Balad burn pit harmed troops living 1 mile away

The burn pit at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, sends a plume of smoke over the nearby road. The fire often was allowed to go down to a smoulder, rather than the faster burn seen here.


Balad burn pit harmed troops living 1 mile away
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jan 18, 2010 16:10:11 EST

As Wendy McBreairty hiked up a 20-foot bluff in her hometown of Cheyenne, Wyo., her thigh muscles felt heavy, as if she had been climbing for hours.

She breathed deeply, trying to fill her lungs but, as usual, she felt as if she could not get enough of the clear, cold air. Fatigue overwhelmed her, just as it does every other day of her life.

The 32-year-old Air National Guard staff sergeant sat on a rock, leaned toward the setting sun, and pondered her future.

“I had a lot of plans,” she said, biting her lip and wiping back tears. “I wanted a 20-year career in the military and I don’t see how I’m going to be able to do another 13. I’m working on my master’s degree — I’ll get that done, but I don’t know if it will do me any good.

~snip~

The root of her radical change in plans, she and her doctor believe, is the open-air burn pit at Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Before its Oct. 1 closure, the pit spanned 10 acres, consumed a wide array of potentially toxic materials and spewed a near-constant plume of thick black smoke that could be seen from miles away.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/01/military_burn_pit_011810w/