VA agrees to study cancers, illnesses tied to military deployment to toxic Uzbek base

The Department of Veterans Affairs has notified Congress that it will study the health impact of toxic exposure on service members who served at a contaminated base in Uzbekistan after the 9/11 attacks, a key oversight subcommittee announced Monday.

The commitment to study the health effects on service members who served at Karshi-Khanabad, Uzbekistan, or “K2,” was outlined in a memo from the VA to the national security subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The subcommittee has been investigating hundreds of cancers reported by special operations and conventional forces who served at K2 between 2001 and 2005, after McClatchy broke the story about how many K2 veterans were now diagnosed with cancer and obtained classified documentation about the former Soviet and Uzbek base, which had known radiation and chemical contamination.

“The questions raised about K2 are important and VA is actively investigating the issues,” the department said in its correspondence to the subcommittee, obtained by McClatchy. “VA is awaiting declassification of the reports on environmental monitoring.”

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