The Chronic Health Problems Caused By Military Burn Pits

An experienced Riverside injury attorney has to deal with a lot of different claims during the course of their career and startling cases are coming to light involving veteran or serving military personnel. Numbers of service personnel are stepping forward complaining of chronic breathing problems and severe chest pains that are believed to have been caused by prolonged exposure to military burn pits whilst on a tour of duty in the Middle East.

When you have large military bases containing thousands of troops and civilian contractors they are going to create a lot of waste, and one of the most expeditious ways of getting rid of this rubbish is to burn it. Reports state that in Bagram Air force base alone (the largest military base in Afghanistan) there are over 50,000 troops and thousands more contractors, each producing around 4.5kgs of waste every day. Also, at its height back in 2004, Joint Base Balad in Iraq was burning around 147 tons of waste every single day in burn pits the size of several soccer fields. This was a continuous operation 24/7

The problem is that according to experts, all kinds of waste gets burnt, including human waste, hazardous medical waste, toxic waste, plastics, electronics, hydraulic fluids and even vehicles. Very often, jet fuel is used as a form of accelerant

So what are the symptoms of prolonged exposure to burn pits? A Riverside injury attorney explains....

Unfortunately comparative statistics have not been documented due to a lack of proper test equipment in Afghanistan and Iraq and are therefore unavailable. However it is obvious that there has been an increase in respiratory illness, various cancers and chronic allergies to returning soldiers as well as in the local population who live in and around the air bases.

As at 2011, current serving or military members have filed cases in 43 out of the 50 states for injuries sustained caused by suspected exposure to burn pits. These claims have been filed against the Department of Defence contract company who were dealing with waste management at that time. (KBR and their parent company Haliburton). The litigations claim that Kellogg Brown and Root waste management services had a moral duty to inform troops and contracted civilians who were working in and around the burn pits, of the hazards and safety issues of the pits, but failed in their actions to do so. If you believe that you are a victim of prolonged exposure to toxic gases caused by burn pits whilst serving in the Middle East, then it is vital that you contact an injury lawyer Riverside, CA who can help.

Civilian locals have also been affected, and in Afghanistan the environmental agency NEPA who regulate and enforce environmental laws in the country say that they first had complaints about the burn pits at Bagram back in 2009. From then until 2011, NEPA say that they have interviewed over one hundred locals who suggest that they have suffered severe respiratory, nasal and eye problems caused by continuously breathing in the toxic smoke.

It is clear that this problem isn't going to go away, and it is only a matter of time before we see an even further increase in cases. It has been deemed as a complete mismanagement by contractors KBR, who were handed over 5 billion dollars per year by the military, to oversee the safe management of waste. Firstly, they proceeded to build the burning pits upwind of the military living quarters and also way too close to the local community at Bagram. On top of this, they failed to put in place any kind of waste management program for handling toxic or hazardous waste. At one stage Dioxin levels that were measured at Joint Base Balad back in 2007 were 51 times over the acceptable levels that they should have been. Some insiders suggest that they simply had too much waste and didn't know what to do with it.

If you are suffering respiratory problems, or have developed a form of cancer and have spent time serving in the Middle East, then you may want to speak to a highly skilled Riverside injury attorney. They will have the experience necessary to take your case on, so that you don't have to suffer in silence.