Peter v. United States

6 Cl. Ct. 768, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1248
CourtUnited States Court of Claims
DecidedNovember 30, 1984
DocketNo. 461-82L
StatusPublished
Cited by20 cases

This text of 6 Cl. Ct. 768 (Peter v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peter v. United States, 6 Cl. Ct. 768, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1248 (cc 1984).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OF DECISION

HARKINS, Judge.

This is one of 14 cases filed in the United States Court of Claims as a result of the United States nuclear testing program in the Marshall Islands during the period June 30, 1946, until August 18, 1958. It is before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss. A Memorandum of Decision filed October 5, 1984, in a related case, Tomaki Juda, et al., 6 Cl.Ct. 441, contains general information about the procedural posture of these cases, the nuclear testing program, and the status of United States political relationships in Micronesia. This information (Memorandum, pp. 443-446) applies to the claims in this case.

The complaint in this case was filed on September 15, 1982. For purposes of defendant’s motion to dismiss, the facts alleged in the first amended complaint filed November 24, 1982, are taken as true. A summary of the material facts follows.

The complaint names 17 individual plaintiffs who claim on their own behalf and on behalf of a class composed of all persons recognized as the Enewetak people. The class is described as all living persons who were members of the Enewetak community in December 1947, and all living descendants and other persons who by traditional law and custom are recognized as members of the Enewetak people. Currently, more than 700 persons are considered to be members of the Enewetak people.

At this stage, the question of whether this case will proceed as a class action has not been resolved, and defendant reserves its right, if its motion to dismiss is denied, [770]*770to oppose certification of the class. In the Juda case, the class action issue has been resolved by joinder, as plaintiffs, of all members as of May 1, 1981, of the Bikini community.

Enewetak Atoll is composed of approximately 40 islands which have a combined land area of 2.75 square miles and which enclose a lagoon of approximately 388 square miles. The largest islands are Enewetak Island, with a land area of 321.-86 acres, and Engebi Island, with a land area of 290.58 acres.

The Enewetak people traditionally have been divided into two separate subcommu-nities, one on Engebi Island and one on Enewetak Island. Members of the two communities historically have intermarried and cooperated in certain economic activities. They now elect a common council. The Enewetak people are governed by the two chiefs (Iroij) of the subcommunities, a Magistrate, an elected Council of 12 members, a Scribe, and a Senator, who represents the Enewetak people in the legislature of the Marshall Islands government. The people of Enewetak historically were economically self-sufficient, on the basis of lagoon fishing, nonintensive agriculture and various gathering activities. Beginning in the early 20th century, copra was produced as an export crop.

In February 1944, American troops captured Enewetak Atoll from the Japanese, which at that time had several thousand personnel on Engebi. On February 24, 1944, the military governor posted Proclamation No. 1. This proclamation notified the civilian inhabitants that existing personal and property rights would be respected and existing laws and customs would remain in force and effect, except “to the extent that it is necessary for me in the exercise of my powers and duties to change them.”

In February 1944, the Enewetak people were relocated to a camp on Aomon Island, an island in the atoll. Eventually the total civilian population of the atoll was gathered in this camp. The Army unit left on July 4, 1944; thereafter the Navy, until June 1946, provided all supplies of food, clothing and housing for the Enewetak people. During the period February 1944 to late 1945, the Enewetak people were permitted to reside only on Aomon Island and on the adjacent Bijire Island.

On June 14, 1946, in preparation for the commencement of Operation CROSSROADS, at Bikini Atoll, the entire population of Enewetak Atoll was transported by the Navy to Kwajalein Atoll, where they were housed in temporary facilities and supplied by the Navy. On July 25, 1946, Enewetak Atoll was declared safe; on July 30, 1946, the Enewetak people were returned to Aomon and Bijire Islands at Enewetak Atoll.

During the period of residence at Kwaja-lein Atoll, United States officials caused the Enewetak people to believe that their removal from Enewetak would be temporary, that they would be able to return to Enewetak at the conclusion of the Bikini nuclear tests, that temporary relocation was necessary to protect them against harm from the tests on Bikini Atoll, and that throughout the relocation their needs for food, shelter, and other necessities would be provided by the United States.

On December 1, 1947, Enewetak Atoll was chosen as the site for the nuclear tests in Operation SANDSTONE and the United States Governor of the Marshall Islands notified the Enewetak people that they would have to leave the atoll. During December 1947, the entire population, with personal belongings, were boarded on a United States Navy LST and were transported to Ujelang Atoll, where they arrived on December 21, 1947. During the period of their relocation on Ujelang Atoll, United States officials caused the Enewetak people to believe that their removal would be temporary, that they would be able to return to Enewetak at the conclusion of the United States use of Enewetak, that relocation was necessary to protect them against harm resulting from U.S. operations, and that throughout the relocation their needs for food, shelter and other necessities would be provided by the United States.

[771]*771Ujelang Atoll is the westernmost and most geographically isolated of the inhabited atolls and islands that comprise the Marshall Islands. It lies 124 miles southwest of Enewetak Atoll and 617 miles west of Majuro, the administrative center and the major commercial port for the Marshall Islands. Ujelang Atoll has 0.67 square miles of dry land area, 25.47 square miles of lagoon, and is rocky and relatively unproductive for agriculture.

Ujeland resources were inadequate to provide the Enewetak people with a regular supply of food and other material necessities. Infrequent and irregular ship visits resulted in severe shortages of rice, flour and materials needed to repair buildings and boats. By 1952, most of the Enewetak people’s sailing canoes were rendered un-useable as a result of severe shortage of sailcloth, paint, fishing net material and hooks. In the mid-1960’s, the island’s rat population increased greatly and destroyed stored copra and supplies of rice and flour. By 1967, food was so short that the people on Ujelang had only enough for one meal each day.

On October 20, 1967, a Trust Territory ship arrived to find the people on Ujelang with no copra to sell and no money to buy needed food and supplies. Almost all of the nearly 300 people on the atoll boarded the ship and demanded transport to Majuro to protest to the government that they were starving. A Trust Territory official, after 7 hours, radioed for food and agreed to stay on Ujeland until the supply ship returned. The supply ship returned with food on November 3, 1967.

In November 1968, the people on Ujeland were totally out of rice, flour, sugar and other imported goods. In June 1972, a typhoon destroyed the breadfruit crop, and on August 30, 1972, a supply ship found that the Enewetak people had been out of rice, flour, sugar and canned meat for over 2 weeks.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Sanchez v. United States
Federal Claims, 2026
Bitmanagement Software Gmbh v. United States
989 F.3d 938 (Federal Circuit, 2021)
Clark Office v. MCM Capital Partners
245 A.3d 186 (Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, 2021)
Daniel Gabino Martinez v. United States
110 Fed. Cl. 349 (Federal Claims, 2013)
People of Bikini v. United States
77 Fed. Cl. 744 (Federal Claims, 2007)
John v. United States
77 Fed. Cl. 788 (Federal Claims, 2007)
Vulcan Materials Co. v. Atofina Chemicals Inc.
355 F. Supp. 2d 1214 (D. Kansas, 2005)
Deponte Investments, Inc. v. United States
54 Fed. Cl. 112 (Federal Claims, 2002)
Massie v. United States
40 Fed. Cl. 151 (Federal Claims, 1997)
Haberman v. United States
38 Cont. Cas. Fed. 76,420 (Court of Claims, 1992)
Ewald v. United States
14 Cl. Ct. 378 (Court of Claims, 1988)
Blue Cross & Blue Shield Ass'n v. United States
34 Cont. Cas. Fed. 75,408 (Court of Claims, 1987)
Juda v. United States
13 Cl. Ct. 667 (Court of Claims, 1987)
Peter v. United States
13 Cl. Ct. 691 (Court of Claims, 1987)
ATC Petroleum, Inc. v. Sanders
661 F. Supp. 182 (District of Columbia, 1987)
Johns-Manville Corp. v. United States
12 Cl. Ct. 1 (Court of Claims, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
6 Cl. Ct. 768, 1984 U.S. Claims LEXIS 1248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peter-v-united-states-cc-1984.