Letter to T R Mitchell, Subject: All Activity on Eniwetok Atoll in Furtherance of the Pacific Cratering Experiments Has Ceased (Marshall Islands)

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DEFENSE NUCLEAR AGENCY IJicronesian Legal Services Corporation Saipan, hlariana Islands 96950 “ Your 24 October 1972 letter to Lieutenant General Dunn has been referred to ne, as the individual at this agency with overall responsibility for the survey, for reply. Please be advised that in accordance with the preliminary Injunction dated 5 @tober 1972 issued by the U.S. District Court for the . District of Hawaii, all activity on Eniwetok Atoll in furtherance of the Pacific Cratering Experiments (PACE) has ceased. The Department Vf Deieaso is thus ii,full coapliancc with the court order. The only current cctivity on tho atoll, the survey referred to in your letter, is fully independent of PACE, both in pl~ning ~d in execution. The survey effort is in furtherance of the return of Eniwetok Atoll to the Government of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and will assist in determining a feasible timetable for the return of the people as well as the necessary cleanup measures prior to their return. Clearly the Department of Defense does not intend to circumvent the court order under the guise of the survey. The purpose of the survey is to provide data as to the conditiafi of the atoll, to include the physical condition and the location of and degxx?o of radiological contamination. ~o structures or materials are to be disturbed other than to ‘the extent necessary to obtain the required data. The survey is b6ing performed.both from the engineering and the radiological point of view. The engineering portion is being conducted under tho direction of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) and involves approximately ten DNA and supporting contractor personnel. The radiological part of the survey is being conducted under the direction of tha Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), in coordination with DRAi and involves approximately thirty people. The information obtained from the survey wili provide the basis for developing, for the subse- - quent cleanup effort, an estimate of costs, an engineering plan for .

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accomplishing the work involved, an environmental Impact statement, and for otherwi~e complying with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The purpose of the survey is to provide information on which Intelligent study and decisions cm be based. This agency can neither discuss End plan the cleanup effort, nor file an environmental impact statement and otherwise comply with NEPA, until the survey is completed and the necessary data gathered and analyzed. Once the field portion of the survey and the data analysis havp been accom-- plished, it is and always ham been.the intention, as expressed by the Department of the Interior, to involve the people of Eniwetok in the @’ planning stage of the cleanup. You indicated in your letter your belief that DNA has been designated “the prime agency for planning and carrying out the rehabilitation of Eniwetok Atoll”. DNA’s sole responsibility at this time is . for the survey work as outlined above. No other tasking has as yet been done. It is envisioned, pending the results of the survey, that Dk% will only be involved in the cleanup effort insofar as making the atoll safe for hu?xan habitation. The remainder of the rehabilitation program is the responsibility of the Department of the Interior. 1 am certain you will appreciate the necessity of continuing the survey work in order that the previously announced timetable for the return of the atoll can be maintained as a viable goal. Major General, USAF Deputy Director (@erations and W. Ruckelshaus, Director, EPA