Ailing vets sue over burn pits

Ailing vets sue over smoke from trash fires in Iraq, Afghanistan
'You'd cough up black stuff, and you couldn't seem to catch your breath'
msnbc.com
updated 8/6/2010 5:22:20 AM ET

Some 241 military personnel and contractors who became ill after serving in Afghanistan and Iraq are suing a Houston-based firm, claiming they were poisoned by smoke from trash fires, the Washington Post reported Friday.

The claimants, who are from 42 states, are suffering from a range of conditions including cancer and severe breathing problems, which they blame on the thick, black smoke. The symptoms were reportedly nicknamed "Iraqi crud" by troops.

They are taking legal action against Kellogg Brown & Root, which operated more than two dozen burn-pits in the two countries, the Post reported. It used to be a subsidiary of Halliburton, which is a also a defendant in the case.

These were used to get rid of garbage including plastic water bottles, Styrofoam food containers, mangled bits of metal, paint, solvent, medical waste and dead animals by dousing it in fuel and setting fire to it, the newspaper said.
read more here
Ailing vets sue over smoke from trash fires
linked from
http://icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx