Just 10,588 burn-pit claims have been filed since Sept. 11,
2001, Veterans Affairs said in response to a Freedom of Information Act request
from a veterans advocacy group.
But that’s only a fraction of what veterans advocates say
they expected to see. Veterans have filed 98,017 claims for “environmental
claims” since 9/11, and at least 200,000 people have signed up for VA’s
burn-pit registry, according to VA. That means burn-pit claims make up slightly
less than 10% of VA’s total number of environmental exposure claims for
veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
That makes it difficult for experts and researchers to track
veterans to look for trends, for legislators to watch so they can properly fund
VA and provide legislation for benefits, and for veterans service organizations
to learn from as they determine how best to help veterans file claims.
Kerry Baker, who helps veterans appeal VA disability claims
and who previously worked for VA’s Veterans Benefits Administration, said he
has been personally involved to some extent with more than 1,000 burn-pit
claims. “There’s no way I’ve been involved with 10% of the nation’s burn pit
claims,” he said. “So I want to know how they are getting these numbers.”
The military burned as much as 250 tons of trash a day at
Joint Base Balad alone, as well as tons more in open pits in Iraq and
Afghanistan—as close as one mile away from service members’ living quarters.
(Juneau, Alaska, produces about 83 tons of trash a day.) In 2006, an Air Force
bioenvironmental engineer called the pit at Joint Base Balad an “acute health
hazard” and worried people on base would face chronic health problems.
Most large bases in Iraq and Afghanistan had burn pits, and
the military burned everything from Styrofoam from the dining facilities to
petroleum products to paints and solvents, releasing contaminants, including
benzene, an aircraft fuel known to cause leukemia; arsenic; Freon;
ethylbenzene; formaldehyde; hydrogen cyanide; nitrogen dioxide; sulfuric acid;
and xylene.
The biggest issue? Dioxin, which is the same chemical that
was used to make Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. It has been linked to
cancers, diabetes, and birth defects. It also can interfere with the immune
system. The Environmental Protection Agency explains that dioxin is a byproduct
of burning materials—including wood, which is why burning trash in the backyard
is banned in most cities.
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