Canadian soldier wins compensation for cancer linked to burn pits after Veterans Affairs denied claim

A burn pit at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan in 2006. (Shutterstock)

A Canadian soldier who was exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits while serving in Afghanistan has been awarded full medical compensation for testicular cancer after Veterans Affairs initially denied his claim.

The reversal marks the second time this year that the Veterans Review and Appeal Board has overturned an earlier decision refusing disability benefits for cancers linked to burning waste at military outposts in Afghanistan.

The soldier, who is unnamed in the decision issued last month in Prince Edward Island, served two tours with a provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar between November 2007 and June 2010.

Smoke would 'roll over the camp'

During his 16 months in Kandahar, the soldier "was exposed to hazardous chemicals" from burn pits that were routinely used to dispose of chemicals, paint, human waste, plastics, petroleum, aluminum and munitions, according to the appeal board panel.

"The smoke was really noticeable in the evenings when it would cool off," the veteran testified before the panel. "The smoke would stay low and would roll over the camp."

The veteran described breathing the fumes daily without a respirator. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2019, nine years since he left Afghanistan.

Veterans Affairs denied his disability entitlement in April 2022, finding no evidence linking his cancer with his military service. However, the appeal board found otherwise, citing a medical report from an Ontario doctor and a recent U.S. law connecting burn pit exposure to illnesses in American troops.

Other cancers 'a coincidence?'

Writing on the veteran's behalf, Dr. Mandy Liedeman said she was "quite surprised" that Veterans Affairs refused his claim connecting his cancer with his service in Kandahar, saying "it is now well known that this base was one of the locations where large military burn pits were located."

"The resulting chemicals include dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, hexachlorobenzene, and ash," Liedeman added in her April report.

"This is what was circulating in the air continuously at many military bases in Afghanistan. As (the veteran) describes, there was visible smoke in the air continuously. In addition, two of his fellow soldiers, who were exposed to the same environment have developed testicular cancer, do you think this is a coincidence?"

The relevant U.S. law, which the doctor also cited, is known as the PACT Act, or Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics. Passed in 2022, the law acknowledges the link between burn pits and several illnesses, including cancers, and expands health coverage to U.S. soldiers exposed to the pits in Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam.

"If the veteran had served in the U.S. military, he would have met the presumption of hazardous exposure contained in the PACT Act," the review panel found.

"While this is not determinative in the Canadian context, it reasonable to assume that, while serving in Afghanistan, Canadian soldiers would have also been exposed to toxic smoke associated to burn pits."

Soldier had 'trouble breathing'

The veteran testified he "had trouble breathing" while in Afghanistan, but did not consider it serious enough to report it to the medical team. Liedeman found the delay in reporting his symptoms was not relevant to his later cancer diagnosis.

"One would not expect any symptoms during his early exposure to the carcinogens," the doctor wrote.

"It would take time for the malignant growth to develop, thus one would only become symptomatic when the cancer is of a significant size. It is quite reasonable for this process to take 10 years."

After reviewing the case, the panel awarded the soldier "five-fifths" compensation for "pain and suffering" retroactive to Sept. 1, 2021. The "five-fifths" entitlement means the disability is considered fully attributable to the soldier's service.

Lung cancer attributed to burn pit

The decision follows a similar case in April in which the Veterans Review and Appeal Board awarded a military nurse in Alberta full entitlement for lung cancer related to burn pit exposure after his initial application three months earlier was denied.

The nurse testified that during two tours of Afghanistan he would sometimes drop off narcotics for destruction at the burn pits, which were located a few hundred metres from his unit's quarters.

"He observed that general refuse, furniture, old computer parts and basically everything that you could imagine was burned in the burn pits," the panel heard. "Diesel fuel and jet fuel were used to start the fires."

Once again citing the U.S. PACT Act, the panel wrote that because the nurse was a non-smoker, the panel was "most convinced that exposure to burn pits caused the lung cancer."