testing Litigation Pro- racts. None of the people from ject, a consortium of U.S. law firms, Utirik that I spoke to told me announces the filing of multi-million that any physician examined their dollar per.sonal injury claims against eyes in such a way as to be able the U.S. government on behalf of more to recognize cataracts. Instead, than 600 Marshallese; apprbximately I was told that tw& boxes of eye- 1,500 more individual lawsuits will be glasses were shipped to the island filed, state the attorneys. In addi- being of various models and frames, tion, cases seeking compensation for and the people were to wme in and loss and damage of land for 13 atolls choose whichever eyeglass seemed and one island in the northern Marshalls to help them. And this was the will be filed. sum of investigationand treatment of the eye problems--of what I HAY Rongelap: Senator Jeton Anjain, a think is a unique epidemic of ca- '.member 6f the Marshall Islands Nitijela taracts. American citizens would (legislature) attends the Radiation Vic- not likely tolerate such handling. tims Hearings in Salt Lake City, Utah. At least my patients would not." The Hearings primarily focus on civil- Rueben Merliss, M.D., follOWing ians and servicemen who were exposed to a July, 1980 visit to the Mar- radiation from the Nevada nuclear test shall Islands. site.

(continuedon page 3L) -oFPEoPE

1970 continued ~VEMBER Kwajalein: Ebeye Public Works Director, Ching Yee, writes to the High Commissioner requestin immediate ac- tion be taken to upgrade the rapidly deteriorating Ebeye sewer system.

1979 MAY Kwajalein: Trust Territory headquarters does not respond to the November request for help and the en- tire sewer system on Ebeye collapses. Senator Imada Kabua, a resident of Ebeye, reports "when I flush my toilet, waste water gushes into my sink."

Bikini: Representatives of the Bikini- ans travel .to Hawaii and meet with state government officials to discuss the pos- sibility of their relocating the entire Bikini community on the island of Ha- waii. Later, the Bikinians visit Wake and Midway islands as well as other is- lands in the Marshalls seeking an al- ternative to Kili.,,Thesearch proves unfruitful. MORE THAN 8,000 MARSHALLESE LIVE ON TINY 78-ACRE EBEYE ISLAND; KWAJALEIN ISLAND, THREE MILES JULY Kwajalein: Hundreds of Kwajalein AWAY, IS AT THE TOP OF THE PllOTO. Island, Mid-Corridor and Roi Namur land- owners occupy their off limits islands in the missile range, protesting un- SEPTEMBER KwaJalc~iII: KW;I_~;I1c*i II 1\t 01 1 livable conditions on Ebeye. landowners sign a onc’-yla;lr 1 C’:ISC ;ti):r~*~‘- ment with the U.S. providin;: them with Kwajalein: The Roi Namur people were $9.9 million in compcns~tion. given no compensation when they were relocated. As the occupation of Roi Enewetak: The massive 370-foot witlc* con Namur begins, the Marshallese, led by Crete dome covering the plutonium con- Senators Imada Kabua and Jolle Lojkar, taminated soil and other dc,bris is c’om- are confronted as'they land on the plctcc! on Runit Island. Runi t wi 11 bc beach by American security guards. Ka- off li.mits forever. bua is clubbed by a security guard and sustains a five-inch bruise on his ribs Enewetak: The DOE’publishes (in both No further incidents occur; the two Marshallese and English) a full color week occupation ends when the U.S. information booklet entitled “The Ene- agrees to renegotiate the 1964 Kwaja- wetak Atoll Today,” about the rodio- lein Island lease and to provide com- logical status of the atoll. It is pensation to the people of Roi Namur. criticized by Marshallesc from dif- ferent islands as attempting to niini- Bikini : After reviewing the results of mize the potential hazards tq rhe the aerial radiological survey of Biki- people if they return. ni, an Interior Department reprcsenta- tive states: I’.. .The new data reaffirm- Enevctak: Two Hrookhavcn National La- ed that Bikini Island could not be boratory scientists, Drs. Flichaei used by the people of Bikini for at Bcndcr and Bertrand Rrill , hired by least the next 30 years and possibly Xicronesian Legal Services to advise the next 60 years....Thc island of Eneu the Encwctak pcoplc, state in a meet- must be placed off limits...for at ing with the Encwctakesc that a ret*lrn least another 20-25 years.” , (continued on page 35) WNCRETE DOME COVERING RADIOACTIVE DEBRIS ON RUNIT ISLAND, ENEWETAK Defense NuclizarAgency-Photo ;-RmmaENToFPEoPlE” I ' 1975 continued

to northern Enjebi Island poses little ment merchandise,. in particular "un- health threat to the people: "Cancer authorized goods purchased from mortality in the lifetime of the popu- the inexpensive Kwajalein stores, found lation is estimated to be less than a in Marshallese belongings are confis- single (additional)case." cated.

SEPTEMBER Bikini: The DOE publishes in "The people of Kwajalein do not Marshallese and English a full color recognize the validity of tba t booklet entitled: "The Meaning of Ra- lease. When it was negotiated, the diation at Bikini Atoll." ~nny promised to help the people of Ebeye with social and ewnomic OCTOBER Bikini: DOE scientists call a problems. So did the Trust Terri- meeting to present the booklets to the tory. That lease was signed on Bikini people living on Kili. It says the basis of those promises. Those that the exposure of the Bikini pe/ople promises have not been kept." would be within U.S. radiation stnn- Marshall Islands Representative dards if they return to Eneu Tslnnd nt Ataji Bales, 1976. Bikini, import SO% of their food and spend not more than 10% of their time on Bikini Island. Then Senator Hcnchi Enewetak: The 200 inhabitants of Enjebi Balos asks the DOE scientists why thry Island vote to return to their island now have this position when just two in the north, despite the recommenda- years ago government officials said tion of the representativesof the DOE Eneu Island would be off limits for 20 and the Interior Dipartment against to 25 years. The scientists reply thilt resettlementof Enjebi at this time they have no knowledge of such stntc- because of the higher radiation levels ments. still present from the ten nuclear tests conducted on the one-third of a "The population of Encwetak has square mile island. to know that a value judgement has been made for them, 1980 MARCH Enewetak: The Defense Nu- namely that induction of cancer is clear Agency announces that the Enewe- their only wncern. They may, if tak cleanup is finished. The total informed about hypothyroidism, a- cost of the cleanup and rehabilitation plastic anemia, premature aging, (replanting,house construction,etc.) benign tumors and other such dis- phases is $218 million. orders, make a different judge- merit." APRIL Enewetak: The entire Enewetak Dr. Rosalie Bertell, commenting population returns for ceremonies mark- on the Bender and Brill Enewe- ing their long awaited return to their tak study (see 1979). atoll.

MY Enewetak: The Enewetak Atoll Master Enewetak: Actual rcscttlc*mc.ntheRins Plan designates islands within tl:ree with about 500 people moving to three miles of off limits Runit Island as of the southern islands: ~clctfrcn,.Inptnn safe for picnics and food gathering. and Enewetak.

DECEMBER Enewctak: The Interior Depart- MAY Kwajalein: The commander of ment urges the Congress to approve and Kwajalein Missile Range, Colonel Peter set aside funds for n rcs&ttlcment of Wittereid, following the recommendation of the CIA, authorizes Kwajalein secu- Enjebi Island at n future dntc when radiation levels drop to "permissible" rity police to search Harshallese who enter and leave Kwajaleln, Any govern- levels. (continued on page 37) 35 . soufKEs Enewetak Operation." Washington,D.C. Abraham, John. Magistrate of Enewetak, April, 1980. et al. Petition to the Trusteeship Department of Energy. "Announced U.S. Council, United Nations, New York. Nuclear Test Statistics." Dec.31,1978. June 1, 1968. - "Northern Marshall Islands Aerial Alcalay, Glenn. "Marshall Islands Field Radiation Survey." Washington,D.C., Report: Cultural Impact of the U. S. November, 1978. Atomic Testing Program." Anthropology _.“The Meaning of Radiation At Bikini Dept., Livingston College, Rutgers Atoll." Washington,D.C., Sept. 1980. University, New Brunswick, N.J. 08903 _."The Enewetak Atoll Today." Wash- (April 7, 1981). ington, D.C., Sept. 1979. ."The Aftermath of Bikini." The Em- Dever, Gregory, M.D. "Ebeye, Marshall -togist, December 198G. Islands: A Public Health Hazard." Alexander, William. Wage Labor, &ban- Micronesia Support Committee, July izaticm, and Cuttumt Change in the 1978. Marsha~Z Iskmd-s. January 1978: Ph.D. Environmental Protection Agency. "Com- Thesis prepared for the New School ments on Draft EIS-Cleanup, Rehabi- for Social Research, N. Y. litation and Resettlement of Enewe- Atomic Energy Commission. "Report of tak Atoll, Marshall Islands." Dec. Ad Hoc Committee to Evaluate the Ra- 12, 1974. diological Hazards of Resettlement of General Accounting Office. "Enewetak Bikini Atoll." 1969. Atoll - Cleaning Up Nuclear Contami- Balos, Ataji. "Field Trip Report.“ nation." PSAD-79-54. May 8, 1979. Nov. 18, 1967, Trust Territory of Gensuikin Medical Team. "Report on WY the Pacific Islands. Investigation of Damage Done by the- Bender, Michael A. and A. Bertrand Bikini Hydrogen Bomb Test to the Peo- Brill. "Assessment of Radiation ple of the Marshall Islands." Rev. ed. ’ Health Effects of the Resettlement of Feb. 1973.:&nsuikin,, 4th fl. Akimoto Enewetak Atoll." National Cytogene- Bldg., 2-1‘9-i=-Tsukasa-cho,Chiyoda-ku, tics, Inc., Valentine Rd., Shorham, Tokyo, Japan. N. Y. 22786. Oct. 12, 1979. . " - The Nu- Brim, Raymond E. and Patricia Condon. clear Tests - A Chronology, 1767-1980." "Another A-Bomb Cover-Up." The Wash- (Private Bag, Wellesley St., P.O., ington Monthly, January 1981. Auckland, ). 1980. Bryan, E. H. Guide to Place Names in Hines, Neal 0. : An Ac- the Trust Territory of the Pacific count of the RadiobioZogical Studies Islands. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bishop in 'thePacific, 1946-1961.Seattle: Museum Press, 1971. University of Washington Press. 1962. Conard, Robert, M.D. "Thyroid Nodules Holmes, William John, M.D. 'Cataract as a'Late Sequela of Radioactive Fall- Survey - Trust Territory.of the Paci- out." Upton, N.Y.:Brookhaven.National fic Is." (WPRO-0901) World Health.Or- .Laboratory(BNL) 1975. ganization, Jan. 15, 1973. _."A Twenty Year Review of Medical John, Hertes. Enewetak Magistrate, Findings in a Marshallese Population Statement at United Nations Trustee- Accidentally Exposed to Radioactive. ship Council, 48th Session. May 21, Fallout." Upton, N.Y.:Brookhaven Na- 1981. tional Laboratory (BNL) 1975. Johnson, Giff. "Occupying Kwajalein." . "Summary of Thyroid Findings in Pacific IsZands Monthly. Sept. 1979. xrshallese 22 Years after Exposure . "Paradise Lost." The Bulktin of to Radioactive Fallout." Upton, N.Y.: The Atomic Scientists. Dec. 1980. BNL, 1977. -__ Juda, Tomaki, et al, vs. the United ."The Radiological Status of the States of America: "Petition in the Bikini People: A Summary Report.*' Nature of a Class Action for Just Com- Upton, N.Y.: BNL, Sept. 20, 1978. pensation for Unlawful Takings of Congress of Micronesia. "Special Joint Property and for Damages for Breaches Committee Concerning Rongelap and of Fiduciary Responsibility." U.S. Utirik: 1973 Report." Kolonia, Pona- Court.of Claims, Washington, D. C. pe 96941, 1973. (No. 172-81L), March 16, 1981. Defense Nuclear Agency. "Fact Sheet- 88 (continued on page 38) 1981 JANUARY Kwajalein: U.S. and Marshall though it a) allowedthe Bikinians to Islands government negotiators make pub- remain at the atoll and receive poten- lic an agreement drafted as part of the tially dangerous amounts of radiation; Free AssociationCompmt which will give and b) knew as early as 1974 that seri- the U.S. "free acceor to and unrestricted ous questions existed as to the atoll's control"of the KwajaleinMissile Range safety." for 30 years,with 100 year authority for military "denial" (the right to foreclose MAY Bikini: The Marshall Islands govern. access to Kwajalein to any third nation ment confirms that it was approached by for military purposes). the Japanese government about the possi. bility of using Bikini to store nuclear waste. Bikini representatives, not of- "The United States told us in ficially notifded of the discussions, 1978,when we ware moved from express "shock" at the proposal. Bikini a sewnd time, that it would 'undertakea program for the Enewetak: Enewetak leaders petition the permanent rehabilitation of Kili.' United Nations Trusteeship Council to No action has been taken in over continue the Trusteeship arrangement two years to make Kili a permanent with the U.S. after the agreement has home..." been terminated for the rest of Micro-. Senator Henchi Bales, Bikini nesia. 2x011, 1981.

MARCH Kwajalein: Senator Imada Kabua, a Kwajalein landowner, criticizes the draft Missile Range agreement because it con- tains "no language about how we are going to be treated as people." Kabua states that Kwajalein landowners were not in- cluded in the negotiations and he is "concerned that there may be 30 more years of treatment as second class people in our homeland, with one standard of living for the Americans who live on Kwajalein and another for the Marshal- lese community on Ebeye."

Enewetak: Approximately 100 Enewetak U.S. people return to Ujelang after living ARMY MEN CONSTRUCTING DOME ON on Enewetak since October. They cite RUNIT ISLAND, ENEWETAK; PAPER lack of coconuts and other fresh fruits RESPIRATORS ARE WORN TO PREVENT available, nothing to do on Enewetak INHALATION OF PLUTONIUM PARTICLES. and fear of remaining radiation on the Defense Nuclear Agency Photo. island. i Bikini: The Bikinians file a class ac- JUNE Kvajalein: A U.S. District Court tion suit against the U.S. government judge, in response to Kvajalein resident seeking $450 million in compensation. Kinoj Mavilon's lawsuit seeking a The suit charges, among other things, court order stopping the U.S. Army's that the U.S. "breached its fiduciary "search and seizure" policy against obligations to the Rikinians by failing Marshallese, rules in favor of the Army, from 1972 to 1978 to conduct a thorough not.ing that the "base commander has in- radiological survey of Bikini...even (continued on page 39) Kabua, Kabua vs. United States. "Opin- Siren, Nachsa b Donna L. Scheuring. ion of U.S.Court of Claims." 546 F "Murky Waters of Micronesia: A Bac- 2nd (P.383), Washington,D.C. 1976. teriologic Water Pollution Survey Kiste, Robert C. !PheBikirzians: A Study of Micronesia." Trust Territory Health in Forced Migratiari.Menlo Park, Ca.: Services. Salpan. March 1970. Cummings Publishing Co., 1974. Takeuchi, Floyd K. "Enewetak: A Nuclear _. "The People of Enewetak vs. The Legacy." Glimpses. Fall, 1980. U.S. Department of Defense." Published Tate, Merze and Doris M. Eull. "Effects in Ethics in Cultml Anthropotogy, of Nuclear Explosions on Pacific Is- M. Rynkiewich & J. Spradley, eds. landers." Pacific Etitorica2 Review. New York: John Wiley 6 Sons. 1976. Berkeley: U. California Press.Nov.1964. Kotrady, Konrad, M.D. "The Brookhaven Tobin,Jack. "Special Field Study - Uje- Medical Program to Detect Radiation lang Atoll (Feb 17 - March 29,1955)." Effects in Marshallese People: A Com- Trust Territory of the Pacific Is., parison of the Peoples' vs. the Pro- April 4, 1955. gram's Attitudes." Jan.1,1977'.(un- _. "Ebeye-KwajaleinReport." Community published, available from M.S.C.). Development Office to Marshalls Dis- Kwajalein Missile Range Directorate. trict AdministratorRepresentative, "Environmental Impact Assessment of Kwajalein. July 19, 1972. Kwajalein Missile Range Operations." . "The EnewetalcAtoll People." Spe- Ballistic Missile Defense Systems cial Report for the Radiological Sur- Command, Huntsville, Alabama. Aug.1975. vey of 1972-1973. AEC. February 1973. Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. "Dose Trust Territory Office of Planning and Assessment at Bikini Atoll." (UCRL- Statistics. "Gugeegue and Carlson Be,; 51879,Pt.5, prepared for U.S. DOE). velopment-EbeyeRedevelopment." Of-k June 8, 1977. fice of the High Commissioner. Saipan. Malone, Mike. "The U.S.Army's Ghetto November 1978. in Micronesia." Pacific Is- Udui,Kaleb. "Legislative Advancement of Zands kmtti.Ly. June 1976. Human RightsrThe Congress of Microne- Mason, Leonard. "The Bikinians: A Trans- sia and the Rongelap 6 Utirik Incident." planted Population." Human Organiza- Paper presented by Rep. Ataji Balos at tion. 1950. the Conference on and . "Kili Community in Transition." Human Rights. Dublin, Ireland. Sept. South Fad_--% (Conmission QuarterZy) 14, 1976. EhiZctin. 1958. United Nations. 'TrusteeshipAgreement McHenry, Donaid F. Micronesia: Trust for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Betra-yed.Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Islands." New York. 1947. Endowment. 1975. U. S. House of Representatives."The Merliss, Reuben, M.D. Personal Communi- Forgotten Guinea Pigs: A Report on cation to Cordon Stemple, .Esq., July Health Effects of Low;-LevelRadiation 15, 1980. Sustained as a Result of the Nuclear . National Association of Atomic Veterans Weapons Testing Program Conducted by Nmsletter. March 1981 (1109 Franklin the United States Government." Com- St., Burlington, Iowa, 52601). mittee on Interstate and Foreign Com- Norwood, William. High Commissioner. merce, August 1980. "Report to the People of Ujelang." Newspaper Articles from: Trust Territory, Saipan (1969). Honotutu Advertiser: 10-10-75; 10-18- 75; 12-11-72; 11-28-76; 10-S-79, Pincus, Walter. "Bikini and Enewetak: g-26-80. Repaying Old Debts." The N~J Republic. Hoz.alutuStar BuZZetin: 4-9-75; 3-19- May 17, 1975. -;78;9-26-79; 3-26-m; 4-g-80. Robison, W. L., et al. "Preliminary Re- LQS A?Ige&?STimes: 6-23-77. assessment of the Potential Radiolo- Ma7Sha22 162iVlak JOumta2 (formerly gical Doses for Residents Resettling Mieranesian Independent): 8-9-75; Enewetak Atoll." Lawrence Livermore 4-3-81; 4-10-81; 5-1-81; 5-15-81. Laboratory (UCID-18219) July 23, 1979. News&y: 2-13-77.. "Bikini: Nothing Left to Ronck, Ron. Pacific Lbily News (Guam): 11-29-75; Lose. The Jkw Patific Magazine. Nov./ 5-7-79. Dec. 1978. Waahingtm Post: 3-23-78; 4-3-78; 38 5-22-79. ‘

L c RES~I.I~EMENWFPEO~ 1981 continued herent authority to protect its security JUNE Enewetak: The Appropriations Mom- and integrity." The decision also states mittee of the U.S. House of Representa- that the Marshall Islands is "now a tives does not approve funds (estimated sovereign nation," and that the Kwaja- at $10 million) for the resettlement of lein issue "involves policies...madeby Knjebi Island In northern Enewetak. the highest levels of government and no individual citizen has standing to chal- lenge it...only the Marshallese Govern- ment can complain."

JUNE Kwajalein: Atoll landowners, not included in negotiations that drafted the proposed Kwajalein base agreement between the U.S. and Marshall Islands governments, respond with a g-point reso- lution which states, "its members will not...grant any use of Kwajalein Atoll unless and until the Base Operating Rights Agreement...is limited to a term of 15 years," including a provision for review of the agreement every five years. Additionally, the resolution states fu- ture U.S. use of Kwajalein is contingent on "the development of a master plan to construct a decent Marshallese community on the Atoll, payment of full and fair compensation" for land used since 1944, and "agreement by the U.S. not to resume

the search and seizure policy adopted l a* in May 1980." MARSHALLESE CHILDREN ON EDEYE ISLAND Photo by Monica Fadley

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The printing of the MarshaZI IsZd Chronology was made possible, in part, by a grant from the Agape Foundation in San Francisco. Our sincere thanks to the many people, too numerous to list, who contri- buted time, energy, information and funds to make the printing of this edition possible.

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MARSHALL ISLANDERS SAIL HANDCRAFTED OUTRIGGER CANOES FRON ISLAND To ISLAND USING THE STARS, SUN AND WAVE MOTION FOR NAVIGATION. ADDITIONALMATERIALS AVAILABLE: 0 "Marshall'~slanda:America's l Micronesia Bui!Zetin,issued Radioactive Trust." A 25-minute, quarterly. Subscription $5 (individual) 120-slide presentation for rent, or $10 (institutional). purchase. l h5icrcmesiaFact Sheet, with map. For these and other materials, write: MICRONESIASUPPORT COMIITTEE 1212 University Avenue Honolulu, Hawait 96826 Phone (808) 942-0437

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