A long fight ended abruptly on Monday when the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from Veterans and private contractors who claim that exposure to smoke from burn pits made them sick. The justices left in place a ruling by the lower courts that prevents more than 60 lawsuits over the burn pits from moving forward.
The lawsuits charged that military contractor Kellogg, Brown, and Root (KBR) dumped tires, batteries, medical waste, and other materials into open burn pits. The suits claimed the resulting smoke caused neurological problems, cancers, and other health issues in more than 800 service members. The complaints said at least 12 service members died.
The original appeals court decision in December 2018 stated that KBR, which was formerly owned by Halliburton Corp., was under military control and had little discretion in deciding how to manage the waste on numerous military bases. KBR’s attorney said the decision to use burn pits “was made by the military.”
In a brief filed at the time, officials for KBR and Halliburton urged the court not to restore the lawsuits, claiming that they were already dismissed properly because the courts have no jurisdiction over military strategy.
Read more on this story from Fox News here. Within the story line is a Fox News video clip featuring Brian Muller, husband of former 148th Fighter Wing member Amie Muller. Amie, who was stationed at Balad Air Base, Iraq in 2005 and 2007, recently died from an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer thought to be attributed to the burn pits operating at Balad.