Memo Regarding Possible Surveillance Program That Might Be Carried Out by the Danish Government to Assure the Safety of the Thule Inhabitants

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M1RO REGARDING POSSIBID SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM THAT MIGHT BE CARRIED OUT BY THE DANISH GOVERNMENT TO ASSURE THE SAFETY OF THE THULE INHABITANTS. a. - There are probably no more than 80-100 Greenalndera in the immediate vicinity of North Star Bay. There are probably less than 600 who might be involved if they were all to cone visiting as they are in the habit of doing. b. The Greenlander is a hunter not a fisher. His status is determinedj by his ability as a hunter. He does not eat fish except under pressure. j c. The Greenlander male weighs about 125 pounds and consumes an average of 80 kilos of lean seal meat per year (180 lbs). All the seal is used at Thule; man saves the pelt, and gives the blubber, flippers, and viscera except the liver to the dogs. About 1000 are killed per year here. ! d. The diet is supplemented when possible by the flesh and eggs of the eider duck, auk, guillemot, squaw duck and ptarmigan In about that order. The number killed'is not clear, but it is appreciable. i 1 *• ' e. The walrus is hunted here mainly for his ivory, although the flippers may be boiled, and the stomach contents (chiefly the foot of pectin bi-valves) may be'taken for a delicacy. Almost 75 are shot. The meat is given to the dogs. f. During summer mussels ere dug at low tide. The amounts eaten are not clear but are not very much. I g. Fox meat, polar bear meat, and ravens may be eaten but they are going out of favor. They have to be boiled to hell and gone before they can be | masticated. They are scavengers and range widely. h. The arctic hare is eaten with pleasure but only 20 or so are killed per year. They eat the vegation found on soil on the mountain sides and valleys.

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i. Only very rarely Is e vhite whale or Bar^uhal killed. It ranges widely up and down the coast of Greenland. 2. Probably valid assumptions: a. There is some 50 cubic kilometers of salt water in North Star Bay whereas 1 cubic kilometer of bay water would be more than sufficient to dilute the PJJC>2 from all four weapons to below KPC for continous oral consumption. b. The major. contamination area of the bay lies above the mid point of; a glacial trench 625 to 750 feet deep becoming shallower at each end. The tide was 1 hour after high of the neap phase and the ourrents mild. Anything which penetrated probably is in the trench and will tend to stay there. 1 c. The high storm winds on the surface of the bay and the adjacent mountains will blow contaminated snow onto areas not originally contaminated. On the bay the winds tend to blow it toward Baffin Strait and. open water where the seal hunting area is. If the fire column dropped PUp2 over onto the land, the PJJO2 ought to accumulate most in the niches where there may also be soil supporting sparse vegetation. The soil is underlain by frost and the surface water tends to run off before the surface sjlil loosens during summer. 1 d. The Danish Government has a very paternalistic policy toward the Green landers and appears determined to look out for their interests as much or more than they would for themselves. pOE ARCHIVES e. Not having much experience in contamination control the Danes will , probably attempt many things in the way of protective surveillance, a good number , of which will be waste motion. f. The Danes are knowledgeable end competent as to conventional laboratory radiation bilogy and health physics, hut they are not strong in modern dynamic

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g. It is expected thet ve shell help thea construct e sound surveilenqe program end no doubt help In other weys. . h." The "scar area,, with its black impregnation and the cracked circle will probably melt faster then the surrounding ice. This may be fast enough to melt out the area entirely and drop the remaining

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material irithe bay. If this happens it will be necessary to know the currents in the bay by which this injection will be distributed to the food gathering area. 9. The leader of the Danish tearn^Dr J.Koclj, incicated that he pro poses to would have his people collect at this time samples of the natural foods of th^ Grenlanders since: 2. It cost5next to nothing to store them. 3. If is a now or never proper proposition,(Ve may wish we had after it is toolate^. BEST AVAILABLE COPY U. These early samples may give indications of where to look subsequently. He was urged to collect systematically according to ^bow and to secure a few s:.miliar samples from neighboring bays. 5. Alpha activity found in a sample should be identified by spectrometry or chemical means. There may be natural concentration of uranium or thorium daughters in this area in excess of possible plutonium contamination. The closeness of Thule to the polpr stratospheric -trophosph^fic exchange say also be a source of extraneous contamination. Evidence has already been obtained that snow on Thule AFB has non-plutonium alpha contamination. 1. Following the clean-up of pieces and bits now going on there viH be a period of 2^ to 3 months before the ice breaks up in which surveillance studies on the bio-environment can be carried out.

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feel that they rnuBt protect the local population hy surveillance of the food 2. Extensive discussion of the food and hunting habits of the Greenlanders vith the natives themselves and Danes familiar with the natives Indicate that the following food chains could contribute the most significant data: A.The detrities- plankton, to shrimps and fish, to the seal, to man: The point of attach, so far as man is concerned, is to determine levels of Fu in the contents of the lover colon and the feces. The liver, gall bladder, and mesenteric lymph nodes would be checked if Pu appears in the gut contents in apprecyTble amounts. If the animal is collected so as to avoid all contamination of its pelt^, the pelt may be checked by alpha survey meter. If Pu does enter the body on a long term basis it will localize in bone. Skeletal muscle should have a concentration about two orders lover. In short, it is highly unlikely that the muscle of the seal could he a source of jtransfer of Pu to the Greenlanders unless the physiology of the seal is completely different from other mammels. fic-If thl-a is found in the gut the liver should also he monitored before being eaten. BEST AVAILABLE COPY B. The plankton-'algae-^detrities, to ducks, to man: The droppings of the ducks roosting and nesting on Saundes Island and at other rookeries can be monitored in sit&s by use of a standard alpha probe counter. If alpha activity is detected in the fresh feces, last years droppings should be checked as veil as droppings in rookeries outside the North Stair Bay Area. If the feces of the ducks are radioactive, then individual ducks and their eggs should be sampled. The gut, liver and flesh can be analyzed for Fu rather than the whole animal. If captured cleanly the plumage should be monitored with

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Other nigratgry species such as the little auk can he similarily tested. Cm Muscles, to man: The tmscl-es although consumed In limited amounts Is irapc important because it is la dug out and eaten directly hy the Greenlanders has a mantle mechanism for filtering and retaining particulates such as PuOg* These can he dug up from the flats at low tide and analyzed directly for Pu. The results will give an estimate of the distribution of Pu02 particulates in the area as veil as the possible presence of FUO2 in the food of the walrus vhich now is eaten only hy sledge gogs in this area. D. Ho other food chains are of sufficient importance in the diet of the > Greenlander to warrant the time and expense of study at present. ! E. Sampling of animals should be recognized to he a random statistical procedure and the collection of animals and the interpretation of the data made on that basis. 3. Because there are no reliable data on the movements of vater in Horth Star! • ■ * Be^ the area should he instrumented to obtain current and flow datff In related areas of' the hay while the ice is still present to provide a platform. An instrument • such as the Richardson Recording Current Meter should work in this enviomment. IV The ecological research program, set up to support this monitoring surveillance program will require data such as the above in order to know vhich groups of biota can be studied most profitably. In any case, the surveillance program should have a well defined plan for termination as soon as possible.