Lawmakers call for action on burn pits

[VFFSSGT]

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/20...rnpit_102708w/

"However, Air Force officials say no substantive health problems have been definitively linked to the burn pit plume, and they add that the situation has improved since Curtis wrote his memo."

Really? The Air Force still insist there are no problems with this burn pit??? Geez, why don't we just burn trash at home stations then? Ummm...I'm pretty sure anyone with common sense knows it is toxic and dangerous to one's health. It is amazing it has taken nearly 4 years for it to get publicized when we were addressing the problem in 2005 and I am sure before then.

We can burn toxic trash in Iraq but we can't throw batteries in the trash at home station... I guess the well known hazards aren't hazards on that side of the world; the rules of science must mysteriously change over there. All of the training as a firefighter I have contradicts what the Air Force is saying publicly about this burn pit.

...for the record, I have developed chronic health problems since being there, which I have gotten extremely poor medical care for....go figure, saving money for posh pods is more important than our health care.

[Variable Wind]

Ill say what our Marine friends said when we asked them what we did with our HAZMAT in the hangar.

"Just dump it wherever, its not like youre gonna be buying a house here in 10 years is it?"

[technomage1]

When I left Balad, the medical folks had no issue with putting a letter in my records about the burn pit stating that I may have been exposed to stuff. I have suffered no ill effects so far.

Is it perfect? No, but realistically what are the options? Can't landfill from lack of space, can't pay a contractor to truck it off due to security concerns, etc.

[BRUWIN]

Originally Posted by technomage1

When I left Balad, the medical folks had no issue with putting a letter in my records about the burn pit stating that I may have been exposed to stuff. I have suffered no ill effects so far.

Is it perfect? No, but realistically what are the options? Can't landfill from lack of space, can't pay a contractor to truck it off due to security concerns, etc.

I just came back a few months ago and it seemed the burned pit was a lot better than when I was there in 2006. To be honest....as long as that fire has been burning I would have thought it would have been front page news on the Air Force times years ago.

[Cornbreadrules]

Another wonderful leadership decision and no one will except responsibility to and get punished for! We couldnt do that stateside or in the European theater!

[BadHairCut]

Originally Posted by VFFSSGT

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/20...rnpit_102708w/

"However, Air Force officials say no substantive health problems have been definitively linked to the burn pit plume, and they add that the situation has improved since Curtis wrote his memo."

Hmmm. Isn't that what they used to say about agent orange.....and the anthrax shot??

[Shrike]

Anyone spent any amount of time at Eskan Village or in Kabul? Each time I did my post-deployment surveys I made sure to list concerns about the absolutely horrible air quality at those locations. Nobody ever seemed to care, which is not a surprise.

My cynical opinion is that the military's stance is "If any problems develop because of our exposing our members to these conditions, they will most likely develop years from now, when it will be the VA's problem to deal with, not ours."

[technomage1]

Again, no one has any practical answers to what to do with all that garbage. It's all well and good to complain about the burn pit - and I don't think it's ideal by any means - but the mission must go on, and the garbage will continue to be generated.

[jsnchrry]

Originally Posted by BadHairCut

Hmmm. Isn't that what they used to say about agent orange.....and the anthrax shot??

yeah this is definitely something to worry about. I did 2 deployments over there to balad. i left the service in 2006, was the there a letter put out AF wide for those deploying to balad?

[Shrike]

My last time at Eskan, nearly every single non-smoker developed a hacking cough. The smokers (I was a smoker back then) didn't; my theory is it was because we'd already burned up the cilia in our lungs through our stupid habit.

This mass hacking cough didn't seem to concern the med folks, or the bio folks upon post-deployment return. I always find that odd; if I'm at, say, Scott AFB, and go to the hospital to complain about a chronic cough that I've had constantly for 4-6 months, then some action is going to be taken. Yet, have that happen in a deployed/remote environment, and it's blown off as the Eskan/Balad/Osan "crud". There is something very wrong with that.


Edit: I forgot - Like technomage said, though, I don't know what the solution is. Bury it and siphon off the methane to use as a power source, maybe? Truck it to the border of Iran and build a wall?