A burn pit law from Congress left out thousands of American civilians working for the government who were exposed to the same toxins. Now there’s an effort to change that.
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In 2022, Congress passed the PACT Act. The bill provided benefits for millions of veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits during their military service. But that law left out thousands of American civilians working for the government who were exposed to the same toxins. Now there’s an effort to change that. NPR justice correspondent Ryan Lucas reports.
RYAN LUCAS, BYLINE: During the global war on terror, the American government sent federal civilian employees, including FBI agents, to Iraq and Afghanistan, where they often lived and worked alongside U.S. troops. One of them was FBI Special Agent Kenya Merritt. He was 33 years old when he did a four-month deployment in Iraq in 2009.
STEPHANIE MERRITT: I remember when he came back, I mean, everything was seemingly fine. He worked out, I know, with a lot of the guys from the Special Forces.
LUCAS: That’s Stephanie Merritt, Kenya’s wife. She says Kenya had played Division I basketball in college, didn’t smoke, didn’t drink. He worked out, though, a lot. And it was during a workout in 2014 or 2015, she says, that they first noticed that something was off.
MERRITT: He was boxing, you know, as a way to stay in shape. And he came in the house, and I mean, his eyes were as big as saucers. And he was like, I’ve been calling you. Like, something’s wrong with my chest.
LUCAS: They thought it was his heart. He went to see cardiologist after cardiologist. They were in and out of emergency rooms. Doctors didn’t know what was wrong. It was only during a trip to the ER after Kenya, Stephanie and their three kids moved back to Texas, that they started to get some answers.
MERRITT: This particular ER doctor was like, listen, you know, your heart is good, but you have a nodule that shows up on another report, and it’s ever so slightly larger. I’m not saying it’s cancer. I just think you should have it looked at.
LUCAS: Kenya had it looked at, and it turned out it was lung cancer. So in late 2019, doctors removed the lower lobe of his left lung, but the cancer appeared to have already spread to his lymph system. So he underwent chemotherapy and radiation. And it worked. For three years, Stephanie says, Kenya was disease-free. But in late 2022, the cancer came back, and so doctors decided to remove his entire left lung. Stephanie recalls how about an hour into the surgery, the doctor came out to find her.
MERRITT: When I saw the doctor, I was like, why are you here? You know, who’s removing his lung? You know, like, why am I talking to you?
LUCAS: The doctor said the cancer had spread, and they decided to leave the lung and whatever function it still had for the fight ahead. But the cancer continued its spread. Throughout all of this – the scans, the surgeries, the chemo – Kenya was still an FBI special agent. He was still working human trafficking cases, sometimes from home, in the kitchen or the backyard, sometimes at the office.
MERRITT: Toward the end, it was just the pain. The pain would stop all of that.
LUCAS: Kenya Merritt died on October 30, 2024. He was 48 years old. Stephanie says Kenya had talked about his time in Iraq, including the burn pits.
MERRITT: I don’t think they were ever educated on the dangers because he said the burn pits, for some people – and not even for him – would become, like, a gathering spot.
LUCAS: The military used open-air burn pits to dispose of trash, everything from plastic and electronics to medical waste. They produce clouds of toxic black smoke. The biggest burn pit in Iraq was at Balad Air Base, where Kenya was stationed, and he believed, as does his family, that his exposure contributed to his cancer. Stephanie says when Kenya joined the FBI, he signed up knowing he was putting everything on the line.
MERRITT: But it was a sacrifice he was willing to take. A burn pit wasn’t in that decision.
LUCAS: In 2022, Congress passed the PACT Act to expand medical benefits for military veterans exposed to toxins from the burn pits after years of complaints from veterans and their families. But that bill left out the civilian federal employees who served shoulder to shoulder with U.S. troops, people like Kenya Merritt. And he is not alone. There are an estimated 4- to 5,000 FBI agents who have had health issues from burn pits. That’s according to Natalie Bara, the head of the FBI Agents Association. And she says that number doesn’t include all of the other federal law enforcement agents and other U.S. government employees who aren’t covered by the PACT Act.
NATALIE BARA: These agents were overseas serving their country, and they should be covered when they get sick as a result of their exposure to burn pits.
LUCAS: The association, which represents current and former FBI agents, is pushing for a new draft bill that would make it easier for federal civilian employees who believe they were exposed to burn pits to apply for medical benefits. One of the bill’s sponsors in the House is Pennsylvania Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, himself a former FBI agent who served in Iraq. At a news conference last month Fitzpatrick said U.S. troops and civilian employees who served overseas should all be treated equally.
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BRIAN FITZPATRICK: We have to make sure that we’re there for them. They’re fellow federal agents. It’s just about basic fairness.
LUCAS: Congress struggled to pass the original PACT Act, and it’s unclear whether the new one has enough support to get across the line. What is clear is that the bill is named for Kenya Merritt. His widow, Stephanie, says she is honored, and she says Kenya would be, too.
MERRITT: I just know one day, when I see him in heaven, he’s just going to be like, Steph (ph), that’s pretty cool. You know, like, he’s just going to be like super hype about it. And it’s so him that even after he’s gone, there’s something that continues to help people.
LUCAS: Ryan Lucas, NPR News, Washington.
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