LUSTGARTEN:

Yes. I mean, there are stringent Environmental Protection Agency regulations. Some of which apply to the Pentagon and some which don't. In the case of open burns, the Pentagon is essentially burning what's defined as hazardous waste and the EPA regulated the burning the hazardous waste back in the 1980s. So, 30 or so years ago. Explosives were admittedly difficult to deal with.

So, at the time, they created a little bit of a loophole. It said that the Pentagon and other specialized companies that deal only in explosive can continue to burn that stuff if that's the only way they can get rid of it, but only until the improved technology figure out a better way to deal with it, at which point they would be required by the regulations to move to those alternatives.

Those now exist. They have for a long time, but the Department of Defense still leans very heavily on burning as their stand by process.