[Peace-discuss] Fw: GIs tell of horrors from burn pits in Iraq-The Cost Of Imperial War

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----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mike 
To: tim Skurzewski ; Chuck Shaw ; John Newell ; David Johnson ; Michael Todd Griffin ; Jan Griffin ; Dwayne Abney 
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 8:59 PM
Subject: Fw: GIs tell of horrors from burn pits in Iraq-The Cost Of Imperial War



----- Original Message ----- 
From: Steve Zeltzer 
To: Griffin Mike 
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 10:40 AM
Subject: GIs tell of horrors from burn pits in Iraq-The Cost Of Imperial War


GIs tell of horrors from burn pits in Iraq-The Cost Of Imperial War
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/GIs_tell_of_horrors_from_burn_pits.html 


GIs tell of horrors from burn pitsREADcomments (4) MAYRA BELTRAN/HOUSTON CHRONICLE
A tractor works at a burn pit at Camp Taji, north of Baghdad. Texas soldiers there complain of migraines, breathing problems, coughs, sore throats, irritated eyes and rashes.

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By Lindsay Wise and Lise Olsen - Houston ChronicleCAMP TAJI, Iraq — One night in mid-January, a shift in the wind sent a flurry of white flakes into a detainee internment facility guarded by soldiers from Houston's 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

The Texas Army National Guard troops weren't witnessing a rare Baghdad snowfall. The flakes drifting from the pitch-dark sky were ash and bits of charred trash belched from an open-air burn pit about 100 yards from the outer walls of the internment facility.

Operated by Houston-based contractor KBR, the pit consumes 120 tons of garbage a day at Camp Taji, a U.S. military base north of Baghdad.

On calm days, noxious smoke billows upward and dissipates into a smoglike haze. When the wind blows, the acrid-smelling fumes pour into towers and yards where about 800 Texas troops from the 72nd keep watch.

“It hovers over like a blanket,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Ethier, 36, of Montgomery. “After it rains, you'll get puddles of stuff. It's like a yellowish, brackish color. It looks metallic. It's just disgusting.”

Soldiers say a fine layer of soot settles on their uniforms and black goop comes out when they blow their noses. They complain of migraines, breathing problems, coughs, sore throats, irritated eyes and rashes.

The troops aren't the first to report problems from exposure to burn pits at U.S. military installations across Iraq and Afghanistan.

Forty-three pending federal lawsuits allege KBR and other contractors working for the U.S. military poisoned workers and soldiers by incinerating toxic waste in improperly supervised burn pits. The lawsuits have been consolidated in a federal court in Maryland.

Houston-based Halliburton and a Turkish contractor frequently are named as co-defendants, documents show. But a Halliburton spokeswoman said the company has “no responsibility” for burn pit operations and should be dismissed from the litigation.

The cases feature more than 300 plaintiffs and the family members of a dozen dead workers and soldiers, all of whom say they were harmed by improper burning of waste by wartime contractors or the military at 20 sites in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. At least nine people say they were sickened by the burn pit at Camp Taji.

KBR officials said their company was involved in operating only 10 of the sites named in the lawsuits.

Mark Lowes, vice president of litigation for KBR, said the company disputes that any burn pit directly harmed the health of soldiers or others, saying litigants have failed to prove exposure to burn pits caused the many symptoms they reported suffering.

While KBR continues to operate 12 burn pits in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, the company said it does not decide where to locate them or what items to burn.

“KBR operates burn pits in accordance with guidelines approved by the Army,” the company said.

More than 100 people have complained about a massive burn pit a few miles north of Taji at Iraq's Joint Base Balad, including allegations that lithium batteries and human body parts were incinerated there, according to lawsuits filed against KBR and others in Houston, San Antonio and elsewhere.

KBR repeatedly has denied operating the pit, though it recently got a multimillion-dollar contract to replace pits at Balad with four huge incinerators.

Sgt. 1st Class El “Kevin” Sar, who considers Houston his hometown, said he did two tours of duty at Balad in 2006 and 2007 and developed migraine headaches, shortness of breath and chronic insomnia.

Sar, 41, remains on active duty in the Army but said he continues to take medication for chronic lung problems doctors have blamed on toxic exposure.

“I can't run anymore. I still cough, and once in a while I feel chest pain and regurgitate mucus,” said Sar, one of 18 Texas-based victims named in a burn pit lawsuit originally filed in San Antonio.

In that case, other soldiers from San Antonio, San Marcos and smaller cities also complained that exposure to burn pits caused health problems.

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