Are We Poisoning Our Troops? Congress Takes Critical Step in Addressing Burn Pits in Iraq, Afghanistan

Veterans have heard time and again about their fellow troops falling ill after serving near burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Dennis Gogel was stationed in Balad twice between 2004 and 2006. He said he was in housing just a few hundred yards from the [burn] pit and would often jog past the pit. The 29-year old Gogel said that in the last two years he's had upper respiratory infections, skin irritation and he's lost 60 pounds since deployment.

"I have blotchy spots on my face. I was treated for psoriasis, but it won't go way," he said. Gogel said his doctors do not know what caused the problems.

Gogel said it has affected his fitness, too. "I used to run two miles in 10 minutes. I am up to 17," he said. -CNN

Already, seven class-action lawsuits are pending on behalf of troops and contractors who say they were sickened by burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. And at least one servicemember, Air Force Maj. Kevin Wilkins, may have died as a result of the toxic exposure.

These reports are troubling, but they may be only the beginning. For years, the military has been using burn pits to dispose of hazardous waste at its bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. The pits burn everything from dining and maintenance materials to waste from medical facilities. This practice has potentially exposed thousands of servicemembers to toxic air and poor health conditions.

Unfortunately, toxic exposure from the battlefield is not a new issue. Veterans of previous generations struggled for decades to have conditions such as Agent Orange exposure and Gulf War Syndrome recognized as service-connected. For decades, they were denied appropriate healthcare and benefits. Thanks to years of dedicated advocacy, these veterans now finally have the access to medical registries, treatment, and disability benefits they deserve. But our country cannot repeat this same pattern of denial and delay with Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

I first wrote about this issue a few months back, when IAVA launched a campaign demanding that the defense contractor KBR "come clean" about their involvement in chemical exposure cases. We got dozens of reports from our members around the country who reported illnesses after serving near burn pits. And thousands of Americans took action and stood up for our troops. Yesterday, we saw some results.

Congress took a critical step forward to identifying and treating troops that may be suffering as a result of these burn pits. IAVA joined members of Congress, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), veterans and their families in a press conference on Capitol Hill to express support for the "Military Personnel War Zone Toxic Exposure Act" (H.R.2419), recently introduced by Representatives Tim Bishop and Carol Shea-Porter. This important legislation would establish a medical registry to help identify servicemembers exposed to toxins, and improve the care and benefits they receive. It would also limit the military's use of burn pits, so that other servicemembers aren't put at risk.

When our troops deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan, they understand very well the dangers of combat. These brave men and women have enough to worry about from insurgents, snipers and roadside bombs. They shouldn't also have to worry about poison in the air they breathe. This legislation is the first step toward getting our veterans proper care. Congress must now move quickly to pass this legislation-- every second they waste means more lives at risk.

Crossposted at IAVA.org.

Comments

[WGRIFF3245]

The simple answer to that question is a resounding YES, and the DOD, especially the US Army's Fort Detrick, MD are the main culprits. As Vietnam Era Vet who served with the USAF in Thailand in the early 70's, for the past 10 years I have been suffering from a whole list of illnesses related to herbicide poisoning (Agent Orange) and pesticides poisoning. When drafted I should have gone to Canada. To say the least, I am angry about the DOD and the VA's constant denials. This is why my son, or anyone that I know, will never serve in this nation's military. If they value any chance they may have of a productive future, they will stay away from military service. "We All Died In Southeast Asia And No One Had The Courage To Tell Us", and "The Lucky Ones Are On The Wall".

[textynn]

We have been poisoning our troops and our citizens on a regular basis across time. Read about the problem Barbra Boxer is having getting through the secrecy of pollution right here in America in today news concerning coal ash.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/coal-ash-spills-too-dange_n_214739.html

We are swimming in carcinogens and toxins. Hanford nuclear site leaks and throw its wastes in the mighty Columbia river. i could give a hundred examples. Schools in Superfund sites. It is unbelievable.

[carolrhill814]

I had no idea that this was going on in the United States that kind of thing is illegal. Why would they open our men and women to such horrible poison and then say they weren't getting ill from this.

Is our men and women just hamburger beef or what they go to battle for all of us and they volunteer to keep us safe at the very least they protect them from these horrible situations and that is a fact.

MAY GOD BLESS ALL OF OUR MEN AND WOMEN THAT GO TO WAR TO KEEP US SAFE NOW AND FOR ALL TIME AS I AM SURE HE WILL!!!

[textynn]

Then on top of it they make health care so expensive that millions live without it. With the lax pollution laws, the secrecy that is enjoyed by polluters, the bomb testing by the US Government, the leaks and pollution from Nuclear Plants like Hanford, Americans deserve Single Payer Health Care. Americans are owed Single Payer Health Care.

[smugdug]

While we are getting things on the table, PLEASE let's not fotdet how the subtandard wiring has caused an untold number of injuries. Thank you.

[Kungfublood]

You might want to question the bizarre and untested mix of drugs that the Government has been injecting the troops with as well. I know an officer that was drummed out for refusing to participate in the program.

[DrJulienArbor]

I'm not going to elaborate on this at length here because I'd have to go through thousands of links and research studies to pull up the ones that support what I'm about to say. I will, however, be doing so in the future. I'm also going to give a rather simplistic answer here without getting into a lot of technical terminology... which I'll also provide in the future.

You've got multiple major sources that are contributing to these health problems... and that's not including the issue of depleted uranium.

The exogenous toxins (external sources of chemicals, parasites, etc.) are a problem in and of themselves... and exposures should be minimized as much as possible. What compounds this even more is the high level of stress that soldiers are dealing with and the increased levels of adrenaline that they're pumping... which effect both structures of the brain as well as the functioning of the endocrine system... and particularly the adrenal glands. This in turn makes the brain even more susceptible to toxic exposures. It also creates a cascade of problems with the feedback loops of the endocrine system... which in turn effect ever function in the body. Stress also creates endogenous toxins (internal sources that are a product of an overactive stress response)... and combined with the external sources... overwhelm the body's natural detoxification abilities.

[DrJulienArbor]

To top this off... the diet that soldiers are getting... and particularly their MREs... are not supplying the adequate nutrition (as well as being full of chemicals themselves) in order to either deal with the level of stress or to provide the proper nutrients to enable the body to naturally detoxify itself.

This is an extremely simplistic explanation and there is much more detail involved. However... in a nutshell... you've got the combination of internal and external toxins and the effects that they both have on the brain, the adrenal glands... and a cascading effect of the entire endocrine system. In combination with poor quality food and insufficient nutrients to either deal with the level of stress or to optimize the body's ability to detox... you're stewing in toxic soup! And if you add the chemicals from vaccines and pharmaceuticals... you only make the problem worse!

As long as vets remain in a highly stressful situation... it will continue to compound the problem! This all leads to the subsequent decline in overall health and the increase in severity and number of medical conditions later in life. It IS possible to address ALL of this NATURALLY... but it's essential that the sources of stress be reduced!

[wolf58]

Paul I applaud your efforts but bottom line is this most in this country could care less about those who wear or have worn the uniform. They wave their flags and put "Support the troops" magnets on their cars and call it good. They don't care if we receive substandard care at the VA hospitals and we may have to wait month after month to get it. They don't care that Veterans are under compensated for their wounds and injuries that they received in defense of this nation. I live in Rhode Island and what this state offers its veterans is a joke, just look at their site for vets, http://www.dhs.ri.gov/DHS/dvetaff.htm. and the federal government isn't much better. Veterans compensation has been under paid for years and yet the issue has been tied up in the senate with no action except one hearing. The VA medical care is a joke and in my opinion should be abolished and in its place give the vets tricare, it was good enough while they were on active duty it will do the same afterwards.Paul you keep up the fight but don't count on the masses to jump on board on this issue or any issue when it comes to the one percent of the nation who step forward and serve. Most just don't care...

[nopilikia]

Right on wolf58. Even sadder flags and magnets made in China.

[ATH]

I'm glad to see people speaking up about this. We need to bring them home from these illegal, aggressive, undeclared, wars before it's too late.

It's not just these burn pits, either. The military has been using Depleted Uranium (DU) in its munitions for years, in every war fought over in the M.E. Hell, the entire Persian Gulf is contaminated with DU. It is not just radioactive: it's also a highly toxic metal. The military is supposedly using our nuclear waste in this way for its density. DU tipped munitions pierce heavy armor. They also fragment upon impact, sometimes to sizes as small as .1 micron. Because of the dry climate, and the wind--the dust storms--this DU never settles and is constantly re-circulated into the air. It causes numerous tyopes of cancers and neurological disease, and is probably the central factor, combined PTSD--in what has come to be known as Gulf War Syndrome.

Since the the War on Iraq began, birth defects, another side-effect of DU use--has skyrocketed among Iraqi women. Soppsedly, the first question is no longer, "is it a boy or girl," but, "is it normal?" It's gotten so bad, some women have given birth to mere body parts. Other birth defects were too horrible to describe with words. Our service members, as well as military and civilian contractors, are at this same risk of having their genes damaged by DU radiation and toxicity poisoning.

[WGRIFF3245]

If you have doubts about what the US Military is doing to deliberately poison it's own troops Read Senate Report 103-97, "Is Military Research Hazardous To Veterans' Health ? Lessons Spanning Half A Century", dated December 8, 1994.

[he8ther]

"We need to bring them home from these illegal, aggressive, undeclared, wars before it's too late."

Absolutely. And what about the innocent civilians in these countries? Don't we care about whether or not we're poisoning them as well?

[1differentdrummer]

Keep up the good fight, our vets deserve your help. When will the VFW get into the fight for our vets?

[jennined]

All seems like a mute point until we start addressing the much larger problem of depleted uranium munitions, which might be contaminating previously arable land in Afghanistan and Iraq in addition to the coalition troops and local civilians.

[ajweishar]

Can we address a larger issue, one that has been censored??? The VA and Pentagon refuse to allow/fund blood tests for troops exposed to depleted uranium. The urine tests are useless 30 days after the soldier's last exposure. Army Reg. 700-48 requires a hazmat crew cleanup and disposal whenever hardened munitions are detonated. This is not being done, and our soldiers, contractors, and the Iraqis are being exposed to 1000 times the allowable daily levels. Under Homeland Security standards for U.S. cities, Baghdad and Fallujah should be evacuated due to lethal radiation levels. We lost one soldier to enemy fire in the first Gulf War. Another 13,000 have died from radiation and hazardous chemical exposure. We've dumped 5,000 tons of depleted uranium on Iraq and none of it has been cleaned up as per Army Regulations.

[janmarina]

This is something that needs serious attention."Agent Orange"was not some name given to a cartoon character.It killed some of the best young boatmen I knew,the Vietnam war did not end in Vietnam!

[TJCole]

Registered nuclear survivor here...with The NEA...number 1976...!

[bighat]

Anyone remember the rigid timetable of bring the troops home?

[billw8017]

Iraq still has its depleted uranium and the high background radiation it provides.

Garbage is an old problem. Some say humankind first let dogs live among them because dogs eat so much garbage. The old cities where civilization originated have been reduced to piles of remains called tels. They come in pairs: One for the city, one for its garbage heap. American life expectency doubled after 1900 as garbage collection and public sanitation was improved.

One solution is hotter burns that more completely destroy base garbage. At a certain point, we are talking money and the ultimate solution is letting the garbage weather away. The army should be concerned, but this is not a new or simple problem.