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for Environment and Safety Issues pertaining to the current relocation and rehabili Lation program of t]le Marshall ~sla.nds has been brougilt to my attention by Dr. John ii6bert at HARC. He suggested that 1 respond to you cur~ent ancl continued i.nvolvcimen-tin the. rehabilitation effort. Energy Research and Development Administration, United States Department of Defense, and the United States Departinent of the Interj.or) are participating in the rehabilitat~cri, specifically the rehabilitation of Enewetalc, ancl in genera]. the adjoinlr,g islands and atolls in the Marshall Island chain. ERDA’s malt-,responsibilil-ies consist of providing assist~nce ancl adv~.ce tc Defense and Interior cOncernirlg safety levels of radioact~.ve soil and finding a di.spasal solution for contamination suil. Again, 1 understand that steps ]~ave been take.1]hy ERDA to communicate risks of contami.nat].bn to cl’heprocesses and consequences of evacuation and removal of persons from their homelands have concerneci me for sornc time. Invaria}~ly, the culture and ].ifestyle of the rclocatees dre dramatically a].t-.erecl.. Home and work patterns- must be adjusted to accommodate existing ll.fe– styles in the new community. Often value conf].icts eme~ge between residents and re)ocatces adding to the colnpl.ications. Issues of this ki[ld dre complex, and frankly, not well understood by social this pattern and I fully expect adjustment: problems to occur. Rel~abil.itation of Enewetak, Bilcinit Japtan and some of the other the issue. FortunaLcl~y, for social. science, there ~re some ex~m~>lcs
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Californians continue to build homes on seismic faults or live in areas highly prone to flcods and Residents in western Washington and central. Colorado rebuilt their homes in flood plains; Coal miners continue to work in mines that liave a history of collapsing; and Kansans, Oklahomans, and Texans rebuild farms, in areas frequently hit by tornados. real hazards. People can see the effects alrncst immediately after they occur. Radioactive contamination produces slow changes in metabolism, cell grorwth and res-piratory areas of humans. There are exceptions, to the nature of the effects, of course. Nevertheless , t)~e Marshall lsJ_anders, like many underdeveloped societies, need to experiel~ce and visualize a risk before norms and mGres can be built into their culture. l’)~athasn’t happened tlild until effective procedures are developed to reali.st.icall.ycommunicate the risks, 1 anticipate communi.ciitj.onand eclucationdl problems to persist. In itself, communicating techno].ogy to an underdevelope,ci cultural groul] is a comp].i.cated and de].icate process; perhaps more thought a]l:]rj].alltllrlgshou].d be devoted to co~~lmunicat..inqthe nature of to tllj.s immecii.ate probl.eln{ an assortment of related issues comes to lnilldas follows: 3. Agency commitment to monj.tor and assess rehabilitation . Thi):ty years ago, certain Marshall islanders [rere relocated to other atolls and islands to mdke room for federal governmerlt testing of nuclear munitions. Most of the IZnewetakese were relocated to Kil.i, isl.~nclwithout beaches OK reefs wh~re the local economy is based on limited agriculture. l[ence, fishing skills of the lInewetake.9e were not necessary. AS a result most Enewetakese. h?.ve all but lost these skills because of generation gaps ancl clisuse. Moreover, many relo-
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from what WGUICI be Leq Lli_redGIl J;newcf;&l;. cate, past circumstances and some factur,]. i.l~fGun\a.t.~.onprcrm.pt:?io~.e. has already constructed a few homes oil the at~.11.ti~nd 1 understzM~d that their style and structure have ~eell ~i~approveil by cer~,ain The soil on El~ewetak is low in nutrients mc~king agriculture a nonvidble form of subsistence. p. ~et~lrn to fishing is almOSt a indeed be troublesome. -1 think the Enel,;[jta.kknow this and are somewhat confused about the consequences of ‘C]leirdesire tO return. I’m certain they ilave been toid that they should reclaim, their homeland from the federal government since it was theirs in the beginning. T])e experiences of thirty yeazs ago suqgest some inconsistencies. For example, farnil.i.eswho never experienced life on the atoll will experience similar kincls of acljustlr,sntprol~l.ems a.s their parents dicl not so long ago. In fact,” those adjustment problems are well tion to the other. Moreover, nlany are F;t.i.l.l].i.vingwho viv.Ldly IIence, given this information, one woulc{ [~onder why over 60 percerrt up present liifesty].es and attempt to return i.o a way of life long forgotten or never expezienceil. The relocation of people to an area once< used as a nuclear bomb Enewetakese ueturn and lnanaqe to survive the effects of contan.inaLion much can be said about tl]e generali.zabili.ty of this to future ination iS high and then return thirty years later to resume daily For the moment, consider the tormenting thought that the 13ncwetak relocates do become nc(jativel.y affectcci by radioactive ].evels and Ilave to be nloved to other atoll.:;ag~i.n. ‘1’l]econsequences could be alacming and have the pot”.ential of focusing public ’attentj.orr. Most assuredly, public resistance to nucleclr fuel re;ictors VJould increase and intcnslfy at an alarlning Kate and probably bring construction to Whatever the c)utcome, certain hum.amitari an qroups wi.:11 be watching
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toring of radioactive levels is important as are continued [:ffol-ts act.ion processes of island groups. From my exper.iellce in workiylg with American lnd ian groups involved in similar relocation ~ffori;~ , I carr assure you that the transj_tion k)ill not be a EInOOth one. ‘1’he following questions are but a partial list of issues that could what steps will be taken to assist the Islanders to What relearnin~ of former methods of subsistence will occur and what. will be tl~eir eftect on the What norms and sanctions will emerge that v~ill pre– How will. they be enforced? Will cldopti.on of western ways introduce forms of social What prevent;.on measures can be devclopccl to reduce the possible emergence of social. devjancy? What adjustments will. be made by Islanders and how will they effect daily living patterns? What cloes the future ho].d for an island g~oup isolated from tl~e main flow of economic activity? pcteJ_It si:aff sensitive to the issues just raised. and can plan a long-term program to j.nvestj.qate a number of these issues. T1’rs tasks delnand an i.lltcr(lisci~]l~naryapproach where staff scientists reprcscntinq a broad range of social. and belld.vioral science. e~.per--
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