Topic summary
Burn pits
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Burn pit.
Duration
Burn pits were allegedly adopted as a temporary measure but remained in use several years after alternative methods of disposal such as incineration were available. Burn pits were used during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. As of July 2019, there were still nine sanctioned burn pits in operation in Syria, Afghanistan, and Egypt. Per the DoD, this is a last resort when no feasible alternative exists. For longer-term enduring locations, conventional solid waste practices are used.