The weather during the summer months in the Aleutian islands is notoriously bad. Heavy Rain, Strong Winds, and a dense fog that  limited the range of our shots from the instrument. The Topcon robotic gun emits  a continuous laser to the prism rod for tracking purposes and a distance of more than about 100 feet in this fog would disrupt the tracking laser. It would then go into search mode, turning this way and that way trying to find you. Sometimes it would look for you out in the Bering Sea, sometimes it would look for you up in the clouds. This became very frustrating so when the Fog became to dense we would use our backup Instrument, a Topcon GTS-220 with one person gunning manually. Trying not to breathe on the eyepiece as it would condense and constantly wiping rain droplets from both ends of the scope. The average daily wind speed was about 25 miles per hour with some days reaching 70-80 miles per hour. The instrument set ups had to be low to the ground and  accompanied by large rocks or sandbags to stop the transits from blowing over. Another nuisance we had to deal with was the Propane Cannons setup by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A cannon like device 4 feet long with a bore of about 4 inches, hooked up to a propane cylinder that would explode with an incredibly loud report every four minutes or so. They were suppose to keep the endangered Aleutian goose from nesting in the project areas. Usually set up at high points where  the instrument needed to strategically be set. After a few minutes would go by you new the blast was imminent but you were constantly on edge waiting for it. You were pretty much a nervous wreck after fighting wind and rain and cannon blasts  all day.

At each of the eight sites a decontamination facility was set up to decontaminate  equipment used before it was removed to another site. As surveyors we were usually the first at the sites to obtain the original topographic lay of the land. We therefore had to decontaminate ourselves after wading in water and mud most of the day. The constant rain and drizzle also helped in keeping the mud off. Department of Energy personnel took radiation readings at all the project sites to make sure that they were well below what is considered safe for humans. The Tritium measured at Long Shot Site has a half life of just 12 years  so had fallen of greatly since the explosion in 1965.

The entire project took about three months from start to finish, working 10-16 hour days, 7 days a week. The DOE now has jurisdiction over the subsurface, and the entire island is restricted and off limits to the general public. Amchitka is now a U.S. Wildlife Refuge and is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

LINKS

Visit the McClintock Land Associates Amchitka Project Image Gallery.

For more information on the Nuclear tests conducted at Amchitka Island visit the Department of Atomic Energy Website

Recently declassified videos of these tests are available from the Atomic Energy Website.

For more Information relating to Amchitka's role during World War II visit this website or purchase the authorative book "The Thousand Mile War" by Brian Garfield.