CNN reporting (yet again) on the story that just won’t quit.  And rightfully so!

This time the Department of Veterans Affairs is taking notice of the health concerns caused by the Balad, Iraq “burn pit”:

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it will study the effects of toxic emissions from burning trash at military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan on veterans, even after the Department of Defense has concluded no long-term effects exist.

[...]

Shinseki said the Department of Veterans Affairs will study the problem as part of an effort to analyze effects of troops’ exposures in general and suggested it might even seek a parallel independent study.

“We are currently evaluating the need for an independent assessment by nongovernmental scientific experts to help us understand the health effects of various combat exposures,” Shinseki wrote.

Sources familiar with the plan said the VA is finalizing a deal with the government’s Institute of Medicine to conduct the study. The IOM did a similar investigation of Gulf War Syndrome and other effects from the first Iraq war.

The emissions, from what are known as burn pits, have been a concern for troops, especially those who served at Balad Air Force Base in Iraq. Many soldiers who went through Balad became used to “Iraqi crud,” as they dubbed the symptom of excessive coughing and black phlegm.

Soldiers complained of respiratory problems and skin infections, and in some cases believed they developed leukemia and tumors from the exposure.

The pits at Balad were at one point open and burning everything from plastics and food to medical waste, sometimes with jet fuel used as an accelerant. In later years, incinerators were installed at Balad, but other bases in Iraq and Afghanistan still use the pits without incinerators to burn garbage.

The military said last year that smoke from the Balad pit exposed troops to toxic emissions, including low levels of cancer-causing dioxins. However, its tests indicated there is no long-term danger, officials said.

The military says the “Iraqi crud” is not harmeful.  The soldiers say otherwise.  I have a feeling the VA will have the final word on it.

The first lawsuit has surfaced in connection with the health risks associated with the Balad, Iraq burn pit.

If you recall, I blogged previously about this issue here and here.   I am focusing on this topic because not only is it a legitimate concern of the military and civilian personnel deployed into it’s vacinity, but also because I WAS one of the many soldiers stationed next to the burn pit for 12 months.

Two years after a memo was published about the dangers of the Balad burn pit by environmental engineer Darrin Curtis, who served with the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at Balad from September 2006 to January 2007, we have our first lawsuit against KBR and Halliburton:

A Georgia man has filed a class-action lawsuit against KBR and Halliburton, saying the contractors exposed everyone at Joint Base Balad in Iraq to unsafe water, food and hazardous fumes from the burn pit there.

Joshua Eller, who worked as a civilian computer-aided drafting technician with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, said military personnel, contractors and third-country nationals may have been sickened by contamination at the largest U.S. installation in Iraq, home to more than 30,000 service members, Defense Department civilians and contractor personnel.

[...]

Eller filed his claim after he deployed in February 2006 for 10 months. The lawsuit claims he developed skin lesions that subsequently spread, filled with fluid and burst. He said they went away, then reappeared, followed by blisters on his feet that made it painful for him to walk. He said they healed, but continue to return every three to four months.

Then, Eller said he experienced vomiting, cramping and diarrhea, and continues to suffer severe abdominal pain.

“Plaintiff witnessed the open air burn pit in operation at Balad Air Force Base,” the lawsuit states. “On one occasion, he witnessed a wild dog running around base with a human arm in its mouth. The human arm had been dumped on the open air burn pit by KBR.”

And from my other website, American Babble, where I documented by deployment and travels around the world, here are comments from other soldiers who were stationed in Balad too:

Jacob Kern

I was stationed at ANACONDA in 2006 as a civilian and had first hand incounters with this “Burn Pit”. I remember specificlly, the amount of plastics and small arms amunition that I saw in this pit, even burning paint and paint cans. I was exposed to the Burn Pit for about an hour and a half and recall getting rather sick that same evening to the point I went to the clinic there on post. Another place that has a serious problem with this is CAMP CUERO in Rahmadi, Iraq. I am not 100% sure that is the correct city but when they burn the pit on the south end of the camp it is horrible.

Jesse Marcel

I spent 13 months in Balad from 2004 to 2005. The fumes from that pit cannot be described. In the summer of 2005 I noted a weakness in my legs resulting in a foot drop which now requires leg supports to walk Neuroligical exam feels the cause is unknown, I have to feel the cause is from toxic agents exposed to from the burn pit.
Did anyone else note neurological problems associtated with being at Balad or other ares where uncontrolled burn pits were in operation. Jess Marcel

This is just the tip of the iceburg. Other sites reporting on the hazardous environment of Balad are reporting similar comments from soldiers and civilians who were stationed there in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

And the military’s response to the accusations? It’s classified.

By the way, I really suggest reading the whole story to see what else KBR/Haliburton is being sued for.  The list also includes “serving spoiled, expired, and rotten food to troops… filling the swimming pool with unsafe water…. delivering ice in mortuary trucks that still had traces of body fluid and putrified remains”.

UPDATE:

For a minute I disregarded this 2nd article as the same one as above until I realized the lawsuits are from two different states:

INDIANAPOLIS — Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers sued defense contractor KBR Inc. on Wednesday, saying its employees knowingly allowed them to be exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq five years ago.

[...]

Some of the soldiers who served at the site now have respiratory system tumors associated with hexavalent chromium exposure, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for medical costs, monitoring for cancer and other health problems and unspecified monetary damages.

Pres. Bush won’t be around to protect you forever, Haliburton. Here comes the fallout.

Another UPDATE:

From CNN:

Mark McManaway, a father and grandfather, was an Indiana National Guard sergeant at the water plant from May through September 2003, when the worst exposures are believed to have occurred. He is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

“The worst part is that the military has only just recently advised us that the stuff we were exposed to was much worse than they thought while we were out there,” said McManaway. “It’s in our bodies, but we don’t know how bad it is. Maybe within the next five years cancers could start showing up. You’ve got a ticking time bomb in you — and when’s it going to go off?”

The U.S. military is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

(Clarification: The above lawsuit filed against KBR/Haliburton is in reference to soldiers exposed to chemicals at the Qarmat Ali water pumping plant in southern Iraq and not the Balad burn pit. This additional article was posted to show a pattern of neglegence by KBR/Haliburton.)