Enewetak Atoll


Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with its 664 people forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. With a land area total less than, it is no higher than 5 meters and surrounds a deep central lagoon, in circumference. It is the second-westernmost atoll of the Ralik Chain and is west from Bikini Atoll.
It was held by the Japanese from 1914 until its capture by the United States in February 1944, during World War II. Nuclear testing by the US totaling more than 30 megatons of TNT took place during the cold war; in 1977–1980, a concrete dome was built on Runit Island to deposit radioactive soil and debris.
The Runit Dome is deteriorating and could be breached by a typhoon, though the sediments in the lagoon are even more radioactive than those which are contained.

Etymology

The U.S. government referred to the atoll as "Eniwetok" until 1974, when it changed its official spelling to "Enewetak".

Geography

Enewetak Atoll formed atop a seamount. The seamount was formed in the late Cretaceous. This seamount is now about below sea level. It is made of basalt, and its depth is due to a general subsidence of the entire region and not because of erosion.
Enewetak has a mean elevation above sea level of.

History

Humans have inhabited the atoll since about 1,000 B.C.
The first European visitor to Enewetak, Spanish explorer Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón, arrived on 10 October 1529. He called the island "Los Jardines". In 1794 sailors aboard the British merchant sloop Walpole called the islands "Brown's Range". It was visited by about a dozen ships before the establishment of the German colony of the Marshall Islands in 1885. With the rest of the Marshalls, Enewetak was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1914 during World War I and mandated to the Empire of Japan by the League of Nations in 1920. The Japanese administered the island under the South Pacific Mandate, but mostly left affairs in hands of traditional local leaders until the start of World War II. The atoll, together with other parts of Marshall Islands located to the west of 164°E, was placed under the governance of Pohnpei district during the Japanese administration period, and is different from the rest of the Marshall Islands.
In November 1942, the Japanese built an airfield on Engebi Island. As they used it only for refueling planes between Truk and islands to the east, no aviation personnel were stationed there and the island had only token defenses. When the Gilberts fell to the United States, the Imperial Japanese Army assigned defense of the atoll to the 1st Amphibious Brigade, formed from the 3rd Independent Garrison, which had previously been stationed in Manchukuo. The 1st Amphibious Brigade arrived on January 4, 1944. Some 2,586 of its 3,940 men were left to defend Eniwetok Atoll, supplemented by aviation personnel, civilian employees, and laborers. However, they were unable to finish the fortifications before the American attack came in February. During the ensuing Battle of Eniwetok, the Americans captured Enewetak in a five-day amphibious operation. Fighting mainly took place on Engebi Islet, site of the most important Japanese installation, although some combat occurred on the main islet of Enewetak itself and on Parry Island, where there was a Japanese seaplane base.
Following its capture, the anchorage at Enewetok became a major forward base for the U.S. Navy. The daily average of ships present during the first half of July 1944 was 488; during the second half of July the daily average number of ships at Enewetak was 283. Seabees of the 110th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on February 21 and 27 to begin construction of Stickell Field. It had two taxiways and a 6,800 X 400 foot runway. In June 1945 the 67th CB arrived to build a 35,000 man recreation center to be turned over to CBMU 608.
In 1950, John C. Woods, who executed the Nazi war criminals convicted at the Nuremberg Trials, was accidentally electrocuted here.
After the end of World War II, Enewetak came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986. During its tenure, the United States evacuated the local residents many times, often involuntarily. The atoll was used for nuclear testing as part of the Pacific Proving Grounds. Before testing commenced, the U.S. exhumed the bodies of United States servicemen killed in the Battle of Enewetak and returned them to the United States to be re-buried by their families. Forty-three nuclear tests were fired at Enewetak from 1948 to 1958.
The first hydrogen bomb test, code-named Ivy Mike, occurred in late 1952 as part of Operation Ivy; it vaporized the islet of Elugelab. This test included B-17 Flying Fortress drones to fly through the radioactive cloud to test onboard samples. B-17 mother ships controlled the drones while flying within visual distance of them. In all 16 to 20 B-17s took part in this operation, of which half were controlling aircraft and half were drones. To examine the explosion clouds of the nuclear bombs in 1957/58 several rockets were launched. One USAF airman was lost at sea during the tests.
. The dome is placed in the crater created by the "Cactus" nuclear weapons test in 1958.
A radiological survey of Enewetak was conducted from 1972 to 1973. In 1977, the United States military began decontamination of Enewetak and other islands. During the three-year, US$100 million cleanup process, the military mixed more than of contaminated soil and debris from the islands with Portland cement and buried it in an atomic blast crater on the northern end of the atoll's Runit Island. The material was placed in the deep, wide crater created by the May 5, 1958, "Cactus" nuclear weapons test. A dome composed of 358 concrete panels, each thick, was constructed over the material. The final cost of the cleanup project was US$239 million. The United States government declared the southern and western islands in the atoll safe for habitation in 1980, and residents of Enewetak returned that same year. The military members who participated in that cleanup mission are suffering from many health issues, but the U.S. Government is refusing to provide health coverage.
Section 177 of the 1983 Compact of Free Association between the governments of the United States and the Marshall Islands establishes a process for Marshallese to make a claim against the United States government as a result of damage and injury caused by nuclear testing. That same year, an agreement was signed to implement Section 177 which established a US$150 million trust fund. The fund was intended to generate US$18 million a year, which would be payable to claimants on an agreed-upon schedule. If the US$18 million a year generated by the fund was not enough to cover claims, the principal of the fund could be used. A Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal was established to adjudicate claims. In 2000, the tribunal made a compensation award to the people of Enewetak consisting of US$107.8 million for environmental restoration; US$244 million in damages to cover economic losses caused by loss of access and use of the atoll; and US$34 million for hardship and suffering. In addition, as of the end of 2008, another US$96.658 million in individual damage awards were made. Only US$73.526 million of the individual claims award has been paid, however, and no new awards were made between the end of 2008 and May 2010. Due to stock market losses, payments rates that have outstripped fund income, and other issues, the fund was nearly exhausted as of May 2010 and unable to make any additional awards or payments. A lawsuit by Marshallese arguing that "changed circumstances" made Nuclear Claims Tribunal unable to make just compensation was dismissed by the Supreme Court of the United States in April 2010.
The 2000 environmental restoration award included funds for additional cleanup of radioactivity on Enewetak. Rather than scrape the topsoil off, replace it with clean topsoil, and create another radioactive waste repository dome at some site on the atoll, most areas still contaminated on Enewetak were treated with potassium. Soil that could not be effectively treated for human use was removed and used as fill for a causeway connecting the two main islands of the atoll. The cost of the potassium decontamination project was US$103.3 million.
It is projected that the majority of the atoll will be fit for human habitation by the year 2026–2027 after nuclear decay, de-contamination and environmental remediation efforts create sufficient dose reductions. However, in November 2017, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that rising sea levels caused by climate change are seeping inside the dome, causing radioactive material to leak out.

Education

operates Enewetak Elementary School. Marshall Islands High School on Majuro serves the community.

Eniwetok Airfield

Men from the 110th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Eniwetok between 21 and 27 February 1944 and began clearing the island for construction of a bomber airfield. A by runway with taxiways and supporting facilities was built. The first plane landed on 11 March. By 5 April the first operational bombing mission was conducted.
The base was later named for Lieutenant John H. Stickell.
In mid-September 1944 operations at Wrigley Airfield on Engebi Island were transferred to Eniwetok.
US Navy and Marine units based at Eniwetok included:
The airstrip is now abandoned and its surface partially covered by sand.

Parry Island seaplane base

The Imperial Japanese Navy had developed a seaplane base on Parry Island. Following its capture on 22 February, Seebees from the 110th Naval Construction Battalion expanded the base, building a coral-surfaced parking area and shops for minor aircraft and engine overhaul. A marine ways was installed on a Japanese pier and boat-repair shops were also erected.
US Navy and Marine units based at Parry Island included:

Summary

SeriesStart DateEnd DateCountYield RangeTotal Yield
Sandstone318 - 49 kilotons104 kilotons
Greenhouse445.5-225 kilotons396.5 kilotons
Ivy2500 kilotons - 10.4 megatons10.9 megatons
Castle11.69 megaton1.69 megaton
Redwing11190 tons - 1.9 megatons~2.61 megatons
Hardtack I22Zero - 8.9 megatons16.1 megatons
Total 43 Approx 31.8 megatons

[Operation Sandstone]

Test shotDateLocationYield
X-Ray18:17 14 April 1948 Enjebi Islet37 kt
Yoke18:09 30 April 1948 Aomon Islet49 kt
Zebra18:04 14 May 1948 Runit Islet18 kt

[Operation Greenhouse]

test shotDateLocationYield
Dog18:34 7 April 1951 Runit Islet81 kt
Easy18:26 20 April 1951 Enjebi Islet47 kt
George21:30 8 May 1951 Eberiru Islet225 kt
Item18:17 24 May 1951 Enjebi Islet45.5 kt

[Operation Ivy]

Test shotDateLocationYield
Mike19:14:59.4 31 October 1952 Elugelab Islet10.4 Mt
King23:30 15 November 1952 Runit Islet500 kt

[Operation Castle]

[Operation Redwing]

Test shotDateLocationYield
Lacrosse18:25 4 May 1956 Runit Islet40 kt
Yuma19:56 27 May 1956 Aomon Islet0.19 kt
Erie18:15 30 May 1956 Runit Islet14.9 kt
Seminole00:55 6 June 1956 Bogon Islet13.7 kt
Blackfoot18:26 11 June 1956 Runit Islet8 kt
Kickapoo23:26 13 June 1956 Aomon Islet1.49 kt
Osage01:14 16 June 1956 Runit Islet1.7 kt
Inca21:26 21 June 1956 Rujoru Islet15.2 kt
Mohawk18:06 2 July 1956 Eberiru Islet360 kt
Apache18:06 8 July 1956 near Ivy Mike crater1.9 Mt
Huron18:12 21 July 1956 Off Flora Islet250 kt

[Operation Hardtack I]

Test shotDateLocationYield
Yucca18:15 28 April 1958 157 km N of Eniwetok-Atoll1.7 kt
Cactus18:15 5 May 1958 Runit Islet18 kt
Butternut18:15 11 May 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll81 kt
Koa18:30 12 May 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll1370 kt
Wahoo01:30 16 May 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll9 kt
Holly18:30 20 May 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll5.9 kt
Yellowwood2:00 26 May 1958 Eniwetok Lagoon330 kt
Magnolia18:00 26 May 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll57 kt
Tobacco02:50 30 May 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll11.6 kt
Rose18:45 2 June 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll15 kt
Umbrella23:15 8 June 1958 Eniwetok Lagoon8 kt
Walnut18:30 14 June 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll1.45 kt
Linden03:00 18 June 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll11 kt
Elder18:30 27 June 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll880 kt
Oak19:30 28 June 1958 Eniwetok Lagoon8.9 Mt
Sequoia18:30 1 July 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll5.2 kt
Dogwood18:30 5 July 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll397 kt
Scaevola04:00 14 July 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll0 kt
Pisonia23:00 17 July 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll255 kt
Olive18:15 22 July 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll202 kt
Pine20:30 26 July 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll2000 kt
Quince02:15 6 August 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll0 kt
Fig04:00 18 August 1958 Eniwetok-Atoll0.02 kt

Gallery