Burn Pit Registry Now Has 200,000 Signers, VA Says
12 May 2020
Stars and Stripes | By Rose L. Thayer
AUSTIN, Texas -- The Department of Veterans Affairs said a registry for veterans exposed to airborne toxins now includes more than 200,000 people as advocates contend better health care is what veterans need, not lists.
"I don't feel that it's a milestone. It may be for them, but not for anyone sick and dying," said Rosie Torres, co-founder of Burn Pits 360, a nonprofit advocacy group that fights for VA health care benefits for veterans exposed to smoke from burn pits during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The military used burn pits as waste disposal sites on bases primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of most of the trash created there, which included diesel generators, medical waste, computers and day-to-day trash from service members. The smoke generated from the pits contained toxins that can cause short- and long-term health complications.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2020/05/12/burn-pit-registry-now-has-200000-signers-va-says.html
