Contamination and Impact

In June 2008, the Marshall Islands said that while a “largely successful” large-scale clearance effort was undertaken in 1950, some areas of atolls affected by UXO from World War II “were potentially overlooked due to difficult weather conditions or heavy vegetation.” It said the government “lacks the necessary budget support and technical capacity for UXO surveys, removal, and destruction” and will require outside assistance.^[1] The last recorded landmine casualty in the Marshall Islands was more than 50 years ago.