16 



HELFRICH AND RAY 



52 successful research dives between July 7 and Sept. 29, 

 1981. The results were presented in a special symposium 

 of the Western Society of Naturalists in Los Angeles in 

 December 1982 and were published in Bulletin of Marine 

 Science (Harrison, 1985). 



AN ERA ENDS 



Although the plans for an autonomous laboratory after 

 the 1980 departure of the cleanup forces were thought- 

 fully and thoroughly prepared and enthusiastically carried 

 out, and despite the welcome that MPRL had received 

 from the returning Enewetak community, its anticipated 

 position as a permanent fixture in that community was not 

 to be. At a time of constrained research dollars in the 

 DOE, and with support grants from all sources limited, the 

 cost of maintaining a resident staff and operating the 

 MPRL facility as a self-sustaining field station became 

 prohibitive. Support from the Division of Biomedical and 

 Environmental Research was terminated in 1982, 

 whereupon [X)E's Nevada Operations Office sought and 

 obtained funding for one more year through the DOE 

 Ofiice of Defense Programs. This additional year of fund- 

 ing permitted an orderly phase down of the laboratory 

 activities and the preservation of some of MPRL's unique 

 assets. 



The reference collection which had been started during 

 Hiatt's early tenure had grown and had been well 

 preserved and cataloged. For several years this was 

 accomplished through a contract with the Bernice P. 

 Bishop Museum, under the able sufjervision of the late 

 Dennis M. Devaney. The collections were carefully pack- 

 aged and shipped to Hawaii to be placed in the temporary 

 custody of the Bishop Museum. Early in 1985, negotia- 

 tions were completed by the DOE with the Smithsonian's 

 National Museum of Natural History and with the Bishop 

 Museum for the permanent transfer of the reference collec- 

 tion to the latter institution. The MPRL's library and much 

 of the laboratory equipment were transferred to Hawaii 

 Institute of Marine Biology. 



The remaining U. S. government activity at Enewetak 

 is now conducted on a campaign basis, usually supported 

 by the research vessel Liktanur. At this writing, however, 

 two [X)E contractor employees remain at the atoll, and 

 the field station remains intact and capable of limited sup)- 

 port. Philip Helfrich retains the title of Director of MPRL 

 and, with modest funding from DOE, entertains inquiries 

 from scientists who desire to explore the feasibility of con- 



tinuing studies at the atoll. There is every indication that 

 the people of Enewetak would welcome such visits. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



The wisdom and foresight of H. Burr Steinbach and 

 Robert W. Hiatt and of those in the Office of Naval 

 Research and the AEC who spawned and nurtured the 

 idea of a research facility at Enewetak deserve special 

 note. Time has proven that the decisions to establish, 

 maintain, and support EMBL and its successors were wise 

 and fruitful commitments which resulted in important con- 

 tributions to our knowledge of atoll ecosystems and more 

 broadly to marine science. Assuredly, there are still many 

 unanswered questions, but just as surely new knowledge 

 will continue to be built up>on the foundation of about 250 

 published scientific papers which have resulted from 

 research conducted at Enewetak Atoll over the past 30 

 years. The writers of this chapter, who have been partners 

 in the administration and support of the laboratory for 

 almost half of that period, record their hop)e that new 

 ways will be found by interested scientists and their spon- 

 sors to continue, even on a limited scale, the exciting and 

 rewarding experience of research at this remote and iso- 

 lated atoll. 



REFERENCES 



Harrison, J T III, 1986, Recent Marine Studies at Enewetak 

 Atoll, Marshall Islands, Bull. Mar. Sci.. 38: 1-3. 



Mines, N. O., 1962, Prouing Ground: An Account of the 

 Radiobiological Studies in the Pacific, 1946-1961, University 

 of Washington Press, Seattle. 



Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, Enewetak Atoll Master Plan, 

 1975, 3 volumes. Holmes and Narver, Inc., Anaheim, Califor- 

 nia. 



U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1973, Enewetak Radiological 

 Surve^i. 3 volumes, Nevada Operations Office, Las Vegas, 



Nvauo. 



U. S. Defense Nuclear Agency, 1975, Environntental Impact 

 Statement: Cleanup, Rehabilitation, Resettlement of Ene- 

 wetak-Marshall Islands, 4 volumes, Washington, D.C. 



U. S. Department of Energy, 1979, Mid-Pacific Marine Labora- 

 tory Contributions, 1 volume, Nevada Operations Office, Las 

 Vegas, NVa628-l. 



— , 1982, Enewetak Radiological Support Project, Nevada Opera- 

 tions Office, Us Vegas, NVO-213. 



U. S. Energy Research eind Development Administration, 1976, 

 Eniwetok Marine Biological Laboratori/ Contributions, 3 

 volumes, Nevada Operations Office, Las Vegas, NVO-628-1. 



