Background:
Both the US and the Kingdom of Hawaii annexed Johnston Atoll in
1858, but it was the US that mined the guano deposits until the late
1880s. The US Navy took over the atoll in 1934, and subsequently the
US Air Force assumed control in 1948. The site was used for
high-altitude nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s, and until late
in 2000 the atoll was maintained as a storage and disposal site for
chemical weapons. Munitions destruction is now complete. Cleanup and
closure of the facility is progressing, with completion anticipated
in 2004.