Marshall Islands Chronology 1944 to 1990 (Draft)

Page 2

MARSHALL ISLANDS CHRONOLOGY TABLE OF CONTENTS APPENDIX C- LIST OF CROUPS INVOLVED WITH MARSHALL ISIANDS DEVELOPMENT ............... 114

Page 3

MARSHALL ISLANDS CHRONOLOGY This draft chronology presents the historical record of events relating to the Department of Energy/Energy Research and Development Administration/Atomic Energy Commission (DOE/ERDA/AEC) medical, environmental, and radiological safety activities in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1990. Among the milestones included are agreements between the Marshake and the United States, particularly those invokg the DOE and its predecessorrs; relocation and resettlement efforts; legal responsibilities assumed by the AEC, the ERD& and the DOE; administration of U.S. government activities in the islandq medical findings; environmental studies; radiation safety criteria applied in the Marshalls and in the U.S.; and U.S. nuclear testing activities in the region. In order to facilitate use of the chronology by those interested in a particular aspect of developments in the Marshall Islands, we have assigned each entry one or more topical headings from the following list By selecting only those entries under a specific headin~ one can follow more directly the story of any area of particular interes$ such as the DOE medical program, government policy, or legal responsibility. In dweloping this chronology, History Associates searched 1) records in the DOE Archives in Germantown, including the AEC Secretariat files, Division of Biology and Medicine files, the Joe Deal and Tommy McCraw collections, as well as a numlxr of other collections; 2) records held by Environment Safety, and Health (EH), including the files turned over by John Rudolph (DP) and by Management (AD); 3) files from the Nevada Operations oMce made available to us by Harry Brown; 4) Joint Committee on Atomic Energy (JCAE) records at the National Archives; 5) the document collection at the Coordination and Information Center in Las Vegas, Nevada; 5) U.S. Statutes at Lame, and tj) Executive Orders of the President. The

Page 4

Department of Energy History Division researched the DOE Executive Secretariat files. Mr. L Joe Deal and Mr. Roger Ray made available to us documentary materials from their personal files It was not possible in the time available to do an exhaustive search of DOE/ERDA/AEC records, although we believe that major developments involving the agency have been covered. No effort was made, with the constraints of time and funds, to examine records from other agencies involved in the Marshall [stands except as documents from these agencies were fwnd in DOE files. For the chronol~ to be complete, we suggest searching at the very least, the records of the Departments of the Interior, State, and Defense relating to the history of U.S. involvement in the Appendices have been included to assist the user of the chronology-a summafy of the terms of the Compact of Free Association and of its implementing agreement of relevance to the DOE, lists of officials and groups concerned with the administration of the Marshall Islands, a list of abbreviations and acronyms used in the chronology, and a series of maps showing the Marshall Islands and the individual atolls affected by nuclear testing. Also included are a map of U.S. Navy ship positions after Castle Bravo and a map showing relocations of the Marshallese Copies of the cited documents have been provided. The documents are identified by alphanumeric designations, which are included in brackets following the citation in the endnote. When the relevant information is contained in one part of a larger documen~ the cited information has been indicated with a dark line in the left margin of the document.

Page 5

Low-lying coral atolls and islands scattered over some 180,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean, the Marshall Islands have been home for the Marshallese people for over 2000 years. In rexmt times the situation of the Mamhall Islanders has captured world attention because of the effects of United States nuclear weapon testing in the Marshall Islands. Although the Spanish navigator Alvaro Saavedra sighted the Marshalls in 1529, westerners showed interest in the Marshalls only after British naval captains explored some of these islands in the eighteenth century. The British named the islands after one of those exploring naval captains. & a result of agreements with island chiefs and Great Britain, Germany established a protectorate over the Marshalls in 1886. Japan seized the islands during World War I and in 1920 received a League of Nations mandate to administer them, Japanese troops used the islands during World War II until 1944 when United States troops ousted them and occupied the Marshall Meanwhile, during the final months of World War II United States and Allied scientists successfully developed the atomic bomb, which the U.S. used against Japan. After the war ended, the United States sought a remote area with accessible ports and land for installations to test atomic weapons. In 1946 U.S. officials selected the Marshall Islands’ Bikini Atoll and obtained the consent of the Bikini chief to relocate his people elsewhere. The United States subsequently conducted two nuclear weapon tests at Bikini in July 1946. In 1947 the United Nations designated the United States as administrator of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which included the The trust agreement permitted the U.S. to close off the Marshall Islands for security reasons. Subsequently, the United States expanded its weapon testing area, which the government named the Pacific Proving Grounds. After reaching an accord with the Enewetak people and relocating them, the U.S. used Enewetak for nuclear weapon testing in 1948, 19S1, and 1952. The U.S. nuclear weapon testing task force returned to Bikini for the 1954 Castle series The first shot of the Castle series produced such extensive radioactive fallout that a third Marshallese group, the Rongelapese, was evacuated from its contaminated home island and relocated for After Castle Bravo the Marshall Islanders petitioned the United Nations to stop the nuclear testing in their territory or, if the testing was essential, to exercise all precautions to safeguard the inhabitants and their possessions. The U.S. continued to test at Bikini and Enewetak in 1954, 1956, and 1958. By October 31, 1958, the U.S. had tested 66 nuclear devices in the Marshall Islands since 1946. Since Castle Bravo the U.S. has mnducted medical, environmental, and radiological safety activities in the Marshall Islands and has cared for inhabitants

Page 6

suffering from conditions, including thyroid cancer, resulting from exposure to the Castle Bravo fallout. The U.S. government also has continued radiological suweys of the Marshails and has mounted cleanup act”wities to make contaminated areas habitable. In the meantime, the Bikini people have been relocated several times. In 1980 the Enewetak people returned to their atoll, but insufficient food caused 100 of them to leave a year later. The Rongelapese, resettled in Rongelap Island in 1957, moved away from Rongelap in 1985 because of fear of contamination from I“Wingon In the 1980s the U.S. and the Republic of the Marshall Islands negotiated a series of agreements connected to the “Compact of Free Association,n signed into law in the U.S. on January 14, 1986. Potiions of the Compact and agreements require the Department of Energy to fulfill certain obligations to the Marshallese. Since 1947 the AEC, ERD& and the DOE have been responsible for numerous safety and health activities related to the Marshall Islands affected by nuclear testing. In 1990 DOE Secretary James D. Watkins designated the DOE Office of Health as the unit responsible for the DOE share of Marshall Islands programs. To assist it in canying out these duties, the OffIce of Health subsequently requested History Associates to prepare a chronology on activities connected with the nuclear test activities in the Marshall Islands.

Page 7

The Marshall Islands, administered by Japan since the end of World War 1, fall to the United States military forces during the Pacific war.’ The government of the Trust Territo of the Pacific Islands c.T.) conveys to the U. S. government the exclusive right to t e use and occupancy of Enewetak Atoll for an indefinite period of time for “the sum of ten dollars.’ (This 1944 date is used in this chronol because the date probabty refers to the first agreement negotiated between a Mars all Islands leader and a U.S. representative, probably military. The first paragraph of this document identifies the date of the agreement as that of 2 March 1944, but this partiadar document was drawn up later, probably in 1957. The term “Trust Territory,” was not used in 1944 for the Marshall Islands and the signers were officials in 1957, not 1944. Subsequent Ian age and signers of the document also indicate the agreement was written later. R“T is agreement was recorded in the Marshall Islands District Record Book 1, pp. 5, 6, and 7, on June 20, 1957.)2 U.S. officials select Bikini Atoll for the first U.S. nuclear weapon tests in the The military governor of the Marshall Islands obtains the consent of a Bikini chief to relocate his people so that Bikini can be used for nuclear weapon tests.’ The U.S. Navy evacuates Bikini Atoll inhabitants to Rongerik Ato[l.s Residents of Enewetak are moved to Meek Island in Kwajalein Atoll, and the Rongelap and Wotho people are evacuated to be Atoll for the duration of the Bikini The United States detonates two nuclear weapons at Bikini in Operation

Page 8

President Harry S. Truman signs the Atomic Energy Act creating the Atomic The Manhattan Engineer District, responsible for developing the atomic bomb, transfers atomic energy work to the AEC. The United Nations (UN) Security Council designates the United States as administering authority of the Trust Tenitory of the Pacific Islands (T.T.), including the Marshall Islands. Article 5 entitles the United States to establish naval, military, and air bases and to erect fortifications in the territory. Article 6 obliges the United States Promote the economic advancement and self-sufficiency of the inhabitants ... regulate the use of natural resources; encourage the development of fisheries, agriculture, and industries; protect the inhabitants against the loss of their lands and resources ... [and] protect the health of the inhabitants ... Article 13 nxognizes the authority of the administrator to close areas for security President Truman approves the Territory of the Pacific islands trusteeship agreement between the United States and the UN Security Council and delegates administration of the Pacific Trust Territory to the Navy on an interim basis.’” An official investi sting board recommends removal of the Bikini Islanders ffrom Rongerik because o insufficient food and water.” AEC Chairman David E. Lilienthal informs President Truman that the use of Enewetak for nuclear testing will require the evacuation of 145 natives. According to Lilienthal, to meet U.S. obli ations under the Trusteeship A reemen~ the U.S. F \government will accord norms constitutional rights of atizens to t e Enewetakese but will treat them as U.S. wards will keep displacement to the minimum required for their safety; will resettle the Enewetakese according to agreements reached with them; and will provide adequately for their well-behg in their new locations. Lilienthal states that the AEC and the Secretary of Defense will apprise the State Department that during weapon testing at Enewetak the U.S. will not subject T.T. inhabitants ~ perce~tiblv weater dan~er than, sav, the xcmle of the United States.”’z

Page 9

President Truman signs a directive for the removal of natives from Enewetak. Secretary of Defense Robert S. Lovett recommends that the forthcoming news release on the sehxtion of a proving ground at Enewetak ought to mention that the natives are not now living in any historic home but instead on islands to which U.S. forces moved them during World War 1!.’3 The AEC announces the selection of Enewetak Atoll as a site for roving Egrounds because it has the fewest inhabitants to care for and is isolated. T e U.S. government will transfer the Enewetak inhabitants to sites they will select and will reimburse them for the lands utilized. The AEC explains that the establishment of these proving grounds is necessa to provide a suitable area to verifi by experimentation “indicated results” of aboratory studies. Bikini is unsuitable for such ~ping because it lacks sufficient land surface for the necessary scientific information. The Navy moves 145 Enewetak inhabitants to Ujelang prior to U.S. testing nuclear weapons at Enewetak.’S On a visit to Rongerik Leonard Mason, a University of Hawaii anthropologi~ and James Milne find a critical food shortage affecting the Bikinians.’s The Bikini evacuees are moved to a temporary camp on the Kwajalein Navy The United States conducts three nuclear weapon tests at Enewetak as part The AEC goes on record as desiring that Enewetak Atoll be retained as a $;~~o:etl~roving ground for nuclear weapons after the completion of Operation The House of Representatives and the Senate establish a joint con ressional fcommittee of 12 members to recommend legislation to administer the Paci IC Islands trust territory and

Page 10

To assure to the peoples of such areas justice, peace, and tranquility, a voice in their civic affairs and overnmen~ the development of their feconomies and the protection o their civil ri hts, all with due regard to the establish customs of such peoples.$ Congress appropriates $2.25 million to the U.S. Navy for administering Pacific island governments, including the annual appropriations for the Trust Territory (T.T.).2’ (CINCPACFLT), and his staff visit the Enewetakese at U“elang and find the community After Bikini leaders select Kili Island for a settlement, the Navy moves the Bikini community of 184 people to ICdi, which lacks a lagoon and protected The Holmes and Narver (H&N) Construction Company and Los Alamos Saentific Laboratory (LASL) study the feasibility of replacing radiologically contaminated top soil with uncontaminated soil at the Pacific Proving Ground (PPC) In Operation Greenhouse the United States detonates four nuclear weapons The AEC accepts an informal arrangement under which the Secretary of the Interior would administer Enewetak and “would do everything they [ resumably the s?Secretary of the Interior] could to maintain conditions sati actory to the An executive order transfers the T.T. civil administration to the Secretary of The AEC states that an information paper is to be prepared explaining responsibilities of agencies associated with the maintenance of the Enewetak Proving Grounds, including the ownership of land and facilities.ze

Page 11

At Enewetak the AEC is represented through the Santa Fe Operations Office residual radioact’wity somewhat by bulldozing surface diti away from shot areas.m Congress appropriates funds to the Department of the Interior (DOl) for the FY 1952 for qenses of the hi h commissioner and the T.T. and for grants to the fT.T. for support of governments functions. In addition, Congress authorizes the T.T. to make purchases through the General Setvices Administration and permits transfers of excess Navv De~artment oroDettv to the Secretarv of the Interior for administering The Navy Department’s Bureau of Yards and Docks is desi nated in 1947 as %the representative of the AEC to obtain title to land at EnewetaL T e Bureau asserts that the AEC should pay the Enewetak natives $515,36o for the land area of which they were historic owners until their December 1947 removal. The AEC contends that payment should be made only after proper establishment of claims …