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October 28, 2008

US Open-Air Burn Pit in Iraq Exposes Thousands to Cancer-Causing Dioxins
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The Military Times reports an open-air “burn pit” at the largest US base
in Iraq may have exposed tens of thousands of troops, contractors and
Iraqis to cancer-causing dioxins, poisons such as arsenic and carbon
monoxide, and hazardous medical waste. The paper reports the military is
burning 147 tons of waste per day in the burn pit at the Joint Base
Balad, the central logistics hub for US forces in Iraq. According to a
military memo, the burn pit has consumed Styrofoam, unexploded ordnance,
petroleum products, plastics, rubber, dining facility trash, paint and
solvents, and medical waste, including amputated limbs.



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