SUNDAY,NOVEMBER10,2019

ASPECIAL REPORTONTHE MARSHALL ISLANDS AMERICAN FALLOUT

Just afterthe dawn of the AtomicAge and during the height of the Cold War, the United States conducted67nuclear tests in the Marshall Islandsofthe central Pacific. It has since left this island nation with plutonium and other radioactive remnants of those tests buried under a concretedome on alow-lying atoll. Rising seas nowthreaten to destroy thatdome.

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JOSEPHINE NOLA and her son Jules, 6, walk from Ejit Island to Majuro. In addi- tion to nuclear arms, the U.S. tested bioweapons on the islands, The Times learned.

Photographs by Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times “THE MARSHALL Islands is avictim of the twogreatest threats facing humanity DURING THEHEIGHT of the Cold Wa r, the U.S. tested hydrogen bombs and other weapons of mass destruction on the Marshall Islands. On Enewetak Atoll, radioactive waste nowrestsinaU.S.-built concrete dome thatMarshallese call “the Tomb.” —nuclear weapons and climate change,” an expert says.Above,Majuro, thecapital. Decades after U.S. bombed their home, adisaster looms

and Fukushima. Airlines Flight 154, startsatHono- The nuclear detonations over homes, contaminating their skin, SomeMarshalleseseek compensation; others,justasafeplace to live.Onthis Suchdiscoveries could give lulu,makingstops in the Marshall waterand food. Marshallese leadersfresh ammu- Islands at Majuro and Kwajalein the Marshall Islands According to Josephand gov- nition to challenge the 19 86 com- before heading west towardthe Mi- ernment documents, U.S. author- Pacific island nation, whereclimate changethreatens to unearth a‘tomb’of pact, whichisupfor renegotiation cronesian islands of Kosrae, Pohn- ities came to evacuatethe Ronge- Taongi in 2023, and also to press the pei and Chuuk, and finally termi- lapesetwo days later.Bythat time, ColdWar radioactive waste, the UnitedStatesgovernment has turned itsback. United Statestohonor property nating in Guam. 150MILES some islanders were beginning to and healthclaims ordered by an in- The next day,itdoubles back. Enewetak Bikini sufferfromacute radiation poison- ternational tribunal. As it approaches Majuro,the ing —their hair fell outinclumps, Atoll Atoll Bikar The tribunal, established by the blue-scape of the ocean is broken Rongelap their skin wasburned, and they By SUSANNE RUST Rongerik twocountries in 1988, concluded by an oblong necklace of white- Utirik were vomiting. reporting from majuro, marshall islands theUnited States should pay coral-beached islands, dottedwith Taka The Castle Bravo test and oth- Ailinginae Alluk $2.3 billion in claims,but Congress coconut, pandanus and breadfruit ers in the Marshall Islands helped Jemo Taka ivethousandmiles west of of the environmental catastrophe and U.Scourts have refused.Docu- trees. Wotho Likiep the U.S. establish thecredibilityof Ujelang Kwajalein Los Angeles and 500miles it leftbehind, and theyclaimU.S. ments showthe U.S. paid just The Marshall Islands’ atolls are Wotje its nuclear arsenal as it raced Ujae Erikub northofthe equator,ona authorities have repeatedly de- $4 million. the remnants of ancient volcanoes MARSHALL Maloelap against its Cold Waradversary, the far-flung spitofwhitecor- ceived themabout the magnitude The U.S. position is that it has that once protrudedfromthese ISLANDS Lae Soviet Union,todevelop newatom- Lib Aur F Jabat al sand in the centralPa- and extent of that devastation. alreadypaid morethan $600 mil- cerulean seas. Theyweresettled ic weapons.But the testing came Namu cific, amassive, aging and weath- ATimes reviewofthousandsof lion for the resettlement, rehabili- 3,000years agobythe ancestors of Majuro at ahorrible price; Joseph and ered concrete dome bobs up and documents, and interviews with tation and radiation-related present-day Marshallese who Ailinglaplap Arno other Marshallese ended up be- Majuro JAPAN down with the tide. U.S. and Marshallese officials, healthcarecosts of communities crossed the ocean on boats from Jaluit coming human guinea pigsfor U.S. Hereinthe Marshall Islands, found that the American govern- affectedbythe nuclear testing, Asia and Polynesia. radiation research. Detailed Mill Runit Dome holds morethan ment withheld keypieces of infor- said Karen Stewart, the U.S. am- ForAmerican officials in the PAPUA HAWAII Namorik Three years afterCastle Bravo, NEW Kili 3.1millioncubic feet —or35 mationabout the dome’scontents bassador to the Republic of the mid-19 40s, this 750,000-square-mile GUINEA U.S. authorities encouragedJo- Olympic-sized swimming pools — and its weapons testing program Marshall Islands.She said infla- expanse of ocean, nearlyfivetimes Ebon seph, her familyand her neighbors Equator of U.S.-produced radioactivesoil beforethe twocountries signed a tion bringsthe number closer to largerthan the state of California, to return to Rongelap. and debris, including lethal compact in 1986 releasing the U.S. $1 billion. must have seemed likeanear-per- AUSTRALIA U.S. government documents amounts of plutonium.Nowhere government from further liability. “The United Statesrecognizes fect spot to test their growing from the time showthat officials else has the United States saddled One example: The United States the effects of its testing and has ac- atomic arsenal. weighed the potential hazards of anothercountrywith so muchofits did not tell the Marshallese that in cepted and acted on its responsi- “The MarshallIslandswerese- Enewetak Atoll: 43 tests radiation exposureagainst “the nuclear waste, aproduct of its Cold 19 58, it shipped 130tons of soil from bility to thepeople of theRepublic lected as ground zerofor nuclear current lowmoraleofthe natives” More than 30,000 kilotons detonated 5MILES Waratomic testing program. its atomic testing grounds in Ne- of the Marshall Islands,” Stewart testing precisely because colonial and a“risk of an onset of indo- Between 19 46 and 19 58,the vada to the Marshall Islands. said in astatement. narrativesportrayed the islands as lence.”Ultimatelythey decided to United States detonated 67 nucle- U.S. authoritiesalso didn’t in- In September,the Marshallese small,remoteand unimportant,” go forwardwith the resettlement ar bombs on, in and above the Mar- form people in Enewetak, where parliament, the Nitijela, approved said Autumn Bordner,aformer re- so researchers could study the ef- shall Islands —vaporizing whole the wastesiteislocated, that anational nuclearstrategy,which searcher at Columbia University’s 15,000 kT Mike fects of lingering radiation on hu- 10,400 kT islands, carving craters into its they’d conductedadozen biolog- calls for arisk analysis and envi- K=1Project, which has focused on 10,000 man beings. shallowlagoons and exiling hun- ical weaponstests in the atoll, in- ronmental survey of Runit Dome, the legacy of nuclear testing in the Oak Runit “Dataofthis type has never dreds of peoplefromtheir homes. cluding experimentswith an an assessment of legal options for MarshallIslands, and noware- 5,000 8,900 kT been available,” Merrill Eisenbud, U.S. authorities later cleaned aerosolized bacteria designed to its cleanup and anew attemptto search fellowinocean lawand pol- aU.S official with the Atomic Ener- 1,000 up contaminatedsoil on Enewetak kill enemy troops. securethe $2.3 billion ordered by icy at UC Berkeley’s Center for gy Commission, said at aJanuary Atoll, wherethe United Statesnot U.S. Department of Energy ex- the tribunal. Law, Energy &the Environment. 100 19 56 meeting of theagency’s Bio- only detonatedthe bulk of its perts areencouraging the Mar- Last month, Marshall Islands NerjeJoseph,72, wasawitness logyand Medicine Committee. weapons testsbut, as The Times shallese to move back to other lawmakers called on the interna- to the largest thermonuclear bomb “While it is true that these people has learned, also conductedadoz- parts of Enewetak, where650 now tional communitytoreduce green- tested by the United States: the do not livethe waythat Westerners en biological weaponstests and live, afterbeing relocated during house gases causingwhat they Castle Bravo detonation. She was do, civilized people, it is nonethe- Medren dumped 130tons of soil from an ir- NERJE JOSEPH, left, was 7when the United States conducted the Castle Bravo test, then the the U.S. nuclear tests during the declared to be a“national climate 7years old at the time,livingwith less also true that they aremore radiated Nevada testing site. It world’s largest thermonuclear explosion. It contaminated the islands her familyhad called home. Cold War. But many Marshallese crisis.” her familyinRongelap Atoll, 10 0 likeusthan the mice.” Bikini Atoll: 23 tests thendeposited the atoll’smostle- leaders no longertrust U.S. assur- China is taking an increasing in- miles east of Bikini Atoll—atropi- Enewetak The resettlement proved cata- thaldebris and soil intothe dome. ances of safety. terest in the Marshall Islands and cal lagoon commandeered for nu- More than 70,000 kilotons detonated strophic for the peopleofRonge- Now the concrete coffin, which shall Islands, said in an interviewin nation’s 29 low-lying atolls. Islands, wheretheydocumented “Wedidn’t knowthe Runit otherPacificisland nations, in part clear testing. lap. Cancer cases, miscarriages locals call “the Tomb,” is at risk of her presidential office in Septem- “Morethanany other place, the extensivecoral bleaching, fish kills Dome wastedump would crack because of their strategic location On March 1, 19 54,Joseph recalls and deformities multiplied. Ten collapsing from rising seas and ber.“We don’t want it.Wedidn’t Marshall Islandsisavictimofthe and algae blooms—as well as ma- and leak…. We didn’t knowabout andBeijing’sinterest in reducing waking up and seeing twosuns ris- Namu years later,in1967, 17 of the 19 chil- other effects of climatechange. build it. The garbageinside is not twogreatest threats facing hu- jordisease outbreaks, including climatechange,” said Jack Ading,a U.S. influence in the region.Those ing over Rongelap. First therewas Bravo dren who were younger than10 and Tides arecreeping up its sides, ad- ours. It’s theirs.” manity—nuclear weapons and cli- the nation’s largest recorded Marshallese senatorfromEnewe- inroads by China have alarmed theusual sun, topping the horizon 15,000 kT on the island the day Bravo ex- vancing higher every year as dis- To many in the Republic of the matechange,” said MichaelGer- epidemic of dengue fever. They in- tak Atoll. “Weweren’t nuclear sci- U.S. leaders,forcing themtopay in the east and bringing light and ploded had developed thyroid dis- tantglaciers melt and ocean wa- Marshall Islands, Runit Dome is rard, alegal scholar at Columbia terviewedfolk singers who lost entists who could independently moreattention to the grievances of warmth to the tropicallagoon near orders and growths. One child died ters rise. the most visible manifestation of University’slaw school. “The their voices to thyroid cancersand verify what the U.S. wastelling us. Marshallese leaders suchasHeine. her home. Thentherewas another Yankee II Bikini of leukemia. Officials in the Marshall Islands the United States’ nuclear legacy,a United States is entirelyresponsi- spent time in Arkansas,Washing- We were just island people who “This heightened interest,” Hei- sun, rising from the western sky. It 13,500 kT In 19 85,the peopleofRongelap have lobbied the U.S. government symbol of the sacrifices the Mar- blefor the nuclear testing there, tonand Oregon, wheretensof desperately wanted to return ne said, “should bode well for us.” lighted up the horizon, shiningor- asked Greenpeace to evacuate for help,but American officials shallesemadefor U.S. security, and and its emissions have contributed thousands of Marshallese have mi- home.” ange at first, then turning pink, Zuni them againafter the United States have declined, saying the dome is the broken promises they received moretoclimatechangethanthose grated to escape povertyand an Adding to the alarmisastudy d thendisappearing as if it had never 3,500 kT refused to relocatethem or to ac- on Marshallese land andtherefore in return. from any other country.” uncertain future. published this year by ateam of been thereatall. knowledge their exposure, accord- the responsibilityofthe Marshall- They blame the United States Over the last 15 months, are- Marshallese leadersacknowl- Columbia Universityscientists From the U.S. mainland, it Joseph and the 63 others on ing to government documents and ese government. andother industrializedcountries porting team from the Los Angeles edgethatAmerica doesn’tbear full showing levels of radiation in takes morethanaday to flytothe Rongelap had no idea what they 5MILES news reports from the time. “I’m like, howcan it [the dome] for global climate changeand sea Times and Columbia University’s responsibilityfor their nation’s dis- some spots in Enewetak and other Marshall Islands, and only one had just witnessed. Hours later, Joseph, whohad her thyroid re- be ours?” Hilda Heine, the presi- levelrise, whichthreaten to sub- GraduateSchoolofJournalism tress. But they saythe United parts of theMarshall Islands that commercial airline makes the trip. the fallout from Castle Bravo Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office movedbecauseofher radiation ex- dentofthe Republicofthe Mar- merge vast swathsofthisisland made five trips to the Marshall States has failedtotakeownership rival those found near Chernobyl The “IslandHopper,” United rained down like snowontheir Lorena Iñiguez Elebee Los Angeles Times posure, has spent nearly sevendec- U4 SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 10 ,2019 LATIMES.COM LATIMES.COM SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 10 ,2019 U5 AMERICANFALLOUT:THE MARSHALLISLANDS

MINATITUS, 63, was was ayoung girlwhen she was exposed to fallout from U.S. nuclear tests. She went on to have 10 children, one of whom died. Above,Titus holds her youngest grandchild.

Photographs by Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times CHILDREN PLAY in the watersoff EbeyeIsland. The U.S. military’s Kwajalein base, seen in the TIMESJOURNALIST Susanne Rust visitsRunit Dome last year.The concrete structure, which islanderscall “the Tomb,” holds 35 Olympic-sized swimming pools’ worth of nuclear waste from Americanweapons testsduring the Cold Wa r. background, has 2,500 residents, most of them government contractorsand their dependents. adestaking daily thyroid medi- trees, whereroughly450 dri- nated 35 bombs in the Marshall Is- sitehad been the siteoftwo nuclear wascalled, arestill classified, ac- ers developed radiation-induced transporting the wasteback to the that the dome has served its “in- plutonium will have an impact on introduced via a cut in the skin, cation, enabling her bodytopro- Enewetak and dri-Enjebi—the lands in 11 2days in 19 58.Nine of blastsin1951and 19 55, according to cording to the Defense Technical cancers and maladiesthat the U.S. U.S. mainland. Many “of those pre- tended purpose” —tohold food security reservesfor thelocal Hamiltonsaid. The plutonium duce hormonesitotherwise would twoclans that lived in the atoll— these were on Enewetak’s Runit government records. Information Center,abranchof government has refused to ac- sent seemed to realize that radio- garbage, not necessarily to be ara- population,” he wrotewith two in the lagoon, he claims, is not a notgenerate. gathered breadfruit and panda- Island.With names suchasButter- “It is appalling thatthe Mar- the Department of Defense. knowledge, according to news activematerial wasleaking outof diation shield. Lawrence LivermoreNational concern. Aquiet, dignified woman with nus, and harvested fish and clams nut, Holly and Magnolia,the shallese people, and in particular reports. the crater even then and would That distinction, though, is not Laboratorycoauthors, noting a “Under existinglivingcondi- thick, wavy gray hair,Joseph lives from the lagoon. bombs were detonated in the sky, the peopleofEnewetak, arejust d “It’s likethey say in the Army,” continue to do so,” the document well understood in the Marshall Is- “growing commercial export tions, thereisnoradiological basis in acinder-block home in Majuro, Between 1948 and 19 58, the U.S. underwaterand on topofislands. learning about this for the first said BobRetmier,aretired Hunt- reported. lands, wheremanyassumed the market” for seacucumbers in the why Ioranyone else should be con- the capital,asetting far different militarydetonated43atomic One test shot, Quince, misfired time,”said Sen. Ading, the Mar- Today,40years afteritwas con- ingtonBeach-based electrician But because the other options United States built the dometo lagoon. cernedabout living on Enewetak,” from the pristine atoll whereshe bombs here. Afteragreeing to a Aug. 6, 19 58, and sprayed pluto- shallese minister of justice, immi- structed, the Tomb resembles an who didtwo six-month toursof were so expensive,they settled on protect them. In morerecent years, Hamil- Hamilton said in an email, reflect- grew up. 1958 temporary moratorium on nu- nium fuel across Runit Island.The gration and labor. aged, neglected and slightlydi- dutyatthe dome in 1977 and 1978. the dome and reliedonmilitary “My understanding from day ton’smessagehas changed: Theis- ing apositionthat other experts Composed of three low-lying clear testing with the United King- Department of Defense and the Adecade later,in1968, teams minutive cousin of the Houston “They treat us likemushrooms: personnel to do the cleaning in- one is that the dome wastoshield lands aresafe, U.S. researchers are find perplexing. islands connected by one flood- dom and the Soviet Union, the U.S. Lawrence LivermoreNational from the Department of Defense Astrodome. Theyfeeduscrapand keep us in stead of contractors. the radiation from leakingout,” monitoring the situation, and no “That’s crazy,”said Holly prone road,Majuroislong and nar- began using the atollasaconven- Laboratory, whichwas sponsoring set up anew experiment. This Spiderweb cracks whipsaw the dark.” At that meeting, atop Pentagon Adingsaid. one shouldbeconcerned. Barker, aUniversityofWashington rowand home to roughly half the tional and bioweapons testing the test, ordered soldiers intothe time, they were testing biological across its cap and chunksofmiss- Retmier,who wasinEnewetak official wasasked what would hap- Soon afterthe dome wascom- At aMay meeting in Majuro,he anthropologist who servesonthe population of the Marshall Islands, ground. Forthe next 18 years,the contaminated ground zerotopre- weapons —bombs and missiles ing concrete pock its facade. Pools withCompany C, 84th Engineer pen if the dome failed and who pleted, the winter tideswashed told an audience of Marshallese Marshall Islands nuclear commis- about 28,000 people. Taxis crawl U.S. shot ballisticmissiles at it parethe site for the next bomb, filled with bacteria designed to fell of brown, brackish watersurround Battalion outofSchofield Bar- would be responsible. morethan 120cubic yards of radio- dignitaries, politicians and U.S. of- sion. The whole point of building the length of this lone road, fitting from California, tested virulent 12 days later. enemy troops. its base, and vines and foliage racks, Hawaii,said he didn’tknow “It would be the responsibility activedebris ontoRunit’s shores, ficials that the Tomb wasbobbing the Tomb,she said,was to clean up as many riders intotheir vehicles forms of bacteria on its islands and Soldiers swarmed in withbull- According to a2002militaryfact snakeupits sides. he had been working in aradio- of the United States,” said Lt. Gen. promptingU.S. authorities to with the tides, sucking in and contamination leftbehind by the as theycan accommodate.Visitors detonated aseries of otherlarge, dozers and earthmoving equip- sheet and Ed Regis, the author of The Tomb,whichwas built atop active landscape untilheread Warren D. Johnsonofthe U.S. Air build asmall antechamber adja- flushing out radioactivewater into U.S. testing programs. opting to walk areencouragedto conventional bombsinthe lagoon. ment, pushing the radioactivesoil “The BiologyofDoom,” U.S. gov- an unlined crater created by aU.S. about the dome in The Times this Force, whowas directing the clean- cent to the dome to hold the new the lagoon. Moreover,hesaid, its “Does thatmean they didn’t carrylong stickstobeat away In 1972,after the U.Shad nearly intobig debris piles that they ernment scientistscame to Enewe- nuclear bomb, wasdesigned to en- year. up process through the Defense “red-level” debris. physical integrityis“vulnerable to clean it up?” she asked. packsofferal dogsthatroam the exhausted its militaryinterest in shovedintothe lagoon, the ocean tak with “their boats and monkeys, capsulatethe most radioactive “They had us mixingthat soil Nuclear Agency. When moredebriswashed up, leakage andthe sustained impacts Askedabout his contradictory streets. the region, it invited the leaders of or possibly leftalone; government space suits and jet fighter planes” and toxic land-based wasteofthe intocement,” he said. “There were Documents showthat as con- they builtasecond, smaller ante- of storm surge and sea levelrise.” messages, Hamilton wroteinan Joseph says she misses her Enewetak back to seethe atollfor reports differ on these details. and then sprayed clouds of biolog- U.S. testing programs in Enewetak no masks, or respirators, or bug struction teamswerefinishingthe chamber. But Hamiltonwent on to assure emailthat his earlier assessment home, butshe knows she may ne- the first time since 19 46. What is clear,and whichhas ne- ically enhanced staphylococcal Atoll. This includedirradiated mil- suits, for that matter. My uniform dome by cappingitwith an 18 -inch Then theyleft. them suchascenario wasnot was“put forward to help provide a vergoback. According to aDepartment of verbeenreportedbefore,isthat130 enterotoxin B, an incapacitating itaryand construction equipment, wasapairofcombat boots, shorts concretecover,new,highly con- cause for alarm. Enewetak lagoon scientific justification” for securing “Wehad aoneness when we Energy reportofthe event, the tons of soil transported5,300 miles biological agent known to cause contaminated soil and plutonium- and ahat. That wasit. No shirt. No taminated debriswas discovered. d is already so contaminated, he funding and time for amorethor- lived on Rongelap,” shesaid of her Enewetak leaders “weredeeply from an atomictest siteinNevada toxic shock and food poisoning and laced chunksofmetal pulverized glasses. It wastoo hot and humid In the process of adding that said, thatany added radiation ough analysisofthe dome. childhood.“We worked together, gratified to be able to visit their an- wasdumped intoa30-foot-wide, considered “one of the most potent by the 43 bombs detonated in this to wear anything else.” material to the wastesite, parts The U.S. scientific experton introduced by adome failurewould “People living on Enewetak do we atetogether,weplayed to- cestral homeland, but they were 8-foot-deep “conicalplug”where bacterialsuperantigens.” 2.26-square-mile lagoon, according According to unclassified mili- of the concrete topwereembedded Runit Dome is Hamilton, the Ener- be virtually undetectable —in not showelevated levels of pluto- gether.Thathas been lost.” mortified by what they saw.” the next bomb, Fig, wasdetonated. Thebacteria were sprayed over to U.S. governmentdocuments. tarydocuments, the completion of with contaminated metallic gy Department contractor.Hebe- the lagoon, or in the wider ocean nium in their bodies,” he said, dis- The islands were completely de- Archived documents suggest muchofthe atoll—with ground It took 4,000 U.S. servicemen the dome fulfilled “a moral obliga- debris. ganworking on radiation issues waters. countingconcerns. “Thisisthe ul- d nuded. Photos showanapocalyp- the soil wasused as partofanexpe- zeroatLojwaIsland, whereU.S. three years to scoop up 33 Olympic- tionincurred by the United “It wassloppy,” said Paul nearly three decades agoand is Hamilton has said that his timate test.” tic scene of windswept, deforested riment,tohelp scientists under- troops were stationed10 years later sized swimming pools’ worthofir- States.” Griego, who worked as acontract widely respected among nuclear assessmentisbased on asampling To many, Hamilton’smost re- The legacy of the testing pro- islands,with only the occasional stand howsoil typescontribute for the cleanup of the atoll. radiated soil and twoOlympic Marshallese officials say they radiochemistfor Eberline Instru- scientists and physicists. of U.S. documents from the 1970s cent positionisjust another case of gram is mostevidentatEnewetak, coconut tree jutting up from the to different blast impacts and According to militarydocu- swimming pools’ worthofcontam- were nevertold that U.S. author- ments in Enewetak while the mili- In 2012,Hamilton calledthe and 19 80ssuggesting that thereis the United States moving the goal an atoll that took the brunt of the ground. Elsewhere, crumblingcon- crater sizes. ments,the weapons testers con- inated debris from islands across ities had doubtsabout the long- tarybuilt the dome. wastesiteahighly radioactive far morecontamination in Enewe- posts in the Marshall Islands: It United States’ late-stagenuclear cretestructures, warped tarmac TerryHamilton, aresearcher at cludedasingleweaponcouldcover the atoll and dump it intothe term integrityofthe dome to safely The authors of the reportnoted “point source” whoseconstruction tak lagoon than remainsinside the promised athoroughcleanup, only detonations before an interna- roads and abandonedconstruc- the Lawrence LivermoreNational 926.5squaremiles —roughlytwice crater on Runit Island. storewaste. that because the dome was“de- was“notconsistent”with U.S. dome. He contends the land is safe to backtrack in the face of newrev- tional ban on atmospheric testing tion and military equipment dot- Laboratoryand today the Depart- the size of modern-day Los Ange- Muchofitwas mixed in aslurry According to a1981military signed to contain materialand pre- Nuclear RegulatoryCommission for habitation and will remain so, elations or costs. in 19 63. tedthe barren landscape. ment of Energy’s point person on les —and produce a30% casualty of concrete and poured intothe pit, document chroniclingthe con- vent erosionratherthanact as a regulations. He also suggested it evenifthe domecrumbles and re- Griego, the radiochemist and Astring of 40 islands to the west The damagetheysaw on that the Marshall Islands’nuclear is- rate. whichwas eventuallycapped with structionofthe dome,U.S. govern- radiation shield,” the radioactive could possibly release more leases its contentsintothe con- the NewMexicostatecommander of Bikini, Enewetak wasonce a visit wasthe result of nearly three sues, said the soil wasclean and Records of the test,including a a375-foot-wide and 20-foot-high mentofficials met Feb. 25,1975, to material in thedome coverwas no plutonium into the surrounding taminated lagoon. of the NationalAssn. of Atomic postcard-perfect ring of coral reefs, decadesofU.S. militarytesting. taken from Area 10 at the Nevada two-volume, 244-pageaccountof concretedome. Six men died dur- discuss various cleanup options — cause for concern. environment. Plutonium is arisktohuman Veterans, notes that when Hamil- white-sandbeaches and coconut The United States had deto- Test Site. That area of the Nevada operation “Speckled Start,” as it ing the cleanup; hundreds of oth- includingoceandumping and Today,U.S. officials maintain “Any increases in availabilityof health only when it is airborne or tonwrote areportfor the Depart-

67 bombs in 12 years: U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands TheU.S. seized controlofthe Marshall IslandsfromJapanin1944, near the end of World War II. It detonated the world’sfirst nuclear bomb in New Mexicoon Bravo July16, 1945. Less than amonthlater, the U.S.military dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshimaand Nagasaki, ending the war. 15,000 kT Oak 8,900 kT

Nuclear bombs (in kilotons of TNT) Mike Yankee 13,500 kT Poplar Abel 10,400 kT 9,300 kT 23 kT 1946 1947 1948 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 The fallout aftermath June 30: U.S.detonates its The UnitedNations creates The U.S.expands its testing U.S. launches Operation U.S. detonatesMike,a U.S. detonatesCastle Bravo, U.S. preparesfor TheUnited Statesdetonates TheAtomicEnergy U.S. authorities,concerned 1961 —First thyroid cancers first of 67 Marshall Islands the TrustTerritory of the program into EnewetakAtoll. Greenhouse at Enewetak, 10,400-kiloton hydrogen which at thatpointintime is the Operation Redwing, 16 nuclear bombsfrom May Commission declares aboutapossible ban on nuclear tests. Abel,a PacificIslands,which Islanders evacuate for the testing principles thatwould bomb, creating acrater 6,240 1985 —Greenpeaceevacuates largest artificial explosion ever. Its thelargest series of to July, atestofsecond- Rongelap safe for above-ground nuclear residentsofRongelap. 23-kiloton bomb, is dropped includes theMarshall Islands, next 10 years. Some resettle lead to the first hydrogen feet wide. radioactive fallout spreads nucleartests to date generationthermonuclear resettlement. Islanders return. experiments, accelerate on BikiniAtoll, after theU.S. and authorizes the United andare evacuated again,at bombs. hundreds of miles, contaminating in the Marshall weapons. AllOperation U.S. scientists notethat nuclear testing with Operation 1986 —Nuclear test compensa- militaryforced167 residents States to administer the timesinvoluntarily. Rongelap andUtirik atolls. U.S. Islands. Redwingtests are named for return of “native”people“will Hardtack. Thirty-three tests tion is approvedbyCongress. A of Bikinitorelocate to an atoll territory. officials evacuate residentsfrom various Native American affordmost valuable are conducted, ranging from trustfund of $150 millionisset 125 miles away. both atollsdaysafter the tribes. ecological radiationdata on 5to9,300 kilotons, between aside. explosion. Six moretests are human beings.” Apriland August. More than 1989 —U.S. Department of conductedthatyear. 1956-57: International treaty 25,000 kilotons —equivalent Energy says Rongelapissafe for talks start, and growingpublic to 25 million tons of TNT — habitation. Bravo Hiroshima and concern increasesintensity were detonated. Bikini Atoll residents Enewetak Atoll Nagasaki bombs Rongelap and Utirik on banning atmospheric Residents return 15,000 evacuate to Rongerik Atoll residents evacuate combined (1945) residents evacuate nucleartesting. to Rongelap kT 35 kT

U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration Nevada Field Office. Graphics reporting by Stuart Leavenworth, Susanne Rust Lorena Iñiguez Elebee Los Angeles Times U6 SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 10 ,2019 LATIMES.COM LATIMES.COM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER10, 2019 U7 AMERICANFALLOUT:THE MARSHALLISLANDS

JUST AFEW YEARS AGO, the northern Marshall Islands were known fortheir pristine coral reefs, little disturbedbyhuman contact. Above,coral shows signs of heatstress in May.

Photographs by Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times THOUSANDS OF black angelfish, pufferfish and other marine lifeare scattered across the JOBATLAIA WORKS ON asea wall on the northwest end of Majuro in summer2018.The Marshallese government plans to build barriersaround most of Ebeyeand Majuro, the capital, to protectthe islands as the sea rises, threatening inundation. wrack line of Bikini Island’s shore in early August 2018,killed by high water temperatures. ment of Energy in 2013 statingthat through the murk, appearing sud- Rising seas could unseal atoxic tomb shall Islands, far higher thanthe 1,000 people have been infected, How the atolls could disappear claims—has ruledintheirfavor, compactwith theMarshall Islands catastrophic failureofthe dome denlyout of the cloudy bloom only global average of 0.11 to 0.14 inches. with the outer atolls quarantined awarding them morethan$2bil- —providing aid in exchangefor a would be inconsequential, the re- to disappear just as quickly. More than 3.1 million cubic feet of radioactive material lie within a Studies showsea levels arerising to prevent the spread of the disease Atolls, leftover rings of past volcanic activity, are the foundations of lion in damages. But the U.S. has securemilitarypresence, and portincluded amission statement Divecomputers showed 92-de- bomb crater that was capped with an 18-inch-thick cover at Marshall twice as fast in the western Pacific among people withnoaccess to the Marshall Islands as well as small repositories for fresh water. paidout only $4 million, according working rights for Marshallese in thatcast doubt on its scientific gree temperatures30feetbelow Islands’ Runit Island. than elsewhere. hospital care. Because of rising sea levels, the islands are at risk of disappearing. to congressional testimony,and no the United States. integrity. the surface in the lagoon,anarea Based on forecasts by the Inter- “Most peopletalk about rising enforcement mechanism exists. Theannouncement came as a The dome could slide off As the ocean rises, waves According to the document,the usuallynowarmer than86degrees governmental Panel on Climate sea levels when it comes to climate Much of Majuro Atoll could sink underwater In the last fewyears, though, the surprise to the Marshallese, who could break the dome open. report’spurposewas to “address in August. High storm waves Change,sea levels could rise4to5 change,” said Niedenthal, the island nation’s claims have begun were anticipating the expiration in the concernsofthe Enewetak com- It is impossible to say exactly feet by the end of the century, health secretary. “Evenmoreim- to getmorevisibility. President 2023oftheir compact, whichin- munity” and “help build public what caused that day’s massiveal- submerging most of the Marshall mediateand devastatingiswhat Heine has achievednear-celebrity cludes annual grants from the U.S. confidence in the maintenance of a gaebloom and fish kill, but scien- Islands. has been happening with disease Majuro Atoll peaks status at international events. The that totalabout $30million ayear. Sea level Sea wall safeand sustainable resettlement tists say suchmarineincidents will Even if seas rose just half that, outbreaks. This is the worst out- at nearly 10 feet Marshall Islands recently secured Marshallese officials read that program on Enewetak Atoll.” occurmorefrequently as oceans Cemented Uncemented radioactive said CurtStorlazzi, ageoengineer break in Pacific history.” above sea level. aseat on the United NationsHu- as asignthat the islands have new Griegoworkedasacontractor warm from climatechange. radioactive material crater debris at the United States Geological man Rights Council,giving the na- negotiating power. Porous soil in Enewetak in 1978. “I’venever seen or heardofa Survey, theislands would be in d tion anotherforum in whichto “Theseare matters of life and Areas less than 3feet “I sawthe waterrising and fall- fish kill in Bikini,” Jack Niedenthal, What is underneath the dome trouble —damaging infrastruc- raise its concerns. death for us,” said Ading, the ing as we filled that dome. Iknow the Marshall Islands’ secretaryof ture and contaminating most Formany Americans, the Mar- up could be inundated. Ageopolitical shift alsohas giv- Enewetak senator.“We can’t afford Contaminated debris and soil left behind by 43 nuclear bombs detonated thatlimestone is porous. And I health and human services,said in groundwaterreserves. shall Islands arebest known for a en the islands newleverage. China to rely exclusively on reassurances in Enewetak Atoll were cemented and enclosed in acrater from one of the knowhow sick people got,” he said. an interviewlast summer, just a “Wehavealot of difficult movie monsterand acartoon icon. hasincreased its reachintothe from one source. We need neutral nuclear tests. The dome, constructed in the late ’70s, is showing signs of “That dome is dangerous. Andifit week afterthe event. “That’ssur- choices to make,” James Godzilla, the Japanese-inspired central Pacific, providing aid and experts from the international decay. If it crumbles, its radioactive contents will be released into the Atoll islands are typically fails, it’s aproblem.” prising and deeply upsetting.” Matayoshi, the mayor of Rongelap monster of the Pacific, wasawak- loans to dozens of nations, sur- community to weigh in, to confirm lagoon and ocean. 5to8feet above sea level. Just afew years ago, thenorth- Atoll, said in aSeptember inter- ened and mutated by the atomic passingthe United States as the or challenge” previousfindingsby d ern Marshall Islands were known 18 inches thick and 377 feet Extended Contaminated soil and view. “If the seas don’t stop rising, bombsinBikini Atoll. SpongeBob region’s largest trade partner. the United States. for their pristine coral reefs, little we’regoingtolose some places. As- SquarePants,the Nickelodeon “China is trying to erode U.S. in- Many Marshallese say they wide, the dome is designed to radioactive debris were mixed into Freshwater reserves overtaken by waves Climatescientists have been disturbed by human contact, in prevent erosion and contain antechambers acement slurry. suming we can save some,we’ll cartoon character,lives with his fluence in the region to weaken the don’t want U.S. money or apolo- Fresh groundwater is limited to the small land area where rain and nearly unanimousabout one thing: partbecause many of theseisles the radioactive material inside. have to decide whichislands, friendsinBikini Bottom. U.S. militarypresence and create gies, but just ahomeinthe islands The waters around the Marshall were radiation no-gozones.But whichplaces, for whichpeople. But Arecent reviewofCalifornia- evaporation form in aporous basin. As the sea level rises, there will be an opening for Chinese militaryac- that is safe and secure. Islands arerising —and growing during avisit last year,The Times who gets to do that?” approvedhighschool history text- less area for groundwater to pool. cess,”according to a2018report NerjeJoseph holds out hope for Polyethylene (Cutaway view) warmer. sawvast expansesofbleached and The thought of abandoning booksand curricula showedno from the U.S.-China Economic and aday whenher children, grandchil- sheet Rain/evaporation On an August day ayear ago, dead coral around Bikini Atoll, a their homeland is unthinkablefor mentionofthe Marshall Islandsor SecurityReviewCommission, a dren and great-grandchildrencan tens of thousands of dead fish findingthat surprisedsomefamil- many Marshallese, the nation’s the U.S. nuclear testing program Inundated land congressional committee. return to herancestral home in Contaminated washed up on the ocean side of iar with the region. Soil and large president said. and human experimentation pro- Ocean Waves In September, twoofthe Rongelap and she can be buried in Bikini Atoll. Elora López, aStanfordUni- chunks of soil, debris “Many of our people …want to gram there. staunchest U.S. allies in the Pa- the sands of her youth,alongside Dick DiekeJr.,one of seventem- versitydoctoral student, accompa- cement and cement stay here,” Heine said. “For us, for Even less widelyknownare the cific, Kiribati and the Solomon Is- her ancestors, under the coconut Lagoon porarycaretakers working for a nied aPBS documentaryfilm team thesepeople, landisacritical part Marshallese attempts, for the last Overwash lands,severed diplomatic ties with treesshe rememberssowell. Department of Energy contractor in 2016 to Bikini Atolltocollectcor- Sea wall of ourexistence. Our cultureis three decades, to seek compensa- Original sea level Taiwan, embracing China instead. “InLos Angeles, youmakemov- there,recalls the waterbeing un- al samples. The reefs—hundreds based on our land. It is partofus. tion for the health and environ- Washington has greetedthose ies about the Titanic. About people comfortable. of miles from the nearest tourist — Sea level We cannot thinkabout abandon- mental effects of nuclear testing. developments with concern. wholosteverything,” she said. Groundwater “It didn’t feel good to put my were healthy. ing the land.” They’vebeendenied standing to basin In August, SecretaryofState “Why don’tyou makemovies feet in it,” he said. “It wastoo hot.” But when she returned in 2018, Outbreaksofcertain diseases sue in U.S. courts, and Congress Michael R. Pompeo flew to Mi- about us?” Earlierthat day,the typically using GPS coordinatestofind the Original crater in the Pacific also have been linked has declined their requests. Water transition cronesia to meet with the leaders of debris crystalline and azurewaters of the same location, allofthe corals were Crater floor Porous coral sediment to climatechange. The Republicof The Nuclear Claims Tribunal — several Pacific island nations, in- Reporting for this storywas Bikini lagoon,nearNam Island, dead. the Marshall Islandsisfighting the an independent arbiter estab- cludingthe Marshall Islands. funded in partbythe Investigative were cloudy and brown. Sea tur- Since 1993, sea levels have risen Department of Defense, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory largest outbreak of denguefeverin lishedbythe U.S.-Marshall Islands U.S. Geological Survey He announced the United Reporting Resource at the tles, reef fish and rays swam slowly about0.3 inches ayear in the Mar- Lorena Iñiguez Elebee LosAngeles Times its recorded history—morethan compact to process and rule on Lorena Iñiguez Elebee LosAngeles Times States’ intentiontoextend the Columbia Journalism School.

How Castle Bravo spread radiation across the Marshall Islands and beyond The 1954 thermonuclear test called Castle Bravo, detonated at Bikini Atoll, was far more powerful and environmentally damaging than anyone had expected. The yield of the blast was 15 megatons, more than twice as powerful as predicted. At the time, it was the largest, most powerful bomb ever detonated by the United States.

1 Amushroom cloud is born 2 Thebomb sent cataclysmic shock waves 3 Thebombpermanently scarred Bikini Atoll 4 Winds spreadthe fallout to the east 5 Radioactiveash blanketed the land and sea 6 Radiation poisoned itsfirst victims Within seconds of detonation, the bomb blasted Nuclear debris shot 20 miles skyward. Radioactive The blast obliterated sand, coral, sea life and plants, Wind spread the radioactive fallout eastward, with lighter radioactive particles and ash remaining in the air On Rongelap and other nearby atolls, ash covered Inhabitants started to feel ill within 48 hours of radioactive particles into the air. Turbulence from the waves traveled hundreds of miles per hour, leveling leaving behind acrater 6,500 feet wide and 250 feet longer. The fallout spread across the globe, although the highest concentrations landed on atolls east of the soil and trees. It contaminated people, fish and exposure. They started vomiting and suffered burns explosion created afiery mushroom-shaped dome. concrete structures and trees. deep. Bikini. The fallout contaminated the crew of aJapanese fishing boat caught in the danger zone. other wildlife. Drinking water turned dark yellow. to their eyes, mouth and skin. Within days, some people’s hair started to fall out. Top of cloud Acloud shot Mushroom cloud radius up. It peaked Hours after detonation 3 at 130,000 feet within six 06 10 20 Turbulence minutes. Namu Island The cloud grew more than 60 miles Radioactive ash began to fall The intense wide about eight minutes after the blast. from the sky over at Rongelap Extreme Cloud radioactive heat and Ailinginae. Bikar Atoll Fallout reached Rongelap radioactivity burned birds Atoll, 125 miles from the 4 Crater The mushroom within range. Bravo blast. Stratosphere cloud grew Japanese boat 4.5 miles wide Radioactive fallout Afireball shot within seconds. Shock waves 1 The cloud continued up at 300 mph, Bikini Atoll Utirik Atoll As radiation lingered, people and measured to grow at arate of Rongerik Atoll developed cancer, even Air was pulled about 41,000 feet in millions of Ailinginae Atoll Rongelap Atoll Taka Atoll those born years later. degrees in heat. inward per minute. 2 0miles50100 200 300

Detonation point Distance from the blast

U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Energy, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Atomic Heritage Foundation, Nuclear Weapon Archive Lorena Iñiguez Elebee Los Angeles Times U8 SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 10 ,2019 LATIMES.COM LATIMES.COM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER10, 2019 U9 AMERICANFALLOUT:THE MARSHALLISLANDS

TARINESABON writes songs and trains choirsdespite past treatmentsfor stomach cancer and athyroid disorder thatdoctorsare monitoring. The 75-year-old nowstruggles to hit high notes.

JUSTINALANGIDRIK, 67,was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1984 and has lost most of her Photographs by Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times singing voice. Today, shetries to teach her songs to young choristers. “I am asurvivor,”she said. KNOWN AS BROTHER C, Carlton Abon was one of the most famous Marshallese singers, but surgery foracancerous lump damaged his voice. “There has been no music, no nothing in my life,”said Abon, 40, who hopes to record again. As thyroidcancers mount, anation’s voicefades away

mushroom cloud of fire morethan Snapshot of thyroidcancers in erated on as many as 117Marshall- “If we were guinea pigsthen, why The disorders have afflicted some of themost beloved singersofthe islands, 13 times as high as Mt.Baldy. ese thyroid patients, payingthem a can’t we be guinea pigs now?” she Winds carried the fallout to neigh- theMarshall Islands total of $3 million in exchangefor askssarcastically. boring atolls, including Rongelap, consenting to the surgeries. Nearly wherefolk history—tales of unrequitedlove, seavoyages, familylegends —is wherepeople thought the ashfall- Starting 61 years ago, hundreds of Marshallesewere exposedto one-fourth of these peoplewere d ing from the sky wassnow. radioactive fallout from U.S. nuclear weaponstesting. Manydeveloped previously considered unexposed, As they came in contact with cancers. The majority were diagnosedwith thyroidcancer, often and many did not need the de- The thyroid is abutterfly- passed down by song.Radiation from U.S. nuclear testing is akey culprit. the debris,many startedvomiting resulting in damagetotheir vocal cords and othermedicalproblems. structivesurgeries. shaped gland in the neck that uses and experienced skin burns and One consequence: hypo- iodine to produce hormones that othersymptoms of radiation Below is asnapshot of Marshallese stricken by cancers who agreed to thyroidism, in whichthe gland convert food to energy.Whenra- the countryin1961, these disorders How radiation affects the thyroid If evenone or twoofits talented sickness. They were evacuated two participateinaninformal survey conducted by theMarshall Islands cannot produce enough thyroid dioactiveiodineenters the body, it By Ali Raj have afflicted at least 1,500Mar- artists areaffected, it has abig im- days later. Withinaweek, U.S. offi- health department. It is unknownprecisely how manyMarshallese hormone, slowing down people’s concentrates in the thyroid gland reporting from majuro, The thyroid, when it is functioning well, uses iodine to produce developed cancers. marshall islands shallesewho were aliveduringthe pact on asmall community.” cialsinitiated atop-secret pro- metabolisms. and begins to destroy it. An altered testing period. hormones, which regulate the conversion of food to energy. When One of these artists is Tarines gram called Project 4.1, designed to “A lotofpeople gothypothy- voice is an earlysymptom. In Abon’s case, he developed a radioactive iodine enters the body, it destroys normal hormone Abon, 75,who continues to write study radiation exposureamong Lifespan and deaths of Marshallese roidismfromthese surgeries,” said In the summer of 2000,the production, resulting in cancerous tumors and disorders that affect or centuries, the people of balloon-likenoduleinhis throat. songsand train choirs despite past the Marshallese. Person diagnosed Diagnosed with Dr.NealPalafox, aformer head of British rock icon Rod Stewart lost the Marshall Islands have Doctors surgically removedthe the vocal cords. treatmentsfor stomachcancer In recent decades, several re- Yeardied Year died the Department of Energy’shealth his voice altogetherafter receiving with thyroid cancer other cancers told their history through cancerous growth, but his voice ne- and athyroid tumor his doctors are searchers have documented how program in the Marshall Islands. surgery for thyroid cancer at Nuclear testing Fsong.Theysang of unre- verfully came back. The normal When radioactive nowwatching. Project 4.1scientists intentionally Even though thyroid cancer is Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in quited love,sea voyages, Today,his music survives only function of the 3 iodine destroys When aTimes photographer exposed Marshallese to radiation, 1920 ’30 ’40’50 ’60 ’70 ’80 ’90 ’00 ’10 ’19 among the most successfully Los Angeles. Afternine months of marine life, faith, family legends. on afew of Majuro’s radio stations thyroid gland the thyroid gland visited him at his Majuro home in then studied themfor research treated of the cancers, those medical careand vocal rehabilita- Carlton Abon is perhapsthe and in stereos of taxis that putter May, Abon, no relation to Carlton purposes. * People born stricken received aggressive sur- tion, he could sing once again, albe- mostfamous of the islands’ young along the city’sonlyroad. Abon, struggled to reachsomeof “The projectwas initiated with before nuclear geriesand little to no post-surgery it in alower octave. Four years lat- Thegland 3 Radioactive * balladeers. With four studio and “He was, to me, one of the best the highernotes he wassinging. By mixed motives,” said Barton testing: About rehabilitation and therapy,leaving er,hewon his firstGrammy. takes iodine Thyroid iodinecan enter tworemix albums, he wasoncea contemporaryartists that bridged wayofexplanation, he pointed to Hacker, the author of the19 94 book 38% develop many of themwith permanentvo- Artists in the Marshall Islands fromfood and thebodywhen prolificrecording artist on this the past to the future,” said Ma- his throat. “Elements of Controversy,” which thyroid cancer. cal disabilities. have not been as lucky. combines it with people are central Pacific nation, whichsits juro-based music producer Daniel Laryngeal nerve Another artist is Justina chronicles the intentional expo- Age range: In1988, the Marshallesegovern- Cases of Marshallese musicians amino acidsto directly exposed roughly 2,000 milessouthwest of Kramer.“It affected him duringthe Langidrik,67, who sang as aso- sureofislanders.“It wasprimarily Three people 50s to 80s ment formed anuclear claims losing their voicesfirst came to makehormones. to it, breathe Hawaii. height of his creativity in music.” prano with the United Church of to help but also for politicaland were born at tribunalwith American funding to lightwith the illnesses of composer contaminated But over the last decade, Abon’s The Republic of the Marshall Is- Christ choir in Majuro untildoc- militarypurposes.” the start of pay damages to radiation victims LijonEknilang and artist-activist air or ingest silverybaritone has transformed lands consists of 29 atolls spread tors diagnosed her with thyroid In 19 57,just three years afterthe the bombing. andthose who continued to suffer Almira Matayoshi, both of whom contaminated intoastrained rasp. Friends made over 750,000squaremiles, and in Hormones Larynx cancer in 19 84. detonation, American scientists post-treatment. Butthe United arenow deceased. food. fun of his hoarse voice. By 2016,he this once-remotepartofthe Pa- arethen The physicians removed declared Rongelap safe and al- During nuclear States neveradequately financed Eknilang was8when Castle distributed Vocal cords could no longer perform evenhis cific, radiation and cancer are 2 Langidrik’s thyroid, taking away lowedits residents to return to testing, younger the tribunal, and by 2006,its fund- Bravo went off in Bikini. Shewas The thyroid ownmelodies, and so this singer- hardly the only threatstothe is- to control 1 her singing voice,whichshe only theirhomes. This is when more people developed ing had started to dryup. By then, staying at her grandmother’son metabolism. gland takes up songwriter,who goes by thestage lands’ traditionalarts. As is true Iodine partially regained afew years later. and moreMarshall Islanders be- more thyroid the tribunalhad paid $91.4million the nearby Ailinginae Atoll. She name Brother C, quit apromising elsewhere,ayounger generation of radioactive Today,when her health per- came sick from radiation poison- cancers. to 1,999ofthose injured, nearly later wroteasong thatrecalled career. Marshall Islanders has shunned iodine, causingits mits, she tries to teachher songsto ing and young children were two-thirds of whom had thyroid that morning: “I wasscared and cellstomutate * “Therehas been no music, no the songsoftheir parentsand em- 4 Thyroid gland young choristers. stricken with thyroid cancers, an diseases. woke up crying /Icouldn’tsee be- andgrow rapidly. nothing in my life,” said Abon, braced moremodernsounds. Radioactive “Therewas atime when Iused affliction they had rarely experi- Today,cancer patientsap- causeofthe tears in my eyes.” who has taken ajob doing clerical Historically,the Marshallese Themutated cells to think that Iamjust someone enced before. proachthe tribunal, on average, ev- U.S. government doctors, who iodine Cancerous form acancerous work in Majuro,the country’slarg- performed through chanting, mass who wasaffected,” she said. “But I In19 64,three teenagegirls living eryotherday.Its tworemaining referred to their human subjects by est city, and nowleads areclusive stampingand body percussion. mass. am asurvivor.Iam asurvivor.” in the atollwerediagnosed with Marshallese born More of those employees, Cathy Wakefield and serial numbers, removedEkni- existence. Sometimes the singing wasaccom- Trachea Langidrik’sspeechissoft, and thyroid nodules. The North afterthe nuclear born afterthe Emma Gulibert, aretasked with lang’s thyroid gland. Eknilangwas Abon, astout man of 40 with a panied by shell trumpets, hour- she keeps her graying hair tucked Carolina radiobiologist Ulrich testing period nuclear testing explaining to their distressed com- called No.53. The surgery lefther bristly beardand toothless smile, glass drums and concussion sticks. in atraditional floral headdress. A Behling, in his 2007reporttothe developed patriots whythey cannot help any- with apermanent vocal injury. thyroid cancers. is one of at least adozenprominent Storytelling wascrucial. Compos- Acancerous lump and the vocal cords senior public servant,she has rep- Centers for Disease Control and more. “Theyask whyare youstill Throughout her career, she wrote Marshallese musicianswith voices ers, it is said, wrotetunes with help resented the Marshall Islands at Prevention, wrotethatby1974, 17 of here? Whopays your salary?” songsaboutAmerican apathyand Overtime, as the mass grows, alumpdevelopsonthe neck. That canbe damagedbythyroid disorders —a from ancestors and supernatural United Nations forums, trying to 19 children exposed beforeage10 on 50s Wakefield said. the horrors of radiation. painful, making it difficult to swallow. It can alsoswell thelymph nodes or type of illness that increased in the beings. raiseawareness of her country’s Rongelap were diagnosed with Among their distressed compa- “Will Ieverstoptaking pills? affectthe laryngeal nerve, causing changes to aperson’s voice. Marshall Islandsafter residents Yetthe nucleartests helped un- environmental challenges. thyroid lesions. triots is AdelePinho,mother of 11- Aspirin, calcium, gout medicine, were exposed to fallout from U.S. ravelthe cultural fabricofthe Mar- “Sometimes Iwonder whyall Behling, likemanyother schol- year-old Christian deBrum, apa- medicine for thyroid /Willthese nuclearweapons testing. As these shallese, whichhad already been Voice pitch comesfrom the the people in the U.S. arenot ars, believesAmerican scientists Radiation 40s tient with hypothyroidism in Ma- pillsdamagemykidneys, my brain, singers struggle to sing, it has com- frayed by centuries of Spanish and vocal cords’ opening range. aware,” she said, “of what their were fullyaware of the risksifRon- lingers;cancer juro.Christian needs a$3pillevery my heart?” sheasked in asong, poundedthe challengesofkeeping German colonial rule,Japanese government has done to these tiny gelapese were allowedtoreturn, is diagnosed day and atrip to Hawaii for a years beforeshe died in 2012. Marshallese folk traditions alive. annexation in 1914 and then the era islands.” but they let it happen for futurere- on those born checkup everyyear.Pinho,asingle Matayoshi wasalso in nearby Between19 46 and1958, nearly 20 of U.S. domination. search purposes. 39 yearslater. 30s mother of two, worksatthe Air Rongelap when the bomb went off. years beforeAbon wasborn,the The traditional songwriting d “Therewas plenty of evidence to 20s Marshall Islandsairlineduringthe She later gave birth to six stillborn, U.S. detonated 67 nuclear devices “has not only changed, but it is suggest that peoplewereinten- 16 years old day and in the eveningtends bar at deformedbabies and also received in the Marshall Islands that had a dying,” said Abacca Anjain- Larynx On the morning of March1, 19 54, tionally exposed,”hesaid. 1920 ’30 ’40 ’50 ’60 ’70 ’80 ’90 ’00 ’10 ’19 RobertReimers, one of only two thyroid surgery,but she continued cumulativeradioactive yield of Maddison, aformer senator of the top view the U.S. tested a15-megaton Along with letting Marshallese hotels in the city, to ensurethe to perform. morethan7,000 Hiroshimabombs. Marshall Islands. “Wedon’t see hydrogen bomb at BikiniAtoll in come in contactwith radiation, *Diagnosed withcancer,but died of other causes treatment happens without fail. As an activist and performer, Radioactive fallout from the composers anymore.” the north of the Marshall Islands. U.S. scientists and doctors con- Theserecords were collected by local healthauthoritiesinthe Marshall Islands and reflect asubset Christian wasborn with the she would recount howpeople tests devastated people’shealth Kramer, themusic producer, Normal Cancerous mass Paralysis Called the Castle Bravo test, it was ducted experiments on residents of islanders who developed cancers during and after U.S.nuclear weapons testing. Theseresults condition 13 years afterAmerican wouldbully her and other singers have not been peer-reviewedorpublished in an academic journal. They represent an attemptby and waslater documented to have said: “You have an older generation the largest detonation the United of the islands. Marshallesetodocument illnesses absent sustained epidemiological surveysbyU.S. authorities or scientists had declared that thy- for being unable to harmonize. caused an elevated incidence of that wasunabletopass down what Times reporting, UC San Francisco, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute States has evercarried out. During Project 4.1’sfirst three other international researchers. roid cancerswerenolonger a They were called ri-baam —people thyroiddisorders. First reportedin it could if it wasatits full potential. Lorena Iñiguez Elebee Los Angeles Times The explosion kicked up a decades, American doctors op- Marshall Islands Ministry of Health Lorena Iñiguez Elebee Los Angeles Times problem in the Marshall Islands. of the bomb. U10 SUNDAY,NOVEMBER 10 ,2019 LATIMES.COM LATIMES.COM SUNDAY, NOVEMBER10, 2019 U11 AMERICANFALLOUT:THE MARSHALLISLANDS

Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times MUSICIANS PERFORM at Langidrik’shome on May28. From leftare Laen CHRISTIAN deBRUM, left, is one of manyMarshallese with hypothyroidism. Arelon, 18;Jinna Lavin, 23; Aeto Bantol, 19;Vincent Inok, 17;and DannyLafita, 17. Citing U.S. nuclear tests, the 11-year-old’s mother wantscompensation forhim.

Universal HistoryArchive/Getty Images ANUCLEAR BOMB is detonated by the U.S. off Bikini Atollin1946.Alan Jones, who witnessed alater test, believes the radiation exposure plagued him foryears. Bearing witness and bearing scars In 1952, aBerkeleygrad’socean voyage ended with terror: the hydrogenbomb

down the air and ventilationsys- By Susanne Rust tems. The cloudunleashed, and for reporting from menlo park, calif. the next couple of hours, the Hori- zon waspelted byastorm of fallout. “In the confusion, we actually nthe summer of 19 52,Alan startedmotoring towardthe blast; Jones, an industrious red- it took about an hour beforewere- headwithanimpish smile, alized we were going the wrong yearnedfor excitement and way,”Jones said. Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times I adventure. He drovedown As the crew waited out the ROSALINABANTOL, 9, playsukulele and sings traditional music last spring in Majuro. Her grandmotheristhe Marshallese singer-songwriter Justina Langidrik. the California coastfromBerkeley storm, finallyheading away,the to LaJolla, hoping to join an ocean- lowerdeck became hot, stuffy and ographic expedition heading to the humid; even though the air condi- “She had abrave heartand SouthPacific. tioning hadbeenturnedoff,the stood up for her community,” It wasn’t until he waspreparing boat’s machinerykept running. Rongelap MayorJamesMatayoshi to board theScrippsInstitutionof “It wasinsufferable,” said saidofhis mother,who died of Oceanography’s research vessel,a Jones, who remembers having to bladder cancerin2005. rustyold tuna hauler called the stay belowdeck for morethan24 Horizon, thathediscoveredthe hours. Theradiationmeters the d mission involved morethan map- Navyhad ordered them to wear ping the ocean floor: The crew of spiked, and therewererapid-fire Thousands of miles separate PhDs andhandy guys likeJones, sounds from the Geiger counter the United Statesfromthe Mar- who “could fixthings,” wasgoing to that theonboard Navy observer shall Islands, yetthe twonations the Marshall Islandstorecord washolding, he recalled. remain bound by legacies of the wavesgeneratedbythe world’s When they were finally giventhe Atomic Age. first hydrogen bomb. all-clear,they realized everything FormanyMarshallese, the Six months later,onNov.1,after on the deck wascontaminated, United Statesishome to agovern- watching an island getvaporized, Jones said. ment that betrayed them but also a Jones and the crew on theHorizon The boat’s sprinkler system — countrythatbeckons with oppor- were doused in ashowerofradio- Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times whichwas designed to wash the tunity. About 30,000 Marshallese activefallout. It wasanincident JONES, 92, was aboard aresearch boatjust72miles from the IvyMikedetonation, which doused boat in such ascenario —usedsea- nowliveinthe U.S.,many of them that loweredJones’ abilitytopro- the crew in fallout. “Wewereinthe wrong place at the wrong time,” the Menlo Park resident said. waterfor decontamination. But migrating to states suchasArkan- duce bloodplateletsfor twoyears, the oceanwater surrounding the sas and Hawaii afterCongress ap- he believes, and he nowwonders boat wascontaminated. proved a1986compact thatallows whether it possibly caused devel- and 20 crew members. that populated the islands. was“DOG DOG DOG,” he didn’t The crew hadtothrow every- themtoliveand work herewithout opmental disabilities in ason born The accounts from Jones and “Ratsonthisisland arenumer- have to move at all. thing on the deck overboard. aU.S. visa. later, as well as his wife’smiscar- Edward “Ned”Barr,who wasthe ous. As one walksinthe evening Alittle after6a.m., the twomen Jones hasnoidea howbadly he At the same time, the U.S. mili- riages and stillbirths. youngest researcher on the boat at along paths …the rats runinfront walkedtothe beach, dug their re- wasexposed that day —the naval tarycontinues to use the Marshall “Wedidn’tthink of it then,”he 19,are the only twoThe Times of youinherds by the hundreds,” spectiveholes, buried their legsin officer onboardtook away his radi- Islands as aremotetesting loca- said in August at his home in Menlo could locate. Barr lives in San Di- Barr wrote. tight and waited. ation meter,whichhesaid had tion. The U.S. Army operates Park, Calif., as he looked down into egoand could not be reached for As thenuclear test day ap- At 6:30, Barr,Darsey and the maxed out. Butheknewhehad no rocket launches on KwajaleinAtoll his lap,wherehis hands lay folded. comment.Copiesofhis diarywere proached, the crew members of the crew of the Horizon —who were interest in stayingany longer. —partofthe secretiveRonald “But maybe that’s why.” obtained through Jones and the Horizonprepared. Barr and afel- floating just 72 miles north ofthe The Horizon wasscheduled to Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Jones wasone of just afew civil- Scripps Institutionarchives. lowcrew member,BernardDarsey, blast—heard thecountdownand stay for asecond test, but Jones Test Site, whichcovers 750,000 ian witnesses to the event, and it The journey to theMarshallIs- were dropped off on JeleteIsland, then sawthe morningsky light up opted instead to hop on another squaremiles, an area nearly five lefthim shaken —evenseven dec- landstook three weeks. Jones re- in Bikini Atoll, morethan 10 0miles in afury. Jones remembers it being Scrippsboat,the Spencer F. Baird, times largerthanCalifornia. ades later —asherecalls howill- members working the whole time, away.The othersstayed on board a“great orangefireball,” while that wascoming intothe Marshalls The Kwajaleinbase is home to prepared his boat and crew were readying the recording equipment the Horizon, in Enewetak, making Barr, in his diary, describeditas“a and then heading to Fiji, Tonga, 2,500 permanent residents, most of forthe bomb’sfallout. —but therewas also plentyoftime last-minuteadjustments and run- bright pink illumination”that shot Samoa and the Marquesas. Barr whomare government contractors “Our boat wastoo slowtoget for frivolityand laughter. ning tests. outward and then “upward,mak- also decided to leave. and their dependents. The base is out of the way,”hesaid, notingthat According to diaryentries of On Oct. 31,the night before ingeverythingbright red.” AccordingtoJones, many of the an oasis of manicured lawns and Ali Raj ForThe Times while every other boat therethat Barr,ascientificcrew member and detonation, Barr and his co-island- Afew minutes later,the sound crew memberswho stayedended swaying palm trees, far different CLAUDEOJEADRIK, left, and Telphina Jelkeare perhaps the most popular couple on EbeyeIsland. Although both of their voices day wasmorethan100 milesfrom StanfordUniversity student at the er pondered the uncertain and hit. Jones recalls aboom, whichhe up dying early of cancer. TheTimes from the sandbar island thatcon- were damaged by thyroid complications, they still sing biblical hymns together,and they don’t worry about howgoodthey sound. the blast,the Horizon wasjust 72 time,herecalls shooting ocean de- momentous test they were about said ricocheted with17thunder- wasunabletoconfirm his claim. nects to it by ferry. That island, miles away,according to military briswith .22-caliber rifles and shot- to witness. clapsasitbouncedbetween the As for his ownhealth, Jones Ebeye, is aslum occupiedbymore documents. guns, singing spoofsonWagner’s “Now it wastime for the ulti- stratosphereand ocean.Accord- said, hisblood plateletsdropped people thanitcan shelter. Some of the couple’schildren, Her daughter FaithLaukon, 43, the U.S. government,” said As the rain poured down last Jones’ interest in the expedition ariasatnight, and readingand matecorroboration of scientificex- ing to Barr,it“was totallyawe- precipitously afterhis exposure, Rudh Johnson, 59,lives among and nearly half of the Marshallese wasborn and raised in Missouri Palafox,the former head of the autumn, he sat on the veranda of waskindled during hissenior year writing chapters of amulti- trapolation,” Barr wrote. some.Itwas deafening. It was and for the next twoyears he had to this labyrinth of abandoned con- in the U.S., have put down roots in and neverlived on theaffected at- Department of Energy health pro- his house in Majuro,with aukulele at UC Berkeley,when he attended authored “superdooper sexstory” The twotook Benzedrine to magnificent. It waslikethe sound getmonthly iron and B12shots, cretestructures and mounds of Springdale, Ark.,aworking-class olls. Yetshe has hypothyroidism. gram, who also testified before in his lap, dogsathis feet and acup alecturebyRoger Revelle, Scripps’ titled “Of Restless Nights,”which keepalert; they didn’t want to get of one hundred thunder storms “whichseemed to work quitefine.” rubble. Once arespected member townwhere island immigrants Congress. of kava —atraditional drink made director and the grandfatherofcli- crew members consumedduring caught sleeping on the job. And coming at us from all directions.” He wasn’t allowedtodiscuss of the United Church of Christ have found jobs and homes and put d Despitethe report, Congress from anativeshrub —onanearby matechangescience. their lonely night watches. they reviewedtheir orders: Barr “It wouldseemthat the heavens the eventwith hisphysicianorpro- choir in Ebeye,Johnson was their kids through school. turned down the Marshallese re- table. Two closefriends listened in The topic: a1950scientific On Oct. 15,the Horizon reached wastold that at blast time, he wouldburst,” he wrote. “Weall vide any information that may treated for thyroid cancer long ago. One tiethat binds is KMRW- In 2000,the Marshall Islands quest becauseitdid not deem the silence.Abon wastrying to recall expedition to the MarshallIslands. Enewetak Atoll, in the northern should be “standing outsidethe stood in stunnedawe beforethe have helpedhis doctor understand “Before the surgery Iwas agood FM, the Springdale radio station asked the U.S. formorefundingto newrevelations to be “extraordi- the chordprogression for one of his Over the courseofthree MarshallIslands, and wasnaviga- tent facing the bomb with my feet largest display of man’s useofthe what washappening, although “he singer, but not anymore,” she said. that keeps alivethe traditional mu- pay damages to victims and con- narycircumstances,”asstated in most popular tunes, “Ilju Ne Am” months, Revelle and his team of tedthrough the atoll’s narrow pass and lowerlegsburied in tightly- Hydrogen Atom. Forminutes the figured it out,” Jones said. Three of Johnson’s fellowsing- sic and languageofthe islands. tinue treatment and assessment. the Compact of Free Association (Your Future). scientists, technicians and under- by aNavyharbor pilot. Beforethey packed sand.”That apparently holocaust of sound continued, Jones doesn’t knowhow else the ers liveonthe densely populated is- “The station bringsthe entire Congress directed the National between the twocountries. The Thesong is abittersweetelegy graduates from Scripps had tra- could enter,though, they received wastoprotect him from being thereaftergradually subsiding. radiation mayhaveaffected him, land and have similar storiestotell. communitytogether through mu- Cancer Institutetoshareits exper- cancerinstitutecontinued the that urgesthe youth of his land to versed 25,000 miles of warm, tropi- orders to stow away all cameras tossedoff the island byashock Earaches and ringing sensation though he acknowledgedthatit All three have scars on their necks. sic they grew up listening to,” said tise. On deadline, officials pre- studyand published it in 2010,this seek answers. He hummed it in a cal Pacific waters, mapping the and writing materials —they were wave. were experienced for many hours.” didn’t affect hislongevity. Ashortwalk from Johnson’s LarryMuller,aretired seaman who sented abrief reportin2004 that time significantly reducingthe breathy,gravelly voice, stopping to ocean’s floor as they cruised over strictly forbidden. Onceinterred, he wastowait for As Barr eyed the nearby palm Buthedoes wonder abouthis tiny cabinlives perhaps the most startedKMRWin2015. stated that 56%ofthe 530expected numberofexcess cancers to 170. translateakey line: never-before-seen underwater “This news mademefeelabit aradio signal: If he heard“ABLE trees, assessing their height and children. He said hiswife hadmany popular couple of Ebeye—Tel- But along with bringing their excess cancers had not yetshown Experts agree: If therewas ever “Between the musician and the mountain ranges and caverns. uneasy,” Barr wrote, “butIdecided ABLE ABLE,”itwould mean that a strength, Jones noticed huge miscarriagesand stillbirths. And phinaJelkeand Claudeo Jeadrik. culture, some old-timershave up in the Marshallese population. atime to conduct an independent politician, will therebeasolution?” He said he wasabout to embark to be very discreetabout my diary tidal wave wascomingand he was clouds forming in the sky, and then the one sonwho survived was Jelkeused to sing in school, and brought radiation sicknesses. Alarmingly,the reportsaid 40% and comprehensivecancer assess- He didn’t have an answer. on another expedition thatfall. and picture-taking. Ireasonedthat to find the tallestcoconut tree, a“darkness” that rushedtoward severely developmentally delayed, that’s whereJeadrik, also asinger, Neisen Laukon, 66,grew up in of thyroid cancers were also yetto ment in the Marshall Islands, it is The day aftergraduation, Jones if no one keeps awrittenchronol- climb and hold on for dear life. the Horizon. he said.His wife and son areno heard her for the firsttime and Rongelap when exposures to ra- manifest, going against American now, because mostcancersattrib- Ali Raj wasareporting fellowfor hopped in his car and drovethe 500 ogyofthis event, historywould ul- If he heard“BRAVOBRAVO Accordingtomilitary docu- longeralive. courtedher.Theyfell in love and dioactivitywereattheirpeak. Her scientists’previous claims that utabletothe nuclear testing would Columbia Journalism miles to La Jolla. timately become moreimportant BRAVO,” he should still climb a ments, the Horizon wasclose at 72 Askedwhetherhe’ddoitall married in 1973. father,Rongelap’sparamount thyroid cancers were no longer a have shown up by now. Investigations,ateam of faculty “I had no idea if he’dtakeme,” thanthe fear of the Russians!” tree,but the wavewould wipe out milesand downwind,inanarea again, he shrugged. The expedition Doctors diagnosed both of chief,helpedhis people evacuate worry. But untilthat happens, ques- and postgraduatefellows that recalled Jones, now92and aretired Forthe next fewweeks,the crew only the nearby islands. vulnerable to radioactive fallout. around theSouth Pacific, he said, themwiththyroid complications. the atoll in 19 85.She has had recur- Most important, it admittedfor tions about cancerwill linger.Early examinesissues of publicinterest. United States Geological Survey ferried around Enewetak Atoll, lay- If, however, he heard“CHAR- “Wewereinthe wrong place at wasincredible.But the bomb was Jelkereceived surgery in Hawaii, ring health issues all her life, in- the firsttime thatthe entiretyof last year,Carlton Abon wasflown Funding for CJI is provided by the seismologist. “But he did.” ing cables along the lagoon floor, LIECHARLIE CHARLIE,” a the wrong time,” said Jones, who terrifying—and he worries some- but Jeadrikcouldn’t. Their voices cludingproblems with her thyroid. the Marshall Islands wasaffected to the Philippines for emergency Investigative Reporting Resource On Sept. 26,1952, the Horizon erecting recording platforms at smallish wavewas on its way, and remembers racing belowdeck with dayacountry will use one again. aredamaged, but theystill sing It’s also possible she passed on by the testing, not just afew atolls. treatment. He barely survived car- at the Columbia Journalism embarkedonafive-month Pacific various points and observing the he should getout ofthe sandand the rest of the crew,sealing the “Those thingswill destroyus,” biblical hymns together. her condition to her offspring. “The 2004 reportembarrassed diac arrest. School. voyagewith acrew of 13 scientists nativeand not-so-nativefauna move to higherground.Ifthe signal portholes and doors, and shutting he said. “They areaterrible force.” U12 SUNDAY, NOVEMBER10, 2019 LATIMES.COM AMERICANFALLOUT:THE MARSHALL ISLANDS

Photographs by Carolyn Cole Los Angeles Times THE CITY OF MAJURO is home to about half the residentsofthe Marshall Islands, which faces twin threats of rising, warming seas and radioactive contamination. Afirsthand look at their crises —and ours

contractor jobasacaretaker on By Susanne Rust the island. He could stay for only reporting from majuro, marshall islands six months beforehe’srequired to leave for aspell, in order to min- imize his exposuretothe island’s oncreterubble, twisted background radiation. rebar and rusted anchor Ali Raj, aColumbia University chains litterthe seabed journalism school graduate, joined off the western shoreof the reporting team to explorea CNamIsland. They are cherished aspect of Marshallese the remnants of aU.S. nuclear culture: their traditional folk mu- bombtestthat blewapartthis sic. Atrained and passionatemusi- Marshall Islandsisle in 19 54, and it cian, Ali had worked foryears as a washereIsnorkeled one morning reporterinhis nativePakistan be- in August 2018 with Los Angeles forecoming to NewYork. He soon Times photographer Carolyn Cole. learned of an eerie effect of U.S. nu- We were 4,820 miles southwest clear testing —the damageithad of Los Angeles,onour first visit to inflicted on singers’vocal cords. the Marshalls. We hadset outto To further tell the stories of peo- visually document the brilliance of ple whom Ali interviewed, Carolyn the reefs—the giant seaturtles, made areturn visit to the Marshall colorfulparrotfish, elkhorn coral Islands in Maytoshoot morepho- and blacktip sharks —juxtaposed tosand video, and Ireturned in against the Cold Warrefuse. September. We’d been told thatbecause Back in California (for me and Bikini Atoll wasuninhabitableand Carolyn)and NewYork(forAli), so difficult to getto—it took us two it’s easy to let our protectivebubble daysbyboat —itwas one of the few re-engulf us. If the fall chillmakes tropical lagoons leftonthe planet my house toocold, Iturn on my not sufferingfromthe effectsofhu- heater.Ifweget ahot spell, I’ll head manproximity: runoff,overfishing AWOMAN AND her child cooldowninthe watersofEbeye Island last year.ManyMarshallese no to anearby cafe or the public li- and trash. longer trust U.S. assurances thattheir nation is safefrom the effectsofdecades-old weapons tests. brarytofind the cool, air-condi- But as we found so many times tionedtemperaturewhereIcan duringour visit, these islands are When we gotback to the boat, ultimately led us to exploredeeper were subjected at U.S. hands. work comfortably. fullofsurprises. Carolyn and Iboth remained quiet questions surrounding the Mar- Yetitwas the people we met Yetthe Marshall Islands show As we rounded the southwest- for atime. We hadjourneyed here shall Islands’ survival and what the when we gottoEbeyeand Majuro that the comfortand securityof ern corner of the island, the clear to observe ateam of Columbia Uni- United States wasdoing —ornot who brought this storytolife. the United States have notcome azurewaters of the lagoon disap- versityresearchers evaluate radi- doing —onbehalfofanold Cold Carolyn and IinterviewedMar- without aprice. Just as Carolyn peared. The seahad been swal- ation levels in the northern atolls. Warally. shalleserooted in being uprooted and Ineeded to reassess thestory lowedbyaturbid green-brown fog, Our plan wastofocus on the linger- It wasn’t untilwearrived at “the —includingsome exposed to radi- we were reporting, the people of abloom of algae surely caused by ing legacy of U.S. nuclear testing. Tomb”thatwewerefinally ableto ation, relocated, told it wassafe to the Marshall Islands areasking the unusually warm water, 96 degrees But the superheatedalgae seehow theseevents have come to- go home, then evacuated again. United States to reassess its rela- at snorkeling level. blooms and fish kills prompted a gether:Advancingseas and Others had returned home, but in tionship —orits stateofamnesia What we sawthatday wasgut- reassessment:Wouldradiation weatherwereeroding an aging the strangest sorts of way. —with their nation. wrenching: The reefsweredead or matterinageneration if the Mar- radioactivetime bomb, built Dick DiekeJr. recounted how As one womansaid to me,asI dying. In all the years I’vebeenre- shall Islands were envelopedbyris- within and adjacent to anuclear his grandparents had been exiled waswrapping up our interview, the porting on climatechange, nothing ing sea levels and lagoons cooked bomb crater.Ithighlighted the from Bikini in the 19 40s, and now, seas aren’t rising just on Majuro. had hit me quitesohardasthat. by climatechange? That moment violence to whichthese islands all these years later,helanded a They’rerisingeverywhere.