VFEA Origins-NAF Atsugi Incinerator
The NAF Atsugi, Japan incinerator exposure is one of VFEA’s first focuses. It is an exposure that has affected many young military families that spent time on base from March 1980 to April 2001, including 3 of our own board members. As each of us reflect on our families’ time spent at NAF Atsugi in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, we recall the acrid stench of the incinerator’s emissions, the metallic taste it would leave in your mouth, and the soot that would settle on the surfaces of the base each burn day. During each of our families journeys, we had learned about the real hazards of living at NAF Atsugi only years after returning to the states. It was only by chance that we learned about the health issues linked to the incinerator decades later - and it wasn’t because the Navy decided to inform us.
At the time, we thought it was safe. It was perhaps a nuisance to live and work next to the incinerator, but we thought surely that our government would say something or take action if it was truly a health risk - especially since it was an accompanied duty station. Unfortunately, many were not properly informed of this exposure, even though the hazards were known since at least March 1989. If we had been, maybe the trajectory of our lives would have been different and we would have been able to catch cancers earlier, before they were systemic. Had we known, it would have given us the power to make more informed health decisions.
As we researched the issue, we discovered many other families from this population were battling cancer diagnoses and long-term illnesses including those that we had known personally during our time on base. The more we looked into the issue, the more concerned we became. Naturally, we wanted to know more about the exposure. Why hadn’t the military informed us of the exposure and potential health risks? Why did the military continue to allow families to accompany servicemembers if they knew it was a hazardous duty station? What has been done in the years since? What information does the VA have on the exposure?
Well, as it turns out, we found no good answers to our questions. While the Navy started voluntary briefings in 1995 and mandatory briefings in 1998, they had not retroactively informed personnel stationed in Atsugi prior - even after multiple health risk assessments conducted throughout the 1990s showed an increased risk for cancer and non-cancer illness.
We ran into the Navy’s website on Atsugi as well as the VA’s website acknowledging the exposure. Unfortunately, neither had current information on the exposure and it appeared that neither had comprehensively investigated the long term health effects of the exposure. Other Atsugi families we talked to mentioned that they also had experienced health effects which they believed could be attributed to their time at NAF Atsugi. As a result, they applied for veteran benefits but largely had their claims denied by the VA, citing a lack of evidence. And this makes sense, if the government doesn’t investigate the long term effects of an exposure, there will be no useful epidemiological data - no evidence.
What happened to our families should not have happened and it certainly should not continue to happen to other military families who already sacrifice so much for this country. Unfortunately, we see that lackluster responses to toxic exposures is a repeating theme in the military - even still - where military servicemembers and their families are put in harmful situations and not properly notified of the hazards they were exposed to in a timely or transparent manner (Agent Orange exposures, TCE and PCE in the drinking water at Camp Lejeune, hazardous air at NAF Atsugi, burn pit exposures, PFAS in drinking water, etc.) Even more recently, families living in Red Hill, Hawaii drank and bathed in jet fuel-contaminated water for years, even though the military was aware of leaks from their underground storage tanks at the Red Hill facility and the potential for groundwater contamination.
We, at VFEA, hold a deep love for our country, steadfastly support the mission of our Armed Services, and take immense pride in our families' time in the service. However, our enthusiasm wanes when confronted with the ongoing inadequacies in the government's response to these exposures. Military and veteran families deserve a more proactive approach. Together, we share this profound concern, recognizing the importance of uniting to promote education and awareness on these issues - not just for Atsugi and military aviation cancers, but for every military toxic exposure affecting servicemembers and their families. It is in response to these collective aspirations that VFEA was established, achieving its 501(c)(3) status in March of 2023.