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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.

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Bombs in Our Backyard

Defense Inspector General to Investigate Military’s Toxic Open Burning

The inquiry will evaluate whether the polluting practice is legal, and whether contractors have proper oversight.

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Bombs in Our Backyard

Congress Aims to Force Pentagon Reform on Open Burning of Munitions

A provision of the latest proposed defense spending bill mandates that the Department of Defense address one of its longstanding and dangerous sources of pollution.

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

How the EPA and the Pentagon Downplayed a Growing Toxic Threat

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Suppressed Study: The EPA Underestimated Dangers of Widespread Chemicals

by Abrahm Lustgarten, Lisa Song and Talia Buford,

Get an Inside Look at the Department of Defense’s Struggle to Fix Pollution at More Than 39,000 Sites

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Canadian Research Adds to Worry Over an Environmental Threat the Pentagon Has Downplayed for Decades

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Long Story Short

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

War at Home

by Ranjani Chakraborty and Abrahm Lustgarten,

The Bomb That Went Off Twice

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Bombs in Your Backyard

by Lena V. Groeger, Ryann Grochowski Jones and Abrahm Lustgarten,

Reporting Recipe: Bombs in Your Backyard

by Ryann Grochowski Jones and Abrahm Lustgarten,

How Military Outsourcing Turned Toxic

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Dangerous Pollutants in Military’s Open Burns Greater Than Thought, Tests Indicate

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Kaboom Town

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

In Colfax, Echoes of Another Conflict

by Ashley Gilbertson/VII Photo,

One Year, One Facility, 1.7 Million Pounds of Hazardous Waste Burned in Open Air

by Lylla Younes,

Open Burns, Ill Winds

by Abrahm Lustgarten,

Toxic Fires

by Hilary Fung,