Army report shows chemicals at burn pit site
Posted : Thursday Nov 20, 2008 16:33:59 EST
A soldier concerned about his tour at Forward Operating Base Hammer near Balad, Iraq, this year sent Military Times a report showing high levels of particulate matter and low levels of manganese, possibly due to materials destroyed in a burn pit.
“The high risk estimate is due to the average (particulate matter) level being at a concentration the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers ‘hazardous,’ and is likely to affect the health of all troops,” wrote Jeffrey Kirkpatrick, director of health risk assessment for the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. “Manganese was also detected above its one-year military exposure guidelines.”
It was sent to the command surgeon general’s office for U.S. Central Command.
Particulate matter can lead to coughing, difficulty breathing, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease, according to the EPA.
Long-term levels of high exposure to manganese can lead to problems in the central nervous system, such as slow visual reaction time, inability to keep the hands steady, and poor eye-hand coordination. It can also lead to feelings of weakness, tremors, a mask-like face and psychological effects. It can also lead to impotence and loss of libido, according to the EPA. (Read more HERE)
Burn pit fallout
Posted : Sunday Nov 16, 2008 16:27:03 EST
Disabled American Veterans has issued a call to all service members and veterans who think they may have illnesses related to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq: Contact DAV so they can collect data and look for trends.
“Anyone out there who thinks they may have had a long-term health effect … needs to file a complaint” with the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Kerry Baker, DAV’s associate national legislative director.
Noting that it took Vietnam veterans 20 years to gain benefits for exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange, Baker said, “We don’t want to see these guys have to wait 20 years. We want to see Congress act right away.”
He said service members should be alert for respiratory-related problems, such as allergies, sleep apnea, trouble breathing, asthma and lymphocytic leukemia, as well as skin diseases. Of the 300 to 400 disability cases Baker said he has personally reviewed since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, he said 30 percent potentially could be linked to the burn pits. He said he’s amazed by the numbers of troops reporting sleep apnea.(Read more HERE)
Senator wants answers on dangers of burn pits
Posted : Sunday Nov 9, 2008 10:44:15 EST
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has written to Gen. David Petraeus, the new chief of U.S. Central Command, demanding to be informed about any pending investigations into health problems for troops exposed to burn pit smoke in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“After years of helping veterans of the Vietnam and Gulf wars cope with the health effects of toxic battlefields, we have learned that we must take exposures to toxins seriously to ensure that this generation of service members does not face the same difficulties,” Feingold wrote in a letter dated Oct. 31.
“While I appreciate the nearly overwhelming set of challenges we face in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no excuse for exposing service members and local civilians to preventable hazards.” (Read more HERE)
Military Times Letters from soldiers about Burn Pits
All rules go out the door when they are at war. We have to be sure Obama drops the phony framing of “war on terror.”
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I couldn’t agree more. I understand threre will be times when you have to just “Get er done!” But in long standing established bases like Balad…there is no reason to have incinerators that don’t function. The camps and bases should be the safest places for the soldiers and their not!
Great, this explains how I got Asthma in Iraq – heavy equipment job training (which should have been done in the States!) pushing dirt in the base dump / burn pit on base. As if the sewage and electrical currents running through our showers just weren’t enough to deal with on top of the rockets, bullets and roadside bombs!
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I know!! If you really want to be outraged. Read the “KBR Knowingly Exposes Employees and Troops”. Contact your politicians. I am going to pressure CID anyway I can to open a Criminal Investigation on this!!
I am very concerned about this location in Balad. My daughter was recently deployed and is presently stationed there. She apparently has developed the symtoms you discribe in your report.
What I do not understand, is why if this location is so dangerous, and it is a known fact that it is a dangerous locationo. Why are our troop’s stationed there. My daughter left her two children and husband to serve her country, but not to be stationed in a location that will eventually cause her possible death…..
Please advise what a concerned parent can do to get our government to move our troops from Balad or this particular location.
It is my hope that our new president will remove our troops from Iraq. The sooner the better.
Respectfully,
Luis Gonzalez
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I don’t have any answers for that. I don’t know what her job is, but I would wear at least a paper mask at all times. Contact your Congressman and Senators. ABC and I think CNN has done a report on the Balad Burn pits. All I can say is make as much noise as possible. Tell your daughter…we thank her for serving. She also needs to take note whether she has come in contact with any exploded depleted uranium weapons, old tanks, working on tanks etc.
I would like to comment on Mrs Gonzales questions concerning her daughters safety stationed at Balad aka Joint Base Balad.
Mrs. Gonzales, from what I understand the military took over this area years ago it was Saddam’s airfield base. Now with that said of course on the base you can see the orginial buildings that was built by Saddams soldiers and naturally our military built up this base too. We get stationed at Balad due to this place meeting the military needs. When the government invests in something they are going to use it. Every Forward Operating Base is a dangerous place to be. But Balad seems more prevelent in receiving alot of indirect fire.
JBB is called Morta-rita-ville and for good reason. Indirect fire comes in all the time. I was sleeping one morning and a Rocket attack happened just 35 feet from where I lived. Needless to say I was shaken to the core for days over this. You can only pray and pray some more. We cannot control what will happen on this base. I can tell you that I joined the military due to my beliefs that I would serve my God and Country. Not everyone is able to handle going through the service. And you just know that if it is your time it will happen. And your daughter has taken this into consideration long before she took the oath, naturally you want her to come home one day as I did. But you must have faith and DO NOT let this eat at you. She will be fine. She knows what to do and will do if things go wrong. Not that I am trying to scare you but it takes a very strong person to do what she is doing and she will know how to react.
You can’t start a movement to get our troops out of a danger zone. This is the tough realities of war. You are sent where you are needed. No other soldier in wars past had a say so in where they were sent you just make the best of it. Be on your toes and be very aware of your environment at all times.
As you are worried about your daughter please know I was very worried about my 22 year old son. He was stationed at Q-West in Northern Iraq about 175 miles away from me. We were the only mother and son that ever deployed at the same time in the same war in the same Brigade from our state. So naturally they split us up. Every day I read the Stars and Stripes to see what was going on in Northern Iraq and I was always so scared for his safety. My thoughts were I’ve got a wonderful husband raised two children and if anything happened to either one of us I pray it is me. No my life isn’t as important when you have your own child serving in a war zone. Each waking moment I thought of him. And I prayed all the time if anything should happen let it be with me not him. It turns out his area was much safer than ours and that gave me comfort. I left a husband who has had two prior heart attacks and 4 stents in his heart and he is a worrier so he had double jeparody worrying over the two of us. But we prayed and then prayed some more.
I’ve come home with some issues too on concerns with my health. Please tell your daughter to start documenting her issues while still serving it may seem small now but will be her greatest asset one day down the road. I didn’t know to do this. Tell her she needs to write down dates of dust or sand storms and have her notice all the local nationals they wear covering over their nose and mouth when it gets bad. We soldiers didn’t have anything issued to us when the air quality got so bad and we just stuck it out and breathed the air. Then you breath the burning pit smoke too. All a factor.
Please try to calm down and try to breath. Write lots of letters to keep her in your thoughts. Just keep sending the letters don’t wait until she replies just keep them coming this will give her great comfort. And I am going to pray for you, I know how you feel I am a mother of a soldier and a soldier as well. God Bless your family and Everything will be ok. Trust in your God.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Thank you for your insights!! I will make sure Mrs. Gonzales gets this.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/r-b-stuart/leukemia-a-soldiers-souve_b_162841.html
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Thanks for that link. I will blog it!
While in afghanistan the air quality was extremely poor. The constant burning, pollution and dirt was overwhelming. Also the conex boxes, the air circulation was stale.
Now, I have whezzinness in my lungs, using two types of inhalers, going through the VA crap and now, today, I just got a letter stating they want evidence!!
How could you get evidence on air quality? As for living conditions, they will never admit to bad living conditions… NOOOO We are soliders, we should not complain…
But our health is on the line.. and I’m so pissed that now I have to prove my claim.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
This is through the VA? This is a known problem. There is a registry. https://sites.google.com/site/burnpits/Home It the Burn Pits Action Center. Contact them for assistance.