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PRIVACY ACT MATERIAL REMOVED Department of Energy Brookhaven National Laboratory Upton, New York 11973 On June 19, 1978, the third hearing was held before the Interior and Related Agencies Subcommittee, Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, on Bikini resettlement. Representatives of the Kili Council and a resident of Bikini Island, , reported there was confusion about what appeared to them to be conflicting statements on the safety of Bikini and Eneu Islands made during your April visit to Bikini Atoll compared with statements of a later visit by High Commissioner Adrian P. Winkel. The Committee's subsequent questioning dealt with what the Bikini residents were told about the acceptability of Bikini and Eneu Islands as resident islands and about restrictions on eating local foods such as coconut, who t o l d them, and when they were told. Answers to these questions corrected the error in the statement of Tomaki Juda, copy enclosed, indicating the High Commissioner's visit was less than one week after your own. The sequence of events of the last several months including the appearance of new data on Eneu coconut radioactivity levels' from Lawrence Livermore Laboratory which occurred just prior to the Subcommittee's May 2 2 , Hearing, were reviewed. These were discussed in the context of the times of the two field visits and there seemed to b e an understanding of how the recommendations against use of Eneu as an alternative to Bikini came about. Nevertheless, Chairman Yates asked, and we agreed to provide, a statement of what the Bikini residents were told by the DOE team during the April 1978 visit. Presumably, this will be included in the record of Dr. Burr and I have agreed to ask you to provide this information including your Liicld. - trip report to Mrs. Ruth C. Van Cleve, Director of the Office -of
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Territorial Affairs, Department of the Interior. Copies of the statements su6Kitted by Mrs. Van Cleve and by Mr. Winkel, and a copy of a letter to Mrs. Van Cleve from Dr. Liverrnan are also enclosed for your information. As s want Director for Field Operations Division of Operational and Environmental Safety
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RESETTLE'b:ENT OF THE PEOPLE OF BIKINI, JUNE 19, 1978-- Mr. Chairman, Members of the Committee: In accordance with the decisions made at your May 22nd i meeting, I discussed with the people of Bikini Island their forthcoming move from that island and their preference as to relocation sites. These meetings were held over a period of 2 4 hours, on Thursday and Friday, June 1 and 2 , with virtually all of the people of the Island--men, women, and children-- in attendance at the first meeting, and 35 to 40 people (the adult male population) at the succeeding two meetings. . Subsequently, on Monday, June 5 , a meeting was held with the people of Kili Island for the same purposes, with about 1 3 5 people in attendance. I h the opening remarks at Bikini I explained to the people, that I was there to inform them it Gas necessary that they mo-Jc from Bikini Island, that Eneu Island also was not considered 5 : : enough to allow their living on it at this time, and that foi;r relocation sites were suggested for their consideration and 6. A t the second meeting on Friday, June 2, various spoke?- outlined the preferences of the people as follows: .- 1) Stay on Bikini Island until further information 'Is activity. The pe.ople reasoned that they would havc
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wait on Bikini Island for75to90days until a newsite was prepared, and, also,that additional in for - mation about the food on Eneu would be available in a similar period of time.Therefore,they saw no reason why a final decision could not be delayed. They offered to move t o Eneu inthe meantime if Bikini was considered to be unsafe for that time period. Move t c " public domain" land in the State of Hawaii o r ' 4in mainland United States. The people ' s reason for it his preference was that there is no island in the Marshall s to which they could move which would not be the property of other islanders, and that they would not feel free t o move about the island as they desired, or to fish where they thought it best,etc. their understanding that there is. " public domain" land inthe United States which belongs to no one person o r .group and that, on such land,they would not be living Their spokesman stated they on another person's land. understood the problems of the.culture and climate adjustments they would encounter. If preferences numbers one and two are not possible, the various spokesmen stated they had no further .- preferences and that they would leave the choice - afa
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The same preferences were expressed by some spokesmen - _at- the Kili meeting. Kili wish to j o i n the Bikini Island residents, either on Bikini Island or wherever they may relocate. which wisnes to remain on Kili and it seems.quite certain that It was clear that some of the people on There also is a group it is composed of the majority of the people. I told the people that preference nuxnber one appeared to be logical and justified and that I would recommend it if I found it to be so after further consideration. Since then I have learned of more detailed results of the analysis of coconuts than were available to me at the time of the May 2 2 hearing and of my visit to Bikini. Analysis of other kinds of foodstuffs grown on Eneu is now underway and the Department of Energy informs me that the results will be known at the end'of August. Tests for strontium.90 will take longer and those results will not be available until next January or February. , . I am advised by the Department of Energy that the August results will probably not change the predictions based on the 1978 data of Eneu coconuts. Therefore, Eneu as a habitation continues to present unacceptable risks. Energy needs to continue its testing of Eneu, but in terms of meeing the immediate settlement needs of the Bikini people,- The Department of am- convinced another location must be found.
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-I have asked the Department of Energy to complete the -- e s t s on Eneu foodstuffs as rapidly as is possible and I have been assured that the task has the highest priority. While we fully share the hopes of the people of Bikini that Eneu will be found to be acceptable, prudence requires us to look to another location for their temporary resettlement. Preference number two obviously involves extensive study, and a temporary relocation would be necessary in the meantime, in any case. Of the four proposed relocation sites, I visited two during my recent trip, namely, Kili Island and Jabwor Island in Jaluit Atoll. The third site, Majuro, I have visited many times, and the fourth Ailinglaplap, was considered to be the least acceptable to the people. Jabwor Island in Jaluit Atoll and Kili Island are considered to be the best sites, although both-have serious disadvantages as well as certain advantages. The pros and cons of Jabwor Island are as follows: a ) People of Bikini have rights to area.on Jabwor Island which would be their residential area,-- -r; .- b) Has a lagoon with good fishing.
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-. f!) People of Bikini have rights to three other small islands in J alu it Atoll which would be acceptable for limited agricultural production. Bikini people have no formal fishing rights in Residential area i s hemmed i n by ocean, lagoon, and immediately adjacent village. Physical conditions are very conducive to lack of which Bikini an s express concern. Special programs for Bikinians--food program, gratia payments, etcr-are a possible cause of friction between i ndige nou s,A population and Bikini an s. Would be crowded. advantages and disadvantages of Kili Island are a s a)Kili is occupied only by Bikini an s and isnot regarded as an island belonging to others. - Kili is an island with what is considered in the Marshall s to be good soil with some agricultural
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potential. Physically, the island'itself is much more comparable to Bikini than Jabwor Island, - - except for the lack of a lagoon. c) Kili provides the means, for the present, of the Bikini and Kili people remaining together. a) Serious disadvantage of difficulty of access during four months of year because of no ree-f and Lack of community facilities--school buildings, dispensary, community hall, warehouse, etc. On the basis of ail of the factors outlined above, it is my decision that the people of Bikini Island should be relocated to Kili Island at this time. Kili Island's deficiencies are primarily.physica1 in nature and can be overcome in time. major problems of Jabwor Island involve serious questions of relationships between the peoples, which are more difficult to deal with and are less susceptible to resolution. The Administration's legislative proposal for Bikini rehabilitation, and the legislation just recently approved by the House of Representatives, provide a funding base for starting the necessary Wo&: on Kili Island, other than the construction of the temp r rir .' hcilities, which, as Mrs. Van Cleve stated, is underway at t:..& In summary, therefore, it is my judgment that the best
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balanced progran will be t o (1) unite the people on Kili and tom&e- the im2rovements in physical facilities which will be necessary,in any case, for the people who choose t o remain on Kili, and (2)to proceed with the planning of permanent facilities at a location to be determined after a decision is finally made concerning whether or not Eneu can be used. believe strongly that the intense desire of the people to stay in the Bikini Atoll by going to Eneu justifies our proceeding ina manner which keeps that option open until additional data is available from DOE, presumably, I understand, some time in Another possibility which w e will explore as an in teri mi 1 . measure is the possible joint use of Kili Island and the avail - relatively close to each other - - about a six hour trip by ship-- and they complement and.supplement each other.It may be possible to ultimately locate some people on Kili and some on Jabwor, or develop a method by which the people (on their own volition)can discussion with the people after they are on Kili. Finally,I want to take this o2port unity to publicly express my admiration for the people of Bikini and Kili.I n.- the most difficult and trying of times, upon receiving information
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for the second time in a generation that they must leave their iXJands, they conducted themselves with complete dignity. Theirs was the wisdom born of many sorrows. and objective in their statements, apologizing for being They were responsible emotional when their conduct was the essence of composure and restraint. These are a proud and sensitive'people, with good reason for being so. As a footnote, I add that over *all of the meetings on Bikini, three flags flew in the stiff wind, the flags of the Trust Territory, the United Nations, and-the United States. The people of Bikini put them there.