The US military has been caught incinerating 20 million lbs of extremely toxic flame retardant in locations close to residential zones.
In the mid-1960s, the US Navy developed aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). This synthetic foam has a low viscosity and spreads rapidly across the surface of most hydrocarbon fuels. A water film forms beneath the foam, which cools the liquid fuel, stopping the formation of flammable vapors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefighting_foam
However, the foam contains surfactants (slippery agents) that break down into endocrine disrupting forever chemicals which are extremely injurious to health, IQ, the ability to reproduce, and which have evidence of causing genetic damage across multiple generations.
In 2018 a report was released on the toxicity of AFFF, something that the DoD apparently considered to be a 'public relations nightmare'. Due to this, the foam was in the process of being prohibited, despite attempted repression of the science by the DoD. This would soon turn the foam into a very expensive liability for the military, so they apparently decided to dispose of it in a clandestine manner.
In an exercise of extreme irony, they decided to incinerate the fire retardant foam. This is despite the fact that there is no evidence that incineration of these endocrine disrupting chemicals does anything to destroy these chemicals, and appears to simply make them more likely to disperse.
The incinerators chosen were often located in very deprived areas next to public housing projects. Many of the most poor and vulnerable in society have been exposed to massive quantities of contamination.
The DoD activities wouldn't have been uncovered, if it wasn't for the brave researchers at Bennington College, Vermont who investigated to pinpoint where the foam had gone, and its effects upon the environment and human health.
There is evidence that 40% of the US military's stockpile has now been mixed into fuels instead of being incinerated. This means that both military personnel will be further exposed to these chemicals, as well as the public within in the US, and those living in the vicinity of the 800 US military bases around the world.
It remains to be seen if anyone will be prosecuted for these callous crimes against the public.