What the document says
Roger Ray, Assistant Manager for Environment and Safety at the ERDA Nevada Operations Office, writes to L. Joe Deal at the Division of Safety, Standards and Compliance about the ships lying on the bottom of Bikini Lagoon. The letter says a variety of naval vessels, in full combat-ready condition, were sunk during Operation Crossroads in 1946 and have stayed undisturbed since then. One exception is noted: a motion picture production crew visited some of them in 1973. In recent years, the letter says, a number of scientists have raised concern about the ships' potential ecological impact.
The letter then sets out the pressure to act. Officials of the Trust Territory administration and the people of Bikini have both expressed concern. During a March 1976 visit to Bikini by a United Nations mission, a spokesman for the people of Bikini asked directly that the ships be removed from the lagoon. On the same visit, their attorney of record said he intended to look into a commercial salvage operation with the people of Bikini as the beneficiaries.
Ray writes that the locations of the ships are fairly well known but their condition is not, and neither is the likely timing of any release of fuel, munitions and other contents into the atoll. He points to evidence from Truk Lagoon that sunken wrecks can be environmentally beneficial, or that leaving them in place may be the lesser evil. The practical reason for the letter is an opening: a small research submersible will be in the Marshall Islands and could be used at Bikini. Ray asks Deal's office to find an agency willing to run the survey.
Key points
- 01The ships were sunk during Operation Crossroads in 1946 and, apart from a 1973 visit by a motion picture production crew, had remained undisturbed.
- 02At a March 1976 visit by a United Nations visiting mission, a spokesman for the people of Bikini asked directly that the ships be removed from their lagoon.
- 03Their attorney of record said he intended to pursue a possible commercial salvage operation with the people of Bikini as beneficiaries.
- 04ERDA's Mid-Pacific Marine Laboratory at Enewetak planned to use a small research submersible during July and August 1977, and the letter offers it at Bikini for about two weeks starting around August 21, 1976.
- 05The using agency would reimburse ERDA $1500 a day for the research vessel and $1000 a day for the submersible, plus a pro-rata mobilization share estimated at less than $5000.
- 06Little was known about the ships' condition or about when fuel, munitions and other contents might be released into the atoll.
From the original
The assistance of your office is requested to identify the agency or agencies which might wish to conduct the suggested condition survey, in order that timely planning may be initiated.
Source: U.S. Department of Energy, OpenNet declassified document archive, OSTI ID 16378765. The summary is written from the document’s own text. Old scans can be hard to read, so check the original for anything you plan to cite.