A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 



16 



reschedule the cleanup activities so as to have only a 

 minimal effect upon them. 



The atoll rehabilitation program consisted of the re- 

 moval and disposal or isolation of debris and contaminated 

 materials, the construction of homes and community build- 

 ings and facilities, and the planting of more than 30,000 

 coconut, pandanus, and breadfruit trees. The cost was 

 over $100 million. In April 1980, a ceremony was held at 

 Enewctak, commemorating completion of the cleanup and 

 the return of 543 Enewetak people to their ancestral 

 home. A short time later, the last elements of the Joint 

 Task Group departed Enewetak, leaving the laboratory as 

 the only American presence in the community. 



Over the next 3 years, major emphasis was placed 

 upon studies of a portion of the atoll ecosystem which had 

 until then been largely unexplored — the soft lagoon sub- 

 stratum. This research was directed by Patrick L. Colin. 

 Much of the fallout material which remained from the 

 nuclear tests had settled in the lagoon floor, and the 

 dynamics of this biotope were little understood. As a result 



of this research, a fresh perspective was acquired. What 

 had formerly been considered to be a largely passive sys- 

 tem into which materials were sedimented from the water 

 column was revealed to be an area in which burrowing 

 organisms were continually reintroducing material into the 

 water column — a process which led to some revision of 

 the understanding of important biogeochemical processes. 

 Interest in these processes helped to stimulate interest, in 

 1981, in one more interdisciplinary initiative at Enewetak. 



A significant improvement in understanding of the 

 deeper sediments of the lagoon required direct observation 

 and sampling, and these techniques required the use of a 

 research submersible. With the cooperation of the Hawaii 

 Undersea Research Laboratory, the research submersible 

 Makali'i was made available for a period in the summer of 

 1981 (Fig. 9). Other sponsors of the expedition were the 

 National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) 

 and the DOE. The DOE support included use of the 

 research vessel Liktanur. Fifteen scientists and seven sup- 

 port personnel participated in a program which included 



Fig. 9 The research submersible Makali'i operated by the University of Hawaii shown on one of its 53 research dives in the 

 Enewetak Lagoon in the summer of 1981. [Photo courtesy of HURL Program, University of Hawaii.] 



