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The residents of Bikini were evacuated after World War II (so that weapons tests could be conducted) but were told they could return in 1958. In 1973, after they were finally allowed to actually go home, it was discovered that the local produce was highly contaminated. So, in 1978 the islanders were removed once again. Today they're hoping that Congress will appropriate funds to clean up their home, but—to judge from a similar undertaking at Eniwetok more than ten years ago—the bill would probably exceed $100 million.

PINEAPPLES AND PESTICIDES

A little closer to the U.S. mainland, the Aloha State has also been having its share of environmental problems. For decades, the Hawaiian pineapple industry has been using hazardous chemicals to combat tropical weeds and pests. And, despite assurances of safety from chemical manufacturers, the state has just discovered that pesticides have found their way into Oahu's Pearl Harbor aquifer. The groundwater in central Oahu used to be some of the purest in the country, but residents have had to stop drinking their tap water since it's been found to contain an alphabet soup of chemicals: DBCP, EDB, and 123 TCP are all extremely hazardous substances.

Residents of Mililani Town have taken the users of pesticides (Libby and Del Monte) and the manufacturers (Shell, Dow, and Occidental) to court to sue for an estimated $1 billion (the predicted costs for the cleanup and for ongoing medical attention for the 6,000 families exposed to the pesticide-laced water over the last several years). The state is looking for alternative sources of drinking water . . . and hoping that similar problems won't crop up on other islands, where thousands of acres of pineapple and sugar plantations dot the landscape.

AND NOW, THE GOOD NEWS

The National Park Service has finally changed the Yellowstone Park grizzly bear management policies that may have been contributing to the steady population decline of this endangered species. Today, only 200 grizzlies remain in the Yellowstone area, and they're still being killed off faster than they can reproduce.

For 20 years the Park Service has operated under a policy that has protected humans . . . keeping the bears away from visitor areas, killing those animals that were deemed unmanageable, and closing up garbage dumps. The dump closings were also meant to force the bears to rely more heavily on natural food sources, but growing mineral, logging, and tourist activities have only made it harder for the bears to find food. Outside the park, many hungry bruins have been killed by livestock owners and poachers.

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