{"id":17735,"date":"2018-06-07T21:09:58","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T21:09:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/06\/07\/as-burn-pit-problems-linger-advocates-worry-va-and-dod-are-moving-too-slow\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:55:10","slug":"as-burn-pit-problems-linger-advocates-worry-va-and-dod-are-moving-too-slow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2018\/06\/07\/as-burn-pit-problems-linger-advocates-worry-va-and-dod-are-moving-too-slow\/","title":{"rendered":"As burn pit problems linger, advocates worry VA and DoD are moving too slow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 Advocates for veterans <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/05\/18\/veterans-fear-congress-has-forgotten-about-the-militarys-burn-pit-problems\/\" target=\"_blank\">exposed to toxic smoke<\/a> from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan say federal response to the problem is too slow, too incomplete and sadly too late for thousands of troops <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/pay-benefits\/military-benefits\/health-care\/2015\/07\/22\/new-burn-pit-report-lung-disease-high-blood-pressure-common-in-exposed-vets\/\" target=\"_blank\">succumbing to fatal diseases<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s despite more than a decade of research into the health effects and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/05\/09\/veterans-ask-court-to-reinstate-lawsuits-over-burn-pits-in-iraq-afghanistan\/\" target=\"_blank\">lawsuits over troops\u2019 exposure to burning contaminants<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I went to the doctor and complained about chest pains, she told me \u2018Well, you\u2019re too young to have any type of chest complications,\u2019\u201d said Carlos Fuentes, director of VFW\u2019s National Legislative Service and a Marine Corps veteran who served in Afghanistan\u2019s Helmand province in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe can\u2019t wait decades like our Vietnam vets waited when it comes to Agent Orange conditions. Congress and VA and DOD must improve research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/05\/18\/veterans-fear-congress-has-forgotten-about-the-militarys-burn-pit-problems\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/538942.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Veterans fear Congress has forgotten about the military\u2019s burn pit problems<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">They&#039;re pushing for new legislation to require better monitoring into health problems related to burn pit exposure.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 141,000 veterans and current service members have enrolled in VA\u2019s Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry, which allows individuals to document their experiences and illnesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But federal officials believe the number of troops exposed over the years tops 2 million. And only about 9,000 veterans have applied for disability benefits based on toxic exposures from the waste pits, leading supporters to question whether the departments are doing enough outreach to understand the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYear after year, we have seen an upward trend in the number of our members reporting symptoms associated with burn pit exposure,\u201d said Tom Porter, legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and a Naval reservist who also deployed to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His group has lobbied in recent weeks for legislation that would require more in-depth monitoring of service members\u2019 health for signs of illnesses connected to toxic exposure in combat zones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, California Democrat Raul Ruiz has introduced legislation requiring federal officials to allow family members to record their loved ones\u2019 medical issues in the VA burn pit registry, in an effort to broaden the amount of information collected on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he also wants to see VA officials do a better job reacting to problems they\u2019re already seeing among the veterans population instead of continuing years-long studies into the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe need to do more,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the time right now to wait for more studies. We have veterans dying from rare cancers. It\u2019s time to put veterans above bureaucracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At a House Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee hearing on the issue Thursday, VA\u2019s chief consultant for post-deployment health, Ralph Erickson, said that officials are focused on the problem but also acknowledged definitive research on the issue is still years away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The four-year-old burn pit registry \u201ccan give us ideas of what we should be looking at, and what we need to prioritize.\u201d Pressed by lawmakers, he also said that he wished the listing had more names and participation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Department officials opted not to attend the hearing. Their absence drew additional questions from irked lawmakers about their commitment to identifying the long-term health problems with the pits, which have largely been scaled out of use overseas in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., said the past use of burn pits amounts to \u201cessentially deploying chemical and biological weapons against our own troops,\u201d making the department\u2019s decision to skip the hearing all the more upsetting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ruiz and several other lawmakers say they\u2019ll discuss additional legislative actions in coming weeks, in an effort to keep momentum and attention on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;The expectation, by servicemembers and veterans, is that they get taken care of when they come home [from deployment]&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TomPorterDC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TomPorterDC<\/a> in response to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepBrianMast?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RepBrianMast<\/a>&#39;s question on exposures to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/BurnPits?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BurnPits<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nImXAp9n7e\">pic.twitter.com\/nImXAp9n7e<\/a><\/p>&mdash; IAVA (@iava) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/iava\/status\/1004820003156365313?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 7, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite years of reports of rare illnesses from toxic exposure, advocates say the departments aren&#8217;t doing enough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,24,89,16,26,65,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3328],"class_list":["post-17735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"VUNBFH73IFGB3NYEV3KHD7KTHU","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2018\/06\/07\/as-burn-pit-problems-linger-advocates-worry-va-and-dod-are-moving-too-slow\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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