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Burn Pit Exposure Questions I
n September 2016, a Gov- ernment Accountability Office (GAO) report found DoD and
the VA still have made inadequate efforts to collect data needed to understand health risks to service- members and their families associ- ated with burn pit exposure. The GAO reported on the number
of active burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq and their potential harmful ef- fects on military personnel in October 2010. Initially, the FY 2010 defense bill directed DoD to develop regulations prohibiting disposal of certain waste in open-air pits when alternative methods were feasible. So what’s been done since then? The most recent GAO report ac- knowledges DoD’s general progress
in establishing burn pit policies and procedures and reducing burn pit operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the GAO says DoD failed to follow its own guidance in monitor- ing burn pit exposure and collecting emissions data. DoD recognizes the short-term
effects from being exposed to toxins from burning of waste but says it can’t isolate exposure to burn pit pol- lutants specifically, versus from other airborne contaminants in the region. For its part, the VA established in
2014 an airborne hazards and open- air burn pit registry for individuals to self-report exposure to airborne hazards and other conditions. The GAO recommended DoD and the VA conduct research on the re-
lationship between individual burn pit exposure and potential long-term health-related issues, including an evaluation of the health status of ser- vicemembers during deployments and in the years following. An additional report on data- collection outcomes and methods is expected later this year. MOAA had urged Congress to pass the Veterans First Act (S. 2921), which was approved by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Com- mittee but was never brought to the Senate floor for a vote before Con- gress adjourned for the year. MOAA will be working with potential sponsors in the new Congress to reintroduce this important legislation.
online: Find the VA’s Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry at
bit.ly/1MkLxW1. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
FEBRUARY 2017 MILITARY OFFICER 17
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