Does the 2022 Burn Pit Exposure Bill Compensate Asbestos Exposure?

Asbestos Exposure and the 2022 Burn Pit Compensation Law for U.S. Military Veterans

When stationed overseas, the military has to determine how to dispose of all kinds of garbage and waste without norms like biweekly garbage pickup that we are afforded at home.  For a long time (think: over 20 years) the military solved this problem by creating and maintaining burn pits. 

What is a burn pit?

A burn pit is a large, open-air area used by the military to burn hazardous and toxic waste, mostly throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, but in a few other countries as well.  It was a common practice, and anything you can think of would have been included; items like food, medical and human waste, discarded uniforms, batteries, tires, mail, paint cans, plastics, rubber, chemicals, and even asbestos were burned in tandem. 

In a 2019 interview with WFAA, the military’s chief environmental engineer for Afghanistan and Iraq, Dr. Daniel Brewer, stated “…he saw asbestos, hazardous waste, medical waste and more being incinerated in these open landfills.” 

The dangers of toxic exposure from military burn pits may affect many veterans.

This may sound like more of an environmental concern than an individual one, but in fact, the smoke from these burn pits was highly toxic and dangerous to breathe in.  We know that asbestos exposure alone is proven to lead to multiple types of illnesses and diseases.  Add asbestos to a cocktail of other materials, and the resulting smoke is anything but safe to inhale.

DAV, a nonprofit charity that supports veterans, helped illuminate research about the hazards of burn pit exposure in 2007. Around 2010, the military finally stopped using most burn pits overseas (some remain to be closed).  In 2013, the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry (AHOBPR) through the VA was formed.  The registry is meant to keep track of any and all military veterans that were exposed to burn pits and other airborne hazards during their deployments. To be eligible to register, the VA states that you must have been deployed to “the Southwest Asia theater of operations or Egypt any time after August 2, 1990 or Afghanistan, Djibouti, Syria, or Uzbekistan on or after September 11, 2001.”  El sitio web also makes the important distinction that you do not have to have specific health concerns to participate in the registry.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and burn pit legislation for asbestos exposure

As a refresher, the VA is the acronym used for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  This is the area of the government dedicated to providing benefits and aid for veterans, and the Veterans Health Administration is operated by the VA.  Injured veterans can claim disability benefit payments through the VA if they are deemed eligible, and all enrolled veterans, regardless of injury status, can utilize the VA’s system of doctors and hospitals for medical care.

Another organization dedicated to supporting veterans, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), surveyed its members in 2020 and found that:

• 86% were exposed to burn pits,
• 88% of members believed they may already be experiencing adverse health symptoms from their exposure, and
• Only 53% of exposed members registered in the burn pit registry.

VA research on veterans’ health problems connected to burn pit toxic exposure

In April 2015, the VA reported on the responses of AHOBP members to its questionnaire. The report found:

• 96% of survey respondents reported that they were close enough to a burn pit to see smoke during at least one deployment,
• 62% of participants said their duties while deployed involved the burn pit in some way (such as burning or hauling trash, working security for the pit, or sorting waste and trash to be burned) and
• Veterans exposed to burn pits were more likely to have served in the Army or Marines than the Air Force or Navy.

Help and compensation is now available for veterans exposed to toxic chemicals in burn pits.

 In April, the VA added 9 additional, rare, respiratory cancers, as well as 3 additional “presumptive conditions” that can qualify veterans for payment.  In June, the Senate passed legislation (called the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022) to expand healthcare access to the millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.  If it became law, the bill would increase healthcare coverage from 5 years after exposure to 10 years, allowing more time for any potential veterans’ symptoms to develop and be diagnosed.  It also would add 23 more illnesses to the eligible list for compensation due to burn pit exposure.  It was called a “life saving bill” by the Senators who wrote it, and the President has already stated he will sign it.  

Even though it initially passed, the bill needed to be reviewed again; when a procedural vote was held in the Senate in July, it did not move forward, causing great concern among veteran’s whose lives are at stake while elected officials bickered over specifics of the bill.  Eventually, veterans camped out in Washington, D.C. to remind our elected officials to focus on the issue at hand.

AsbestosClaims.Law

AsbestosClaims.law es su recurso integral para todo lo relacionado con el asbesto. Esperamos que esta información sea útil.

Si tiene preguntas o inquietudes adicionales relacionadas con el asbesto, visite nuestro sitio web y página de YouTube para ver videos, infografías y respuestas a sus preguntas sobre el asbesto, incluida la salud y la seguridad, prueba de asbesto, la eliminación del asbesto de su hogar y edificio, y información legal sobre la compensación por lesiones de asbesto.

Y si cree que estuvo expuesto al asbesto, o le han diagnosticado una enfermedad relacionada con el asbesto, podría tener derecho a compensación significativa: dinero que podría usar para cubrir los costos de los servicios de eliminación de asbesto, pagar el tratamiento médico y proteger de forma preventiva su bienestar físico. 

Todo sin presentar una demanda.

Si desea ayuda para presentar un reclamo, ponerse en contacto by email at [email protected], or call or text us at (833) 4-ASBESTOS (427-2378) o (206) 455-9190. Escucharemos su historia y le explicaremos sus opciones. Y nunca cobramos por nada a menos que reciba dinero en su bolsillo.