Burn pit

A burn pit refers to an area in military sites devoted to open-air combustion of trash. The phrase was first used to refer to the common way of getting rid of waste at the U.S. military sites in Iraq and Afghanistan. Due to modern waste at and around these sites containing significant amounts of plastic and other material which may emit toxic aerial compounds and particulates when burned, the burn pits were heavily criticized and resulted in a suit by veterans. Global environmental consciousness has especially criticized these instances of large-scale burn pit operation. A burn pit refers to an area in military sites devoted to open-air combustion of trash. The phrase was first used to refer to the common way of getting rid of waste at the U.S. military sites in Iraq and Afghanistan. Due to modern waste at and around these sites containing significant amounts of plastic and other material which may emit toxic aerial compounds and particulates when burned, the burn pits were heavily criticized and resulted in a suit by veterans. Global environmental consciousness has especially criticized these instances of large-scale burn pit operation. In 2010, a large-scale burn pit operation in Iraq and Afghanistan, allegedly operated by the U.S. military or its contractors such as KBR, was reported to have allowed the operation of the burn pits for long periods of time, burning many tons of assorted waste. Active duty personnel reported respiratory difficulties and headaches in some cases while some veterans made disability claims based on respiratory system symptoms allegedly derived from the burn pits. A Minnesota mother, Amie Muller, was a victim of the exposure and her senator, Amy Klobuchar (MN-DFL), carried a bill called the “Helping Vets Exposed to Burn Pits Act” that was passed and signed into law by President Donald Trump (as H.R. 5895) on September 21, 2018. Through 2019, it will provide $5 million for burn pit research, education and evaluation of the exposure of other U.S. service members and veterans to burn pits and toxic airborne chemicals. In the Iraq and Afghanistan incidents of burn pit operation involving the US military, it was reported that every type of waste was burned, including: plastics, batteries, appliances, medicine, dead animals, even human body parts with jet fuel being used as an accelerant. Clouds of black smoke resulted. According to an Air Force fact sheet, 'Burning solid wastes in an open pit generates numerous pollutants. These pollutants include dioxins, particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, hexachlorobenzene, and ash. Highly toxic dioxins, produced in small amounts in almost all burning processes, can be produced in elevated levels with increased combustion of plastic waste (such as discarded drinking water bottles) and if the combustion is not at high incinerator temperatures. Inefficient combustion of medical or latrine wastes can emit disease-laden aerosols.' Joint Base Balad, the largest U.S. base in Iraq had a burn pit operation as late as the summer of 2008 burning 147 tons of waste per day when the Army Times published a major story about it and about health concerns. An Air Force spokesman speaking for the 609th Combined Air and Space Operations Center Southwest Asia vigorously contested allegations of health effects and emphasized mitigation efforts. In Afghanistan, at its peak, more than 400 tons of trash were disposed using burn pits a day. 'Within a mile of BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) and also within a mile of camps Cropper and Stryker was one of these burn pits. The ash rained down on us like snowflakes - not only on US troops, but also Iraqi detainees and Iraqi correctional officers (aka ICO's). There were flakes of ash the size of half a sheet of notebook paper. That installation was perpetually downwind of one particular burn pit, and while this wasn't an everyday occurrence, during winter of 2007 into 2008 it did happen often. This is not to speak for the frequency of the burnings, but the ash literally came down like snowfall over the facility.' The burn pits were allegedly adopted as a temporary measure but remained open long after alternative methods of disposal such as incineration were available. After some years the American military did adopt other methods.