American commanders in Iraq are working to demonstrate that they are clearing the country of tens of millions of pounds of U.S.-made hazardous waste in an effort to rebut claims that U.S. troops are leaving behind a toxic legacy as they withdraw.
Hundreds of barrels of all types and all colors — filled with everything from discarded lithium batteries and oil filters to powerful chemicals such as hydrochloric acid — are stacked in a dusty compound on a U.S. base at Tikrit, north of Baghdad.
This and a sister facility on another base have so far processed 32 million pounds of "regulated" waste — more than half of it soil contaminated with petroleum products. The material has been decontaminated, crushed or shredded, and then sold as scrap in Iraq, or recycled and shipped abroad.
"We don't use the word 'hazardous,' because in Arabic that translates into chemical, biological, and nuclear waste," U.S. military spokesman Maj. Gen. Stephen Lanza said during a tour of the site.
"Everything we do here, as we process these materials, is so there is no 1/8adverse3/8 effect on Iraqis. No materials are left behind," Lanza said. "This highlights how we are not only good stewards here, but our relations with the Iraqi people."
The official tour, which included Iraqi government officials, was part of an effort to dispel perceptions among Iraqis that the seven-years occupation by American troops, who once numbered more than 170,000, has left behind tons of waste at hundreds of bases that are now being handed over to the Iraqis. U.S. troop strength is to drop to 50,000 by Sept. 1.