ATTACHMENT 3


Office Memorandum - UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT


TO:       Dr. A. H. Seymour 
          Environmental Sciences Branch, DBM    February 13, 1958
FROM:     Gordon M. Dunning, Chief, Radiation Effects of Weapons
          Branch
          Division of Biology and Medicine

SUBJECT:  OPERATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES 

SYMBOL:   DBM:REWB

There is a problem I would like to discuss with you on a subject
we have talked about before.  Our Division has the responsibility
to support research for its own end.  It also has the
responsibility to meet obligations of a more operational nature. 
As Dr. Shilling once remarked, "We have to pay the rent." 
Perhaps it is even more than that - our responsibilities in one
area are equally valid to those in another.

During the past year there have been three occasions that come to
mind where we have not fully met the operational
responsibilities, and thus laid our Division open to criticism. 
A resurvey of Rongelap Island should have been made prior to the
return of the Rongalapese.  I strongly recommended this to the
Environmental Sciences Branch, but for what I am sure must have
been good reasons it was not felt possible to do so.  As a poor
second alternative, I requested DMA to ask the Rad Safe people of
Holmes and Narver to make external gamma measurements.  They did
a very nice job, but of course these measurements represented
only a small part of the data we should have obtained.

After the return of the Rongelapese we were surprised to learn
that about ten or so of them had taken up permanent residence on
Aneaetok Island to the north.  Since this Island was initially
more heavily contaminated than Rongelap, it was essential that we
obtain data there comparable to those from Rongelap.  The
Department of State learned without delay.  After discussion with
the Environmental Sciences Branch you decided that i was not
possible to make this survey, so that once again I had to turn to
another division (DMA) and we have measurements of external gamma
taken on Aneaetok Island.  We still do not have the essential
data on foodstuffs from Aneaetok Island, and I truly hope that
the survey that is about to start on Rongelap Atoll will include
this.

OFFICIAL USE ONLY

REPOSITORY     Washington National Records Center
COLLECTION     32681-6
BOX No.        Box 1
FOLDER
Dr. A. H. Seymour             -2-

As you recall, the only restriction that we placed upon the
return of the Rongelapese was that they should not eat land
crabs, since the last survey showed an unusually high amount off
Strontium-90 in their soft tissues.  Although we are sure the
Rongelapese can live comfortably without eating land crabs, it
nevertheless became a problem for other than strictly health
reasons.  Therefore, when the last survey was made (July 1957) we
made a strong point of collecting land crabs and reporting their
value at the very earliest possible moment.  By the middle of
October we had not received such data and again requested it. We
still had not received the data by the early part of February
1958 when Dr. Conard reopened this question, since he was
returning for his annual visit with the Rongelapese.  Upon
further request the data were transmitted to us, based on only
two land crabs collected on Rongelap (and incidentally the two
numbers of concentration in the muscle differing by a factor of
12).  I fully appreciate the rather extreme hardships in making
such collections, but be that as it may, it still leaves us with
inadequate data to do our job.

I would be happy to sit down with you or anyone else at any time
to see if we can coordinate our efforts and responsibilities more
fully.

cc:  Dr. Dunham
     Dr. Shilling
     Dr. Western

OFFICIAL USE ONLY