Shindand Airbase: Use of Open-Air Burn Pit Violated Department of Defense Requirements
Publisher: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)
Author(s): John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
Date: 2014
Topics: Weapons, Waste, and Pollution
Countries: Afghanistan
In May 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $4.4 million contract to construct solid waste management facilities, including two incinerators, at Shindand Airbase, a coalition base located in Herat province in western Afghanistan housing approximately 4,000 U.S. and Afghan military personnel and contractors. At the time of the contract award, Shindand Airbase was primarily using open-air burn pit operations to dispose of its solid waste. In addition to the two U.S. Forces-Afghanistan-operated incinerators, in September 2009 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded an $11 million contract for incinerators at various bases for use by the Afghan military. Shindand Airbase has two of these Afghan-operated incinerators, which were provided to the Afghan military in August 2012 and cost about $755,000.
This report assesses whether (1) construction of the incinerators was completed in accordance with contract requirements and applicable construction standards, (2) the incinerators and supporting facilities were being used as intended and maintained, and (3) the use of an open-air burn pit to dispose of solid waste complied with applicable requirements.