Burn Pit Registry

Jim Fausone

Veteran Disability Lawyer

It seems like the DOD and VA fight the most obvious and necessary things.  Think about the atomic registry, the Gulf War registry, AO registry, etc.  This time it’s the burn pits our men and women were exposed to in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Over objections from the VA, a House panel voted last week to create a registry of people exposed to toxic fumes and chemicals from open burn pits while deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.  The registry would be used to monitor the health of service members and veterans to determine if there are any ill effects from being close to or downwind of the open fires used to dispose of solid waste in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As reported in the Army Times: "VA, however, doesn’t see the need for the registry. Officials say there are other ways to identify and track Iraq and Afghanistan veterans exposed to burn pits without a special registry — and they are not convinced burn pits even posed a serious problem.

VA officials told the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which is considering similar legislation, that an independent report by the Institute of Medicine “identified air pollution, rather than smoke from burn pits, as the most concerning potential environmental hazard.”   

Will it again take 20 years for VA to recognize that serious health concerns exist because of this exposure?

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2012/06/military-lawmakers-vote-to-create-burn-pit-registry-062912w/