(Marine Corps Times) Opinion: About the Burn Pit

[unhappycamper]

About the Burn Pit

~snip~

I was stationed at Joint Base Balad in Iraq last year for about a month on my last deployment with the 202nd Red Horse squadron. I remember seeing the ashes fall from the burn pit on the job. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma this past February and finished treatments a few weeks ago. I received a discharge because of the cancer this past July with 10 years of service. My family has no history of this type of cancer. I reallast deployment overseas in Balad. From what I know, I am one of four people in my unit to be diagnosed with cancer in the past two years, with less than 200 people in the squadron.

~snip~

I was deployed (to Balad) with the 332nd Joint Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron from January to May 2005. The burn pit was a huge source of anger for just about everyone I knew there. The smoke would routinely hover over parts of the airfield during the late-night and early-morning versions keeping the plume on the surface or just above. This delayed many flights and was a hazard for medevac missions.

Upon outprocessing, we were told that testing concluded that the smoke was nontoxic and not harmful to anyone in the vicinity. We were even told to sign a form; I think it was one of those waiver of liability type of things. Every one of us looked at each other like, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” There’s no way that stuff was not harmful.

~snip~

I was deployed to Balad from September 2007 through mid-January 2008. All day, every day, all you saw was that plume of was worse at night, the smoke would settle on the ground like a thick fog. It would get so bad that it literally choked you. There was no relief from it; it would seep into our living quarters, making it difficult to sleep or even relax. You would blow your nose and get nothing but black nasty mucus, plus the wheezing, sinus problems, headaches and eye irritation.

It amazes me that officials say it’s not hazardous, yet somehow you mysteriously develop these problems after you get there. The officials need to do what they tell us: suck it up — and take care of the troops who have been exposed!


rEST OF ARTICLE AT: http://marinecorpstimes.com/community/opinion/marine_opinion_burnpits_020909/%2E