Document text
Machine-read from the scan, so expect some errors. Lines that couldn’t be read are left out.
Page 2
FOR LAND USE C LA IES The United States Government obtained the exclusive.. right to use and occupy the land of Ene we takA toll under a1946 agzeelnent with the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands(the Trust G over r ment).. The atoll remained populated by 136inhabitants until '1947, when it was selected as a nuclear weapons test site. The people were relocated in December of that year to Ujelang Atoll, where most of them have remained. Enewetak Atoll consists of 39 islands. The total land area is1760 acres. islands, The total land area is 428.8 acres. The names of-the islands on the two atolls and their respective land areas are shown on the - schedule .at Tab A. was - the site of 43nuclear tests. distribution of the tests i s shown by the map a t Tab B and in the following table : U je lang Atoll consists of 22 El uk lab D rid ril b wi j Bok aid rik d rik. In1956,a settlement was ne qo tia ted with the Enewetak people for the past and future use-o_f-the agoll. A copy
Page 3
of the agreement5attached at Tab C. FuA use rights to Ene we takA toll were confirmed for the United States Government and the Trust Government. I n exchange for these use rights,the Trust Government agreed to convey tothe Enewetak people use rights in U je lang Atoll. monetary compensation in the amount o f $175,00_0 was pro - vided to the people. The agreement was signed by traditional leaders of the Enewetak people who represented that they had " full and complete right to represent the interests of any and all individuals who by reason of having lived on U je lang or Enewetak may now or at any future date have a claim against the United States or Trust Territory Governments by reason of their use of Enewetak Atoll, " The signatories also expressly agreed : on the use of Enewetak by the governfrom Enewetak- Atoll to U je lang Atolls hall be against them and not against the GovernI n 1969, an ex gratia payment of $ 1,020,000was made t o Subsequently, when the United States Government announced it no longer needed Enewetak Atoll,the people expressed a desire to return to it. Considerable effort went into ' making this possible. The United States Government and the Trust Government executed necessary papers to terminate use and occupancy under the1946 and 1956 agreements, and t o " quit claim,release and restore " all such rights to .the people. The Trust Government also conveyed t o the people full title to U je lang Atoll. this conveyance, th'e Department of the Interior was required to place a value on this land. The Department reported the value of the428.8 acres t o be $ 425,000, In order to make As a final element of this far - reaching compensation package, Congress at the instigation of the Department of the Interior adopted Public Law No.94 - 367 to provide for a comprehensive clean - up and rehabilitation program. For the clean - up Congress appropriated $ 2 0 million, and provided that the military services were
Page 4
to accomplish the clean - up using personnel and equipment paid this work will corjt the services approximately $ 60million. Another $12.4 million was appropriated for rehabilitation.. will cost the Department of Energy atleast $ 5.2million which will come out of its budget. for out of the irrespective budgets. Addit ' ion ally,completion of necessary radiological work It i s estimated that.. When it passed the legislation for the clean - u p of Enewetak, Congress expressed a.clear intention that its appropriation constituted the total commitment of the "That none of the funds appropriated under this [ Military Construction, Defense Agencies ] paragraph may be expended for the.. as the Secretary of Ef ense receives certif i cation from appropriate administering authorities of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands that an agreement has been reached with the owners of the land of Enewetak Atoll or their duly constituted representatives that this appropriation shall constitute the total corm it ment of the Government of the United States for the cleafiup of Enewetak Atoll.. '' On September16,1976rthe Trust Government and representatives of the Enewetak people entered into an agreement recognizing that the appropriation made under Public Law No. 94-367 const it u ted the total corrrnitment of the United States G0vernmen.t for the clean - u p of the atoll. attached at Tab D. . A copy of this agree msn tis To summarj.ze, the people lost the use of the land on Enewetak Atoll from 1947to the present.In compensation for this loss of usec the people already have been paid. monetary compensation of $ 1,195,000, and given use, occupancy and full title to428.8 acfes of substitute land on U je lang Atoll which has been valued by the Department of the Interior at $ 425,000.Finally,the United States has undertaken a comprehensive clean - u p and rehabilitation program that will cost more than
Page 5
XI, BIKINI ATOLL. The United States Government obtained exclusive right t o use and occupy the land of Bikini Atoll under a1946 agreement with the Trust Government. was selected as a site for nuclear testing,its166 inhabitants were moved i n March 1946to Rong erik Atoll, where they remained until March 1948 when they were r-elocated to Kili Island. After the atoll Bikini Atoll cons its of 36islands. The total land area is1920 acres. Rong erik Atoll consists of 10islands. The total land area is 416 acres. The names of the islands on the two atolls and their Tab E . The total land area of Kili Island is approx i - . .r esp ect ive land areas are - shown on the schedule at -. the site of 23 nuclear tests. The geographical d is tri - but ion of these tests is shown onthe map a t Tab E' and in the following table: Number of Island Name Big i ren - Reere - - Air uk ira ru In1956,a settlement was negotiated with the Bikini. people for the past and future use of the atoll.A copy to Bikini Atoll were confirmed for the United States Government and the Trust Government i n exchange for inthe amount of $ 325,000was provided to the people. . of the agreement is attached at Tab G.Full use rights The agreement was signed by traditional leaders of the Bikini people who represented that they had " full and complete right to represent the interests of any and all individuals who by reason of having lived on Bikini or Kili, mdy now or at any future date have a claim * Site of Test Bravo.
Page 6
against the united states or Trust Territory Governments by reason of their use of Bikini Atoll. " also expressly agreed : .Bikini an s based on the use of Bikini by the Governments ' of the United States or the Trust Territory or on the moving toRi li Island shall be against them and not against the Government."* of the Bikini people from Bikini Atoll ..- In1975, Congress passed Public Law No. 94-34 which ex gratia payments as compensation for use of the land 95-134 ~ & i c ha ut hori zed an add it tonal $ 100,000for the 1million were expended in this program. However, recent. studies leave in question the effectiveness - .of .t his of the land,the pe were given use and occupancy of 416 acres of Substitute land on Rongerik Atoll from 1946 ( Island from 1948 tothe present. In addition, ex gratia, t o 1948 and about 200 acres of substitute laE don Xi li payments have been made inthe.amount of $3,425,COO, t o ' con pens ate the peop?,e for the loss of useof.the atoll. completed ata cost of approximately $4 million. TO swm.xize,use of Bikini Atoll Other than as described above, no nuclear testing was conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands- . However,Test Bravo del b nate dat Bikini Atoll on ?.larch 1, 1354, had impacts on other-atolls to the north because1 . an unexpected high yield combined with a nun predicted .deposited fallout on Rongelap and Uti rik Atolls,and The 8 2 people residing on Rongelap Atoll and the 158people residing on Uti rik Atoll were evacuated * I n March 1966,ths Iroij of Bikini accepted $15,OUQ and gave t o the Trust Government a release of all of his rights to the atoll.
Page 7
.within three days of the test to X wa j ale in Atoll.The Uti rik .-p eople were returned to that atoll after three months. The Rongelap people were not returned to that atoll for N o cornpensation for land use claims has been author i zed or paid to the Uti rik people.In1964,anex gratia payment in the a noun t of $ 10,800 was made to each resident of Rongelap who was evacuated from that atoll as a result of the1954 test. for the lost use of the land. This payment was made a s
Page 9
SCHEDULE OF .,AND ON ENEWETAK AND UJEL G ATOLLS IN ED RAL
The text continues in the original scan (10 pages).