Bombs in Our Backyard
Investigating One of America’s Greatest Polluters
The Pentagon has poisoned millions of acres and left Americans to guess at the threat to their health. Its oversight of thousands of toxic sites has been marked by defiance and delay.
Featured
How Military Outsourcing Turned Toxic
Fraud. Bribery. Incompetence. The military’s use of contractors adds to a legacy of environmental damage.
Open Burns, Ill Winds
The Pentagon’s handling of munitions and their waste has poisoned millions of acres, and left Americans to guess at the threat to their health.
Other Entries
Dangerous Pollutants in Military’s Open Burns Greater Than Thought, Tests Indicate
The first results in a national effort to better measure the levels of contaminants released through the burning of munitions and their waste show elevated levels of lead, arsenic and other toxins.
Kaboom Town
The U.S. military burns millions of pounds of munitions in a tiny, African-American corner of Louisiana. The town’s residents say they’re forgotten in the plume.
In Colfax, Echoes of Another Conflict
A photographer who covered the war in Iraq appreciates how threats can come to seem routine.
One Year, One Facility, 1.7 Million Pounds of Hazardous Waste Burned in Open Air
Explore every shipment of hazardous waste sent to Colfax in 2015 and was burned or detonated into open air.
