Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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In response to the Sept. 28 editorial “All Americans hurt by nuclear tests deserve to be compensated for it”:
The science of the ’50s and ’60s was flawed, and legislative action was also flawed with regards to compensation to unintended victims.
I was an employee on Johnston Island during the 1964-65 program to increase the size of the island. To accomplish this, contaminated soil from the lagoon was reclaimed and dispersed within the perimeter of the island. During 1961 and 1962, four incidents resulted in tons of contaminated island soil being bulldozed into the lagoon and nearby ocean waters — only to be reclaimed to increase acreage.
Johnston Island is one square mile — a person on the island during the enlargement program would definitely be downwind of all the reclamation process.
The government made an arbitrary decision to include only those people present during the last incident of 1962 — this is in error. Just being present during the reclamation process endangered all those present — the date to qualify for the RECA program should be extended to 1965 or beyond.
Today, the island is controlled by the National Wildlife Refuge System, and visits to the island are monitored and limited. What was it like 55 years ago? For additional data of Johnston Island, read the Nautilus Institute report “Cleaning up of Johnston Atoll” (Nov. 25, 2005, nautilus.org/apsnet/cleaning-up-johnston-atoll).
I have been in contact with Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., and hopefully the dates to qualify for compensation will be corrected.
