Analysis
The Environmental Cost of War
Burn Pits, Depleted Uranium & the Pentagon's Toxic Legacy
At Joint Base Balad in Iraq, a burn pit the size of 10 acres burned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for years. It burned everything: medical waste, batteries, tires, plastics, paint, unexploded ordnance, amputated body parts, and human waste — all doused in jet fuel. The smoke drifted across the base where 25,000 service members slept, ate, and exercised. The Pentagon knew it was toxic. It did nothing. 3.5 million veterans were exposed to burn pits. The military is the world's largest institutional polluter — responsible for more toxic contamination than the top five chemical companies combined. And the damage doesn't stay on the battlefield. It comes home in veterans' lungs, contaminates communities around bases, and persists in soil and water for generations.
Key Findings
- • 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits at 230+ locations in Iraq and Afghanistan
- • 385 US military bases contaminated with PFAS “forever chemicals”
- • 141 military sites on the EPA Superfund list — more than any other entity
- • 20 million gallons of Agent Orange sprayed in Vietnam — effects persist 60+ years later
- • 350 million tonnes CO₂ per year — more than most countries on Earth
- • Camp Lejeune: 1 million people exposed to contaminated water for 35 years
- • 1,032 nuclear tests by the US, contaminating sites from Nevada to the Marshall Islands
Military Toxic Contamination Sites
The US military has contaminated sites across the US and the world. 385 US military bases have PFAS (“forever chemical”) contamination. 141 are on the EPA Superfund list. Sources: DOD, EPA, GAO.
Burn Pits: The New Agent Orange
From 2001 to 2019, the US military operated open-air burn pits at over 230 locationsacross Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries. Rather than build proper waste disposal facilities — which would have cost a fraction of the war budget — the military chose to burn everything in open pits doused with JP-8 jet fuel.
Burn Pit Exposure: Cumulative Veterans Exposed
3.5 million veterans were exposed to toxic burn pits at 230+ locations across Iraq and Afghanistan. The DOD burned everything: medical waste, batteries, tires, plastics, human waste, and unexploded ordnance.
| What Was Burned | Toxic Emissions | Health Effects |
|---|---|---|
| Medical waste (bloody bandages, amputated limbs) | Pathogens, dioxins | Respiratory disease, infections |
| Plastics (bottles, packaging, electronics) | Dioxins, furans, hydrogen cyanide | Cancer, neurological damage |
| Batteries and electronics | Lead, cadmium, mercury, lithium | Kidney damage, cancer, neurological effects |
| Tires and rubber | Benzene, toluene, PAHs | Leukemia, lymphoma |
| Paint and solvents | VOCs, heavy metals | Liver damage, cancer |
| Human waste and animal carcasses | Pathogens, ammonia | Respiratory infections |
| Unexploded ordnance | TNT, RDX, perchlorate | Thyroid disorders, cancer |
| Jet fuel (used as accelerant) | JP-8 (naphthalene, benzene) | Blood cancers, respiratory disease |
The PACT Act: Too Little, Too Late
The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act was signed in August 2022 — more than 20 years after burn pit exposure began. The bill was named after a veteran who died of cancer at age 39 after exposure to burn pits at Joint Base Balad.
Before the PACT Act, the VA denied 70% of burn pit disability claims. Veterans had to prove a direct causal link between their specific burn pit exposure and their specific cancer — an impossible standard given that the military kept no records of what was burned or who was exposed.
The PACT Act creates a presumption of service connection for 23 conditions. But by the time it passed, thousands of veterans had already died. And the law only covers US veterans — the Iraqi and Afghan civilians who lived near burn pits for years have no recourse at all.
KBR & Halliburton: Paid to Poison
The burn pits were operated by KBR (Kellogg, Brown & Root), a subsidiary of Halliburton — the company formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney. KBR received $39.5 billionin government contracts for logistics in Iraq and Afghanistan, including waste management.
Rather than build incinerators (which would have cost more), KBR used open-air burn pits — maximizing profit at the expense of troop health. When veterans sued KBR, the company argued it was immune from liability because it was working under government contract. The case was dismissed. KBR made $39.5 billion. 3.5 million veterans were poisoned.
Agent Orange: 60 Years of Poison
Between 1962 and 1971, the US military sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and other herbicides over 4.5 million acres of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in Operation Ranch Hand. The goal was defoliation — stripping the jungle canopy to expose Viet Cong positions. The chemical contained dioxin (TCDD), one of the most toxic substances ever created.
Agent Orange Sprayed in Vietnam (Gallons/Year)
20 million gallons of Agent Orange sprayed over 4.5 million acres of Vietnamese forest and farmland. The dioxin contaminant persists in soil and water for decades. Sources: VA, Operation Ranch Hand records.
US Veterans
- • 2.6 million US troops served in sprayed areas
- • VA recognizes 14 diseases linked to Agent Orange
- • 300,000+ veterans have received disability compensation
- • The VA denied the link for 20 years (1971–1991)
- • Veterans' children: elevated rates of spina bifida and birth defects
- • Dow Chemical and Monsanto settled for $180 million in 1984 — roughly $70 per affected veteran
Vietnamese Victims
- • 3 million Vietnamese affected (government estimate)
- • 150,000+ children born with birth defects
- • Effects now in the 3rd generation
- • Dioxin persists in soil at former US bases (Bien Hoa: 365x safe levels)
- • The US has paid $0 in compensation to Vietnamese victims
- • A 2004 lawsuit by Vietnamese victims was dismissed by US courts
Depleted Uranium: Radioactive Battlefields
The US military fired an estimated 300 tonnes of depleted uranium (DU) ammunition in the 1991 Gulf War and 170 tonnes in the 2003 Iraq War. DU is used in armor-piercing rounds because of its extreme density. When a DU round hits a target, it aerosolizes into fine radioactive dust that can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through wounds.
Fallujah: The Cancer Capital
After the two US sieges of Fallujah in 2004, researchers documented a 38-fold increasein leukemia, a 10-fold increase in breast cancer, and infant mortality rates that exceeded those recorded in Hiroshima. The birth defect rate was 14 times the normal rate.
The Pentagon has consistently denied any link between DU and health effects. A 2013 WHO study (partially funded by the Iraqi government) found “no clear increase in birth defects” — but the study was criticized for excluding the most affected neighborhoods and relying on hospital records in a city where most births happen at home.
Gulf War Syndrome
250,000 Gulf War veterans — one-third of all who served — report chronic symptoms: fatigue, pain, cognitive problems, skin rashes, respiratory issues. The VA spent decades denying “Gulf War Syndrome” existed. A 2008 congressional report finally confirmed it was real and likely caused by exposure to nerve agents, pesticides, DU dust, and oil well fire smoke.
Thirty-five years later, the VA still classifies many Gulf War illness claims as “undiagnosed illness” — a category that receives lower disability ratings and fewer benefits.
The World's Largest Polluter
The US Department of Defense is the world's largest institutional consumer of fossil fuels and the world's largest institutional producer of greenhouse gases. The Pentagon uses 100 million barrels of oil per year — more than most countries. A single B-52 bomber burns 3,334 gallons of fuel per hour. An aircraft carrier burns 100,000 gallons per day.
US Military CO₂ Emissions by Source (Million Tonnes/Year)
The US military's total carbon footprint — including supply chain — is approximately 350 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. If it were a country, it would be the 55th largest emitter on Earth. Sources: Brown University, DOD Sustainability Reports.
Exempted from Climate Agreements
At US insistence, military emissions were exempted from the Kyoto Protocol (1997). While the Paris Agreement (2015) technically includes military emissions, reporting is voluntary — and the US does not fully report. The Pentagon's climate impact is essentially invisible in international climate accounting.
Brown University researchers estimate the US military's total carbon footprint — including supply chain — at approximately 350 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. This would make the US military the 55th largest emitter in the world — larger than Portugal, Sweden, or Denmark.
Camp Lejeune: Poisoning Our Own
From 1953 to 1987 — 35 years — the drinking water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina was contaminated with industrial solvents, benzene, and other carcinogens at levels up to 3,400 times the safe limit. An estimated 1 million people — Marines, their families, and civilian workers — were exposed.
What Was in the Water
- • Trichloroethylene (TCE) — industrial degreaser. 3,400x safe levels.
- • Perchloroethylene (PCE) — dry cleaning solvent. 40x safe levels.
- • Benzene — known carcinogen. From fuel leaks.
- • Vinyl chloride — TCE breakdown product. Causes liver cancer.
- • An off-base dry cleaner dumped solvents directly into the groundwater for decades
The Cover-Up
- • The Marine Corps knew about contamination in 1980 but didn't close the wells until 1985
- • Affected families were not notified until 1999 — 19 years later
- • The Camp Lejeune Justice Act wasn't passed until 2022 — 42 years after discovery
- • Former Marine Jerry Ensminger spent 25 years fighting for justice after his daughter died of leukemia at age 9
- • As of 2025, over 200,000 claims have been filed; fewer than 100 have been paid
Nuclear Testing: Sacrificed Lands, Sacrificed People
The United States conducted 1,032 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992 — more than any other country. The fallout contaminated land, water, and people across the Pacific, the American West, and Alaska. The communities affected were disproportionately indigenous and Pacific Islander.
| Location | Tests | Total Yield | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall Islands (Bikini Atoll) | 67 | 108 Mt total | Uninhabitable. Radiation persists. Marshallese diaspora. |
| Nevada Test Site | 928 | ~1 Mt total | 340,000+ "downwinders" exposed. Cancer clusters documented. |
| Johnston Atoll | 12 | Various | Agent Orange and nuclear waste stored. Contamination ongoing. |
| Amchitka, Alaska | 3 | 5 Mt | Radioactive contamination of marine ecosystem. |
| Christmas Island | 24 | Various | British tests with US support. Veterans denied compensation. |
The Marshall Islands: America's Nuclear Colony
Between 1946 and 1958, the US detonated 67 nuclear weapons at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the Marshall Islands. The total yield was equivalent to 1.6 Hiroshima bombs detonatedevery day for 12 years. The Castle Bravo test (1954) was 1,000 times more powerful than Hiroshima.
The Marshallese people were forcibly relocated. They were told they could return. They never could. Bikini Atoll remains uninhabitable. Women on nearby islands gave birth to what they called “jellyfish babies” — infants born without bones, translucent, barely human in appearance. Thyroid cancer rates are 100 times the global average.
The US paid a total of $150 million in compensation — for the permanent destruction of an entire nation's homeland. The Marshallese government estimates the true damage at$3.4 billion. The nuclear waste dome on Runit Island — a concrete cap over radioactive debris — is now cracking and leaking into the Pacific due to rising sea levels caused by climate change.
Downwinders: America's Own Radiation Victims
The 928 nuclear tests at the Nevada Test Site sent radioactive fallout across Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. An estimated 340,000 “downwinders” — mostly rural, mostly Mormon, mostly trusting of the government — were exposed to significant radiation. Cancer clusters appeared within years. Thyroid cancer, leukemia, and breast cancer rates soared.
The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) was passed in 1990 — but limited payments to $50,000 and covered only specific counties. The act expired in June 2024 after Congress failed to reauthorize an expanded version. Thousands of downwinders died waiting for compensation that never came.
Oil Well Fires & Environmental Warfare
During the 1991 Gulf War, retreating Iraqi forces set fire to 700 Kuwaiti oil wells. The fires burned for 10 months, releasing an estimated 2 billion barrels of oil into the atmosphere and creating oil lakes covering 50 square kilometers. The smoke plume was visible from space and deposited soot as far as the Himalayas.
500,000 US troops were exposed to the smoke. The combination of oil well fire particulates, DU dust, nerve agent demolitions, and pesticide exposure created the toxic cocktail that would later be known as Gulf War Syndrome. The environmental destruction took years to remediate and the contamination of Kuwait's soil and groundwater persists today.
In Iraq, the 2003 invasion and subsequent conflict destroyed water treatment plants, sewage systems, and industrial facilities. Raw sewage flowed into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Drinking water contamination caused a cholera outbreak in 2007. The environmental infrastructure that took decades to build was destroyed in weeks — and has never been fully restored.
The Bottom Line
The Pentagon is the world's largest polluter. It has contaminated 385 military bases with forever chemicals. It poisoned 1 million people at Camp Lejeune and hid it for 19 years. It exposed 3.5 million veterans to burn pits and denied their claims for two decades. It sprayed 20 million gallons of Agent Orange and paid $0 to Vietnamese victims. It irradiated Pacific Islanders and American downwinders and let the compensation act expire.
The environmental cost of war is never included in the Pentagon's budget. It's not in the $886 billion. It's not in the congressional debates. It's in the cancer wards, the birth defect clinics, the contaminated aquifers, and the uninhabitable atolls. It's in the lungs of veterans and the DNA of children who haven't been born yet.
War doesn't just destroy people. It destroys the land, the water, and the air. And the destruction outlasts the war by generations.
Sources
- • Brown University Costs of War Project, “Pentagon Fuel Use, Climate Change, and the Costs of War” (2019)
- • DOD Burn Pit Registry, Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry (2024)
- • GAO, “DOD PFAS Contamination at Military Installations” (2023)
- • EPA Superfund National Priorities List — Federal Facilities
- • VA Agent Orange Registry, Claims Data (2024)
- • Busby C, et al. “Cancer, Infant Mortality and Birth Sex-Ratio in Fallujah, Iraq” (2010)
- • ATSDR, “Camp Lejeune: Past Water Contamination” (2023)
- • Nuclear Claims Tribunal, Republic of the Marshall Islands
- • National Cancer Institute, “Radiation Exposure from Nuclear Testing”
- • PACT Act Implementation Report, VA (2024)
- • Congressional Research Service, “Depleted Uranium Use by the US Military” (2022)