Troops say chemicals and medical waste burned at Balad are making them sick, but officials deny risk

[Newsjock]

Source: Military Times

An open-air “burn pit” at the largest U.S. base in Iraq may have exposed tens of thousands of troops, contractors and Iraqis to cancer-causing dioxins, poisons such as arsenic and carbon monoxide, and hazardous medical waste, documentation gathered by Military Times shows.

The billowing black plume from the burn pit at 15-square-mile Joint Base Balad, the central logistics hub for U.S. forces in Iraq, wafts continually over living quarters and the base combat support hospital, sources say.

... The burn pit at Balad has consumed Styrofoam, unexploded ordnance, petroleum products, plastics, rubber, dining facility trash, paint and solvents, and medical waste, including amputated limbs, according to Curtis’ memo.

He said contaminants, many highly poisonous, that troops may have been exposed to include benzene, an aircraft fuel known to cause leukemia; arsenic; dichlorofluoromethane, or Freon; carbon monoxide; ethylbenzene; formaldehyde; hydrogen cyanide; nitrogen dioxide; sulfuric acid; and xylene.

... Air Force Lt. Col. James Elliott, former chief of aeromedical services for the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, ... wrote: “In my professional opinion, the known carcinogens and respiratory sensitizers released into the atmosphere by the burn pit present both an acute and chronic health hazard to our troops and the local population.”

Read more: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/2008/10/military_burnpit_102708w/

[kestrel91316]

1. Wow! I call THAT support for the troops!! Why not just shoot them - it's cheaper

I'm sure.

:sarcasm:

[peace13]

2. Ekkk my stepsister is in Balad.

She arrived there in September. This does not sound good. Why do we let this war drag on?

[downindixie]

3. Ah! Come on now,its not any worst than

agent orange! Seriously this administration doesn't care about the troops.

[truthisfreedom]

4. My guess is they placed the burn pit inside the compound is for security reasons but they're trading

immediate security for long-term health. War sucks. This is another thing about it that totally sucks.

[Crowman1979]

5. They did the exact same thing at Al-Asad.

I have no idea what the hell I breathed over there.

[Heywood J]

6. That's Love Canal, right there.

When do we start paying the Iraqis out of the Superfund?

[bdab1973]

7. This whole country is a pit

Landfills? What's that? I work on an Iraqi base and their answer for trash is A) let it sit on the ground B) burn it.

We joke about this all the time...no matter where you go around this country, whether it's a coalition base or a non-militarized city like Sulaymaniyah, trash is always being burned...or left lying around. This whole country, regardless of the US activity, would have OSHA busy for decades. Yesterday I saw some Iraqis trying to reach the top of a building by raising the lift on a forklift, and placing a wooden ladder on the tines...none of this was secured in any way. The Iraqi climbing up the contraption had a safety belt and harness...but it wasn't hooked up to anything. I guess the appearance of safety is enough...