The enemy didn't hurt soldier in Iraq; the toxic smoke did

Bill McKenna served two tours as a U.S. Army sergeant in Iraq. No bullet ever hit him, no shrapnel from an improvised explosive device ever pierced his skin.

But sitting on the couch of his Spring Hill home, it's obvious he's suffering from the wounds of war: He's blind in one eye, is missing some teeth and his head is scarred. He has cancer, knee problems, doesn't hear well and has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

McKenna's cancer, according to him and to his doctors at the James A. Haley Veteran's Hospital, is directly attributable to constant exposure to the thick, acrid smoke that wafted almost every hour of every day across Balad Air Base in Iraq where McKenna was stationed for about 18 months.

In bases across Afghanistan and Iraq, amputated body parts, Humvee parts, human waste, plastic meal trays and other garbage is incinerated, using jet fuel, in large trenches called burn pits. The smoke billowing from the pits is so pervasive it can be seen from miles away.

"The smoke was black," McKenna says. "You could taste it. You could actually taste the way it smells."

At Balad, several hundred tons of waste was burned every day in the 10-acre burn pit, according to a 2008 U.S. Army study. McKenna says the smoke contained a toxic stew of contaminants that left him wasted away from his high of 260 pounds.

"Now look at me," says McKenna, who joined the Army after 9/11. "I was a race car mechanic. I am nothing now.''McKenna has Stage 4 lymphoma. He was deployed in Iraq for six months in 2003 and then again for year in 2005 and 2006, but his cancer was not diagnosed until 18 months after he left the service. That timing contributed to the government's initial decision not to give him 100 percent disability payments - money his family desperately needs because he's physically unable to work and his wife left her job to care for him.

He's not alone in his animosity toward the burn pits, which have been attracting more attention and criticism in recent months. Thousands of military personnel and contractors may have been exposed to contaminants. Earlier this year, a federal judge allowed a class-action lawsuit go forward against the contractors who ran some of the burn pits. The suit lists more than 300 plaintiffs in 43 states; more than a dozen are from Florida, including from Riverview and Odessa.

Last week, the Veterans Administration granted McKenna full disability, concurring that his cancer is the result of exposure to toxic chemicals in the burn pits.

Military slow to recognize problem

As recently as October, 2008, military leaders denied that the burn pits were harmful. Air Force spokesman James Garcia told the Salt Lake Tribune then that "no short- or long-term health risks and no elevated cancer risks are likely among personnel deployed to Balad."

But according to the Government Accountability Office report released last month, burn pits had long been associated with health problems. In 2009, U.S. Central Command issued guidelines on managing and operating burn pits.

Health problems associated with burn pits became so widespread that in April, the VA took the unusual step of issuing a 25-page training letter to VA claims examiners about the dangers of burn pits and what to look for when dealing with claims.

Still, the military is ignoring its own guidelines, according to the GAO report, which criticizes the armed forces for failing to properly monitor the pits and adhere to its own guidelines prohibiting burning of plastics and other toxic materials.

With service personnel generating about 10 pounds of solid waste a day, U.S. Central Command estimated that as recently as August there were 251 burn pits in Afghanistan and 22 in Iraq, according to the GAO. And, as more military personnel have been shifted to Afghanistan, the use of burn pits there is increasing in Afghanistan while decreasing in Iraq, according to the GAO.

After its investigation, the GAO recommended the Department of Defense adhere to the burn pit guidelines, review the contracts for burn pit operations, monitor emissions, find materials that are less hazardous when burned, minimize the amount of solid waste generated and investigate alternatives to burn pits. The Department of Defense concurred with the recommendations.

The Department of Defense will ensure "if burn pits are utilized, hazardous materials are not burned in them, thus avoiding emissions that might cause harm to our personnel," according to Commander Wendy L. Snyder, U.S. defense spokeswoman.

However, there are other safety issues to consider, Snyder said.

"While the DoD is taking actions to minimize use of burn pits as a waste management option, we will not do so where the alternatives put our military members at increased risk of enemy fire," according to Snyder. "This is most prevalent at small remote locations in Afghanistan where options other than using a burn pit expose our troops to significant likelihood of injury."

The burn pits at Balad were shut down as of October, 2009, and incinerators were installed there, according to Snyder. But burn pits are still operating at many other bases. The department says it intends to close all burn pits in Iraq by the end of this year.

Who's to blame?

The question of how many people have health problems as a direct result of exposure to the burn pits may never be fully answered. The VA and DoD tally health complaints by disease, not cause.

There is research under way to determine what kind of medical problems burn pits have caused, and how many people are affected. In November, the VA initiated a study with the Institute of Medicine on the long-term effects of exposure to the burn pits. Results are due in May.

Though there is no blanket policy on those who claim they suffered from burn pits, the Veterans Administration is taking claims on a case-by-case basis, approving them when doctors say cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver disease, nervous system breakdowns or other maladies are the result of exposure. Initially, McKenna's cancer claim was rejected "on the basis that there are no scientific studies linking the disease to his exposures in Iraq," according to the VA. McKenna disagreed "and a new medical opinion was received linking the disease to exposure to the chemicals and toxins from burn pits," according to VA spokeswoman Jan Northstar.

But there are many who suffered exposure or are married to someone who was who still are fighting for recognition and compensation.

On April 1, 2008, Air Force Maj. Kevin Wilkins of Eustis died of brain cancer.

Like McKenna, he was stationed at Balad, serving there from May 11, 2006, to Aug. 12, 2006. After returning to Eustis, he did a second tour in early 2007, stationed in Qatar but visiting Iraq frequently.

When Wilkins, an Air Force nurse, first reported symptoms, his doctors asked him if he had ever been exposed to chemicals, according to his widow's request to the VA for benefits. He said he had, from the burn pit at Balad.

Wilkins died within days of first going to the hospital. Because his death was within a year of leaving the service - by two days - Wilkins was entitled to benefits that she says make the difference between keeping or losing her home.

Believing that her husband was exposed to toxic chemicals from the burn pits, and wanting to help others who were exposed, Jill Wilkins took action.

She created a Facebook page - - about the problems with burn pits. And she joined a class action suit seeking payments and accountability from Kellogg Brown & Root and Halliburton.

The suit contends that KBR and Halliburton "callously exposed service members and others to toxic smoke, ash, fumes and contaminated water."

In Florida, at least 17 veterans have joined the lawsuit, which contends that plaintiffs suffered physical and emotional problems because contractors were "more interested in money than safety, wholly ignored their obligations and burned vast quantities of unsorted waste in enormous open air burn pits with no safety controls."

KBR officials say they are not responsible for the health problems for a number of reasons.

"Although KBR provides burn pit services at some sites in Iraq and Afghanistan, the majority of the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan are operated by the Army," according to the company's web site. "Most of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits allege injuries from exposures to burn pits that KBR never serviced or operated."

And, although the Balad burn pit "was the largest one in Iraq and has been the subject of much Congressional, military, and media scrutiny, KBR never designed, serviced, or operated this burn pit. The majority of the plaintiffs allege injuries due to exposure to smoke from the Balad burn pit."

As for allegations that KBR "elected to use burn pits instead of incinerators to increase its profits, the company has no authority to decide the method of waste disposal at any military base in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military, not KBR, decides what method of waste disposal will be used at a base based on strategic, tactical, financial, and resource considerations."

Halliburton officials say "as these lawsuits are based on KBR activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, we believe that Halliburton is improperly named in these cases and, as such, we expect Halliburton to be dismissed from the suits as Halliburton would have no responsibility, legal or otherwise, for the actions alleged. Further, it would be inappropriate for Halliburton to comment on the merits of a matter affecting only the interest of KBR."

The Department of Defense said it does not comment on litigation.

Ruth Ann Reece, who was an Air Force Lt. Col. and critical care nurse, was stationed at Balad in 2007. Reece, who lives in Odessa, says that six months later, she was diagnosed with uterine cancer. Though she received full veteran's benefits when she left the service last year, Reece says she joined the lawsuit to get answers and help others.

"I hope future soldiers over there will not endure what we endured," says Reece.

Though Bill McKenna is now receiving his full benefits - $3,920 per month, plus nearly $10,000 in retroactive back pay - the bitter taste of the burn pits remains from him and his family. The formerly strapping sergeant is now a pain-riddled invalid.

"I trusted the military to do the right thing," says Dina McKenna.