Investigator: Soldier's electrocution 'negligent homicide'
Story Highlights
Manner of death should be changed from "accidental," Army investigator writes
U.S. soldier electrocuted while showering at his base in Iraq in 2008
Investigator: Contractor didn't ensure electricians, plumbers were qualified
No charges have been filed; soldier's family is suing contractor
From Scott Bronstein and Abbie Boudreau
CNN Special Investigations Unit
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division investigator has recommended changing the official manner of death for a soldier electrocuted while showering at his base in Iraq from "accidental" to "negligent homicide," according to an e-mail from the investigator obtained by CNN.
The investigator blames KBR, the largest U.S. contractor in Iraq, and two KBR supervisors for the incident, saying there is "credible information ... they failed to ensure that work was being done by qualified electricians and plumbers, and to inspect the work that was being conducted."
The e-mail, written late last year, says the investigation report was being reviewed by CID headquarters for a legal opinion to determine probable cause before the case could be referred to the military court system or the Department of Justice for possible action. No charges have been filed.
Sgt. Ryan Maseth's manner of death has not officially been changed, CID spokesman Christopher Grey told CNN.
click link for more
Showing posts with label KBR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KBR. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
KBR, Indiana National Guard and Lung Cancer?
Iraq Veterans Poisoned: War Contractors Knew But Concealed
Dr. Phillip Leveque Salem-News.com
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Pharmacologist and Toxicologist.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Oregonian Newspaper headlined Oregon Troops exposed to toxic chemicals by Julie Sullivan January 9th 2009. She wrote that KBR, a Haliburton company, disregarded and downplayed the extreme danger especially of lung cancer.
The chemical was Hexavalent Chromium Salts best exemplified by various Dichromate salts usually used to remove ALL traces of organic material by chemically burning them from any other material.
This corrosive action also acts on human skin where it causes severe irritation and especially the nose, trachea and lungs where it causes nosebleeds, coughing, pain on breathing and headaches, but especially lung cancer.
click link for more
Dr. Phillip Leveque Salem-News.com
Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Pharmacologist and Toxicologist.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Oregonian Newspaper headlined Oregon Troops exposed to toxic chemicals by Julie Sullivan January 9th 2009. She wrote that KBR, a Haliburton company, disregarded and downplayed the extreme danger especially of lung cancer.
The chemical was Hexavalent Chromium Salts best exemplified by various Dichromate salts usually used to remove ALL traces of organic material by chemically burning them from any other material.
This corrosive action also acts on human skin where it causes severe irritation and especially the nose, trachea and lungs where it causes nosebleeds, coughing, pain on breathing and headaches, but especially lung cancer.
click link for more
Friday, January 9, 2009
Were Troops Poisoned? Vets Demand KBR Come Clean on Toxins in Iraq
The answer is, yes, but no one seemed to care.
These are just some of the stories posted on this blog. This is not a new story but it is yet another horrible one.
But this is not just some sad story about accidental chemical exposure. This is a question of responsibility. CBS News has uncovered evidence that KBR may have known about the contamination at the power plant months before it took any action to inform the troops stationed there.
click link above for more
This story was covered even longer. The following are from my older blog.
But it's not just a problem in Iraq.
This is from Paul Rieckhoff. Maybe he should read this blog from time to time and then he'd know how bad it's been and for how long they knew it was.
So Paul, the answer is yes, they knew and didn't care.
These are just some of the stories posted on this blog. This is not a new story but it is yet another horrible one.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
KBR blamed for exposing troops to cancer causing chemical
June 21, 2008, 3:20PMArk. man, others blame KBR for contaminants in IraqAssociated PressWASHINGTON — An Arkansas man who worked as a contractor in Iraq says he lost his job after warning workers they were being exposed to a cancer-causing chemical there.Ed Blacke, a former safety inspector for Houston-based contracting giant KBR, says his exposure to sodium dichromate in 2003 gave him chronic thyroid problems and early signs of cancer. He said supervisors initially ignored his warnings about contamination at the Qarmat Ali water injection plant near Basra, Iraq."In my mind, it was criminally negligent of (the company) to make a decision to continue to expose personnel to sodium dichromate poisoning," the Bella Vista, Ark., man told a congressional panel Friday.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Indiana National Guard possible exposure and KBR
Army investigating possible chemical exposureBy Maureen Groppe - Gannett News ServicePosted : Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 18:09:28 EDTWASHINGTON — The Army will complete an investigation within 60 days into whether Indiana National Guardsmen and other soldiers providing protection at a water pumping plant in Iraq in 2003 were exposed to a deadly chemical.Army Secretary Pete Geren said in a letter to Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh that the “senior level” review will look at the Army’s procedures for handling hazardous exposure, the actions taken to follow up with those who may have been exposed and whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers properly oversaw contract work by Kellogg, Brown and Root Services.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers sue over chemical exposure in Iraq
Ind. soldiers sue over chemical exposure in Iraq
The Associated Press
By CHARLES WILSON – 20 hours agoINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers sued the big defense contractor KBR Inc. on Wednesday, saying its employees knowingly allowed them to be exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq five years ago.The federal suit filed in U.S. District Court alleges the soldiers from a Tell City-based unit were exposed to a carcinogen while protecting an Iraqi water pumping plant shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003.The 23-page complaint claims that Houston-based KBR knew at least as early as May 2003 that the plant was contaminated with sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, but concealed the danger from civilian workers and 139 soldiers from the Indiana Guard's 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry.
But this is not just some sad story about accidental chemical exposure. This is a question of responsibility. CBS News has uncovered evidence that KBR may have known about the contamination at the power plant months before it took any action to inform the troops stationed there.
click link above for more
This story was covered even longer. The following are from my older blog.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Be honest. Who are you really supporting? The Troops or Bush?
In 2003 who were you really supporting? Bush? Halliburton? The Troops?Then why did you support this going on?
WHAT DID WE PAY HALLIBURTON FOR? Troops' health woes run gamut from 'Saddam's revenge' to severe stressBy Marni McEntee, Stars and StripesEuropean edition, Wednesday, October 29, 2003BAGHDAD, Iraq — In Iraq’s harsh environment, even soldiers safe inside their base camp face dangers.
Between combat casualties and accident victims in Iraq, medical personnel are also busy fighting microscopic enemies that can lay a troop near as low as a gunshot wound.With ailments ranging from “Saddam’s revenge” stomach bugs to infections caused by bad hygiene, hundreds of soldiers are lining up at sick call instead of patrolling front lines.
Some maladies are caused by a witch’s brew of dust, heat, exotic bacteria and vermin. Others stem from poor sanitation and close living quarters, said Capt. Jolene Lea, a community health nurse at the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad.Still others are related to the stress of seeing a friend killed in battle or hearing bad news from home, Lea said. Those can manifest themselves into mental health problems and, sometimes, suicide.
The most serious illness and injury cases are evacuated from Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. As of last week, Landstuhl doctors have treated 7,381 from Operation Iraqi Freedom, hospital spokeswoman Marie Shaw said. Only 10 percent of those casualties were from battle injuries, she said.
The problems have some troops at bases from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north afraid that living and working in Iraq may be bad for their health.“I am very worried about the long-term health effects of this environment,” Sgt. Brian Rau of the 372nd Military Police Co., in Hillah, wrote on a Stars and Stripes survey form. Stripes reporters surveyed nearly 2,000 troops throughout the country in August.“The food is bad and not reliable, so we eat on the local market every day,” Rau wrote. “There is standing sewage outside our building. And the cans we use for toilets are prefilled with diesel fuel so we sit on top of those fumes daily.”go here to see where your tax dollars wentIraq Where Your Money Wenthttp://www.usaid.gov/iraq/updates/may06/iraq_fs28_052606.pdf
Or when it was reported in 2006?
April 7, 2006, 11:59PM
Doctor alleges water linked to infections
Halliburton contends it met Army standardsBy DAVID IVANOVICHCopyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington BureauWASHINGTON - A U.S. Army doctor serving in Iraq has linked a small outbreak of bacterial infections among U.S. troops to allegedly contaminated water supplied by Houston-based Halliburton Co.
In the latest broadside against Halliburton and its performance in Iraq, Senate Democrats produced an e-mail Friday from Capt. A. Michelle Callahan, a family physician serving at Qayyarah Airfield West, recounting how she treated six infections over a two-week period in January, at the same time she was noticing the water in base showers was cloudy and foul-smelling.
Follow-up testing of the water soldiers were using to bathe, shave and even brush their teeth revealed evidence of coliform and E. coli bacteria, Callahan wrote in an e-mail to a staffer for the Democratic Policy Committee, led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.
Memo: Halliburton failed to purify GIs’ waterInternal report says contamination could've caused 'mass sickness or death'Updated: 6:28 a.m. ET March 16, 2006WASHINGTON - Halliburton Co. failed to protect the water supply it is paid to purify for U.S. soldiers throughout Iraq, in one instance missing contamination that could have caused “mass sickness or death,” an internal company report concluded.The report, obtained by The Associated Press, said the company failed to assemble and use its own water purification equipment, allowing contaminated water directly from the Euphrates River to be used for washing and laundry at Camp Ar Ramadi in Ramadi, Iraq.The problems discovered last year at that site — poor training, miscommunication and lax record keeping — occurred at Halliburton’s other operations throughout Iraq, the report said.“Countrywide, all camps suffer to some extent from all or some of the deficiencies noted,” Wil Granger, Theatre Water Quality Manager in the war zone for Halliburton’s KBR subsidiary, wrote in his May 2005 report.AP reported earlier this year allegations from whistleblowers about the Camp Ar Ramadi incident, but Halliburton never made public Granger’s internal report alleging wider problems.The water quality expert warned Halliburton the problems “will have to be dealt with at a very elevated level of management” to protect health and safety of U.S. personnel.
Friday, October 12, 2007
But the Democrats in Congress were trying to find out what was going on. This came out but not very many people paid attention to it.While the Democratic Policy Committee was trying to focus on all of thishttp://democrats.senate.gov/dpc/dpc-new2.cfm?doc_name=inv2Top Twenty Iraq Oversight Outrages Uncovered by the DPCRepublicans in Congress Refuse to Demand Accountability in Iraq;Billions of Dollars Wasted, Our Mission UnderminedOver the last three years, Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) hearings have uncovered massive waste, fraud, and abuse relating to government contractors operating in Iraq. This report presents twenty of the worst oversight outrages, as documented in testimony and evidence presented at DPC hearings:
1) Halliburton billed taxpayers $1.4 billion in questionable and undocumented charges under its contract to supply troops in Iraq, as documented by the Pentagon’s own auditors. More…
2) Parsons billed taxpayers over $200 million under a contract to build 142 health clinics, yet completed fewer than 20. According to Iraqi officials, the rest were “imaginary clinics.” More…
3) Custer Battles stole forklifts from Iraq’s national airline, repainted them, then leased the forklifts back to the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) through a Cayman Islands shell company — charging an extra fee along the way. More…
4) Halliburton allowed our troops in Iraq to shower, bathe, and sometimes brush their teeth with water that tested positive for e. coli and coliform bacteria. One expert has said that the troops would have been better off using the highly polluted Euphrates River. Halliburton has admitted that it lacked “an organizational structure to ensure that water was being treated in accordance with Army standards and its contractual requirements.” More…
5) Halliburton served the troops food that had spoiled or passed its expiration date. Halliburton managers ordered employees to remove bullets from food in trucks that had come under attack, then saved the bullets as souvenirs while giving the food to unwitting soldiers and Marines. More…
6) Halliburton charged taxpayers for services that it never provided and tens of thousands of meals that it never served. More…
7) Halliburton double-charged taxpayers for $617,000 worth of soda. More…
8) Halliburton tripled the cost of hand towels, at taxpayer expense, by insisting on having its own embroidered logo on each towel. More…
9) Halliburton employees burned new trucks on the side of the road because they didn’t have the right wrench to change a tire — and knew that the trucks could be replaced on a profitable “cost-plus” basis, at taxpayer expense. More…10) Halliburton employees dumped 50,000 pounds of nails in the desert because they ordered the wrong size, all at taxpayer expense. More…
11) Halliburton employees threw themselves a lavish Super Bowl Party, but passed the cost on to taxpayers by claiming they had purchased supplies for the troops. More…12) Halliburton chose a subcontractor to build an ice factory in the desert even though its bid was 800 percent higher than an equally qualified bidder. More…
13) Halliburton actively discouraged cooperation with U.S. government auditors, sent one whistleblower into a combat zone to keep him away from auditors, and put another whistleblower under armed guard before kicking her out of the country. More…
14) Halliburton sent unarmed truck drivers into a known combat zone without warning them of the danger, resulting in the deaths of six truck drivers and two soldiers. Halliburton then offered to nominate the surviving truck drivers for a Defense Department medal — provided they sign a medical records release that doubled as a waiver of any right to seek legal recourse against the company. More…15) Halliburton’s no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure was the worst case of contract abuse that the top civilian at the Army Corps of Engineers had ever seen. She was demoted after speaking out. More…
16) Under its no-bid contract to rebuild Iraq’s oil infrastructure contract, Halliburton overcharged by over 600 percent for the delivery of fuel from Kuwait. More…
17) Halliburton failed to complete required work under its oil infrastructure work, leaving distribution points unusable. More…
18) Iraq under the CPA was like the “Wild West,” with few limits and controls over how inexperienced officials spent — and wasted — millions of taxpayer dollars. More…19) Cronies at the CPA’s health office lacked experience, ignored the advice of international health professionals, failed to restore Iraq’s health systems, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars. The political appointee who ran the office had never worked overseas and had no international public health experience. More…20) Administration officials promoted construction of a “boondoggle” children’s hospital in Basra, which ended up more than a year behind schedule and at least 100 percent over budget. More…Maybe Bush could have a truthful moment and instead of saying support the troops in Iraq he will instead say, America needs to support the contractors in Iraq, because that is what it all boils down to.
Did Your Soldier Come Home Sick From Iraq?
Halliburton provided contaminated water to Soldiers
On September 3rd 2007 (Labor Day), President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and a Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace visited Al Asad and spent Labor Day with the Servicemembers deployed to the base.
Al Asad Airbase is the focus of the video I just added to this blog. It wasn't such a big secret considering it has been played across the country to the "liberals" who cared enough to see it. Ben Carter, worked for KBR/Halliburton as a water purification specialist.In the video, he talks about the fact the water at Al-Asad was contaminated. Chlorine was not found in the water supply that was supposed to be added to it. We've heard horrible stories about cholera outbreaks in Iraq, along with super bugs, as water is not fit to drink or bathe in. Yet our government contracted with companies and then provided no oversight to make sure the troops were provided with everything they were paying for.If your soldier came home ill, or passed away because of an illness, you need to know what caused it. Too many do not know about this.Then again, this isn't the only time something like this has happened and by all signs, it won't be the last.N.C. Marine Camp's Water Under ScrutinyPast Contaminated Water at Marine's Camp Lejeune Suspected in Death and IllnessThousands of Marines and their families went to serve their country at North Carolina's Camp Lejeune.The Associated Press By RITA BEAMISH Associated Press WriterATLANTA Jun 11, 2007 (AP)
Instead, many wound up fighting it, blaming the government for failing to protect them from an enemy that invaded their lives in a most intimate way: through the water that quenched their thirst, cooked their food and filled their bathtubs every day.
The gruff ex-drill instructor is angry leukemia claimed his daughter, Janey. Parents were guilt-ridden that perhaps their own actions had ruined their daughters' health. An aging major still mourns the wife who shared his torment over their baby's fatal birth defects. A former Navy doctor's career was demolished by his rare cancer.Each used the water that poured from kitchen faucets and bathroom showers at Camp Lejeune, an environmental tragedy realized a generation ago that is drawing new scrutiny from members of Congress outraged over the government's treatment of sick veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and elsewhere.U.S. health officials here in Atlanta hope to finish a long-awaited study by year's end to examine whether the water tainted with solvents affected the health of children. It will influence the Pentagon's response to at least 850 pending legal claims by people who lived at the Marine base, officials said.
The former residents, who together seek nearly $4 billion, believe their families were afflicted by water containing industrial solvents before the Marines shut off the bad wells in the mid-1980s.At least 120,000 people lived in family housing that may have been affected over three decades, plus uncounted civilian workers and Marines in barracks, Marine Corps figures indicate. Defense officials recently told U.S. health investigators that between 1975 and 1985 alone, nearly 200,000 Marines were stationed at Camp Lejeune.About 56,000 Marines, family members and civilians now live or work at Camp Lejeune, the sprawling training and deployment base on the Atlantic seaboard. Its water meets current federal standards.go here for the rest of thishttp://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=3266355
Watch the video and then think about health problems that don't seem right. Then wonder what else they are not telling you.
I'll leave the link to the video up for about a week. After that you can view it at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeIxHQ-lkuM
But it's not just a problem in Iraq.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Camp Lejeune and contaminated water
Camp Lejeune Water StudyJun 19, 2008
June 18, 2008 - The Marine Corps is concerned about your health. We ENCOURAGE all former Marines, family members and civilian employees who resided or worked aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 to REGISTER with the Marine Corps for information regarding past water quality.https://clnr.hqi.usmc.mil/clsurvey/
This is a huge number of people involved here!500,000 at Camp LeJeune may have been exposed to tainted water
MONEY DISPUTE THREATENS TOXIC TAP WATER STUDY
May 28, Associated Press – ( North Carolina )Money dispute threatens toxic tap water study. Continuation of a long-running government study on whether contaminated water harmed babies at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, hinges on a half-million-dollar payment that is due Sunday. The Marines estimate that 500,000 Camp LeJeune residents may have been exposed to the tainted water, including thousands of Vietnam-bound Marines. Federal health investigators estimate the number is higher.The U.S. health agency conducting the study, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, said its research would be jeopardized if the Navy does not pay $522,000 to keep the study going beyond Sunday.Health problems blamed on Camp LeJeune ’s contaminated water were the focus of reporting by the Associated Press in June 2007 and congressional oversight hearings.
This is from Paul Rieckhoff. Maybe he should read this blog from time to time and then he'd know how bad it's been and for how long they knew it was.
Were Troops Poisoned? Vets Demand KBR Come Clean on Toxins in Iraq
James Gentry served his country honorably as a battalion commander in Iraq. Now, he is dying of a rare form of lung cancer. And he's not the only one. A troubling number of troops in Gentry's Indiana National Guard unit have bloody noses, tumors and rashes. And tragically, one soldier has already died.
New reports suggest these injuries may be the result of exposure to toxins at a KBR-run power plant in Southern Iraq. In 2003, James and his men were responsible for guarding that plant, and protecting KBR's employees. The soldiers were stationed there for months before being informed that the site was contaminated with a chemical known as hexavalent chromium.
Hexavalent chromium is a deadly carcinogen. It's the same toxin that Erin Brockovich became famous for campaigning against. James believes that it was the inhalation of this chemical that caused his cancer, and the other rare illnesses among the Guardsmen who served at the plant.
So Paul, the answer is yes, they knew and didn't care.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers sue over chemical exposure in Iraq
Ind. soldiers sue over chemical exposure in Iraq
The Associated Press
By CHARLES WILSON – 20 hours ago
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers sued the big defense contractor KBR Inc. on Wednesday, saying its employees knowingly allowed them to be exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq five years ago.
The federal suit filed in U.S. District Court alleges the soldiers from a Tell City-based unit were exposed to a carcinogen while protecting an Iraqi water pumping plant shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The 23-page complaint claims that Houston-based KBR knew at least as early as May 2003 that the plant was contaminated with sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, but concealed the danger from civilian workers and 139 soldiers from the Indiana Guard's 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry.
"It's not right, what they done," said Mark McManaway, a 55-year-old truck driver from Cannelton who has since retired from the Guard. McManaway, the main plaintiff in the lawsuit, has suffered nosebleeds and rashes he believes are due to the chemical exposure.
The chemical, used to remove pipe corrosion, is especially dangerous because it contains hexavalent chromium, which is known to cause birth defects and cancer, particularly lung cancer, the lawsuit said. The cancer can take years to develop.
Some of the soldiers who served at the site now have respiratory system tumors associated with hexavalent chromium exposure, the lawsuit states.
click link for more
The Associated Press
By CHARLES WILSON – 20 hours ago
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers sued the big defense contractor KBR Inc. on Wednesday, saying its employees knowingly allowed them to be exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq five years ago.
The federal suit filed in U.S. District Court alleges the soldiers from a Tell City-based unit were exposed to a carcinogen while protecting an Iraqi water pumping plant shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003.
The 23-page complaint claims that Houston-based KBR knew at least as early as May 2003 that the plant was contaminated with sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, but concealed the danger from civilian workers and 139 soldiers from the Indiana Guard's 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry.
"It's not right, what they done," said Mark McManaway, a 55-year-old truck driver from Cannelton who has since retired from the Guard. McManaway, the main plaintiff in the lawsuit, has suffered nosebleeds and rashes he believes are due to the chemical exposure.
The chemical, used to remove pipe corrosion, is especially dangerous because it contains hexavalent chromium, which is known to cause birth defects and cancer, particularly lung cancer, the lawsuit said. The cancer can take years to develop.
Some of the soldiers who served at the site now have respiratory system tumors associated with hexavalent chromium exposure, the lawsuit states.
click link for more
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Indiana National Guard possible exposure and KBR
Army investigating possible chemical exposure
By Maureen Groppe - Gannett News Service
Posted : Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 18:09:28 EDT
WASHINGTON — The Army will complete an investigation within 60 days into whether Indiana National Guardsmen and other soldiers providing protection at a water pumping plant in Iraq in 2003 were exposed to a deadly chemical.
Army Secretary Pete Geren said in a letter to Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh that the “senior level” review will look at the Army’s procedures for handling hazardous exposure, the actions taken to follow up with those who may have been exposed and whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers properly oversaw contract work by Kellogg, Brown and Root Services.
Geren said he also has asked for an independent review of the medical evaluations initially conducted by the Army about the incident.
Bayh requested the Army investigation after congressional Democrats in June held a forum about the potential exposure at the Qarmat Ali water pumping plant.
Two KBR employees told Senate Democrats that workers and soldiers were exposed in 2003 to sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, despite the company’s assurances that the site was safe.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/gns_guard_investigation_092308/
By Maureen Groppe - Gannett News Service
Posted : Tuesday Sep 23, 2008 18:09:28 EDT
WASHINGTON — The Army will complete an investigation within 60 days into whether Indiana National Guardsmen and other soldiers providing protection at a water pumping plant in Iraq in 2003 were exposed to a deadly chemical.
Army Secretary Pete Geren said in a letter to Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh that the “senior level” review will look at the Army’s procedures for handling hazardous exposure, the actions taken to follow up with those who may have been exposed and whether the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers properly oversaw contract work by Kellogg, Brown and Root Services.
Geren said he also has asked for an independent review of the medical evaluations initially conducted by the Army about the incident.
Bayh requested the Army investigation after congressional Democrats in June held a forum about the potential exposure at the Qarmat Ali water pumping plant.
Two KBR employees told Senate Democrats that workers and soldiers were exposed in 2003 to sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, despite the company’s assurances that the site was safe.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/gns_guard_investigation_092308/
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Warning issued over bad wiring long before soldier's death
Wiring warning came long before soldier's death
Sgt. Justin Hummer says he filled out a work order in 2007 that warned of his quarters in Iraq: "Pipes have voltage, get shocked in the shower." Months later, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth was electrocuted in a shower in the same quarters. A follow-up investigation "found nearly all of the same problems" also reported previously by a contractor, a House panel report says. full story
Inspector: $560M 'wasted' on Iraq repairs
Sgt. Justin Hummer says he filled out a work order in 2007 that warned of his quarters in Iraq: "Pipes have voltage, get shocked in the shower." Months later, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth was electrocuted in a shower in the same quarters. A follow-up investigation "found nearly all of the same problems" also reported previously by a contractor, a House panel report says. full story
Inspector: $560M 'wasted' on Iraq repairs
DoD IG backs off Iraq electrocutions report
DoD IG backs off Iraq electrocutions report
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 18:33:10 EDT
An interim Pentagon investigation found no “credible evidence” that contractor KBR, Inc., was aware of life-threatening conditions at the Baghdad building where a Green Beret was electrocuted in January while taking a shower.
At a Wednesday hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, however, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general backed off that report, which had been released to Congress this week, trumpeted by the committee’s Republican staff and reported Tuesday by the Associated Press.
“We have absolved no one,” said Gordon Heddell. “Let the record be clear on that.”
Heddell admitted that his investigators had not known of new evidence that the committee’s Democrats said demonstrated culpability on the part of KBR, which holds a multibillion dollar contract to provide a wide variety of services in Iraq, including building maintenance.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_eletrical_kbr_iraq_073008w/
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 18:33:10 EDT
An interim Pentagon investigation found no “credible evidence” that contractor KBR, Inc., was aware of life-threatening conditions at the Baghdad building where a Green Beret was electrocuted in January while taking a shower.
At a Wednesday hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, however, the Pentagon’s acting inspector general backed off that report, which had been released to Congress this week, trumpeted by the committee’s Republican staff and reported Tuesday by the Associated Press.
“We have absolved no one,” said Gordon Heddell. “Let the record be clear on that.”
Heddell admitted that his investigators had not known of new evidence that the committee’s Democrats said demonstrated culpability on the part of KBR, which holds a multibillion dollar contract to provide a wide variety of services in Iraq, including building maintenance.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_eletrical_kbr_iraq_073008w/
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Report appears to clear KBR in Sgt. Ryan Maseth's death
Report appears to clear KBR in soldier's death
The Associated PressPublished: July 29, 2008
WASHINGTON: An interim Defense Department report has found no evidence KBR was involved in the death of at least one U.S. soldier electrocuted in Iraq.
The inspector general's report said while electrical systems in Iraq were known to "pose a hazard to personnel," there is no evidence Houston-based KBR Inc. was aware of any life-threatening hazards at the Army barracks where Sgt. Ryan Maseth died.
Maseth, an Army Ranger and Green Beret from Pittsburgh, was electrocuted in January while showering.
Details of the IG report explain that an ungrounded water pump on the roof of Maseth's barracks failed and electrified the water pipes. Additionally, a circuit breaker failed because tar from roof repairs appeared to have leaked into the panel.
Maseth's mother, Cheryl Harris, has filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania against KBR over her son's death. Her attorney, Patrick Cavanaugh, said the inspector general's conclusions do not change their position that KBR is at fault in Maseth's death.
click post title for more
The Associated PressPublished: July 29, 2008
WASHINGTON: An interim Defense Department report has found no evidence KBR was involved in the death of at least one U.S. soldier electrocuted in Iraq.
The inspector general's report said while electrical systems in Iraq were known to "pose a hazard to personnel," there is no evidence Houston-based KBR Inc. was aware of any life-threatening hazards at the Army barracks where Sgt. Ryan Maseth died.
Maseth, an Army Ranger and Green Beret from Pittsburgh, was electrocuted in January while showering.
Details of the IG report explain that an ungrounded water pump on the roof of Maseth's barracks failed and electrified the water pipes. Additionally, a circuit breaker failed because tar from roof repairs appeared to have leaked into the panel.
Maseth's mother, Cheryl Harris, has filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania against KBR over her son's death. Her attorney, Patrick Cavanaugh, said the inspector general's conclusions do not change their position that KBR is at fault in Maseth's death.
click post title for more
Saturday, July 19, 2008
US troops collateral damage now to contractors?
From US Military
KBR doesn't seem to care. The Pentagon didn't care enough when the problem first became clear and safety was being disregarded. What is behind this ambivalence and neglect? Is this more of the same kind of attitude that allowed the troops to be exposed to contaminated water? More of the same when they were not provided with the vehicles that could spare their lives? More of the same when contacts were given to inept companies supplying substandard uniform pants that separated in the crotch? Even worse, substandard body armor? Are the troops now collateral damage to the contractors making money off what they are doing to the troops as long as they get paid? Who is being held accountable for any of this? Anyone at KBR? Anyone at the Pentagon?
Department of DefenseDictionary of Military and Associated Terms
http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/new_pubs/jp1_02.pdf
collateral damage — Unintentional or incidental injury or damage to persons or objects thatwould not be lawful military targets in the circumstances ruling at the time. Such damage is not unlawful so long as it is not excessive in light of the overall military advantage anticipated from the attack. (JP 3-60)
link provided from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collateral_damage
KBR doesn't seem to care. The Pentagon didn't care enough when the problem first became clear and safety was being disregarded. What is behind this ambivalence and neglect? Is this more of the same kind of attitude that allowed the troops to be exposed to contaminated water? More of the same when they were not provided with the vehicles that could spare their lives? More of the same when contacts were given to inept companies supplying substandard uniform pants that separated in the crotch? Even worse, substandard body armor? Are the troops now collateral damage to the contractors making money off what they are doing to the troops as long as they get paid? Who is being held accountable for any of this? Anyone at KBR? Anyone at the Pentagon?
Failure to Fix Base Hazards Worried Pentagon Official
By JAMES RISEN
Published: July 19, 2008
WASHINGTON — A Pentagon safety expert told senior Defense Department officials earlier this year that their failure to heed warnings to fix widespread electrical hazards on American bases in Iraq could leave the Pentagon liable for multiple electrocutions of American soldiers, according to internal e-mail correspondence released Friday.
In a May 5, 2008, e-mail message, a safety official at the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Pentagon organization in charge of supervising defense contractors in Iraq, noted that the agency had failed to act after its own comprehensive safety survey in February 2007 found widespread electrical problems at American bases that had led to a series of deaths, injuries and fires.
But top D.C.M.A. officials responded to the assertion by saying that they had never heard of the safety survey, indicating that they had no knowledge of the longstanding electrical problems.
In January 2008, 11 months after the comprehensive safety review, Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth, a Green Beret, was electrocuted while taking a shower at his base in Baghdad, apparently because of poorly grounded electrical work in the building. A subsequent Pentagon review of its records found that at least 13 American personnel had been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began in 2003
click post title for more of this
Friday, July 18, 2008
Electric shocks for troops daily event in Iraq
Why does KBR/Halliburton keep getting contracts when what they do ends up making the troops suffer? Tainted water? Being electrocuted? Nothing seems to get the interest of Congress enough to put a stop to any of this.
Evans family, via South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Ten buildings were destroyed late last month at a Marine base near Falluja, Iraq, after an electrical fire broke out.
Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said
By JAMES RISEN
Published: July 18, 2008
WASHINGTON — Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.
During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.
And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.
click above for more
Saturday, July 12, 2008
KBR:"The military is none of our f---king concern"
"The military is none of our f---king concern"
My Boss at KBR: "The military is none of our fucking concern."
Posted by Brave New Films, Brave New Films at 9:47 AM on July 12, 2008.
Ben Carter sheds light on KBR's atrocities.
From Ben Carter:
I had been operating my own company in the fall of 2004, when my 20-year-old son suddenly died from a bad combination of prescription medication. This tragedy caused my marriage to end only a month later. With little reason to stay in Utah, I pursued the opportunity of going to work for Halliburton, because I had gotten word that Halliburton was looking for people with expertise in water purification to operate their reverse osmosis water purification units (ROWPU). I had extensive experience with a wide range of water purification technologies, and I was attracted to the idea of providing a valuable service to our soldiers serving in Iraq.
At the time, I was very excited at the prospect of being an employee once again, doing great things with providing clean safe water to U.S. troops and seeing some exciting places around the world. This was before I learned anything about Halliburton and their business practices.
If you recall, in late 2004 the war in Iraq was thought to be over after the declaration of "mission accomplished" by President George W. Bush. This impression was clearly wrong once I arrived, and I was sent to the base at Ar Ramadi. The talk around the water coolers was that the KBR camp there was getting hit on a regular schedule with rocket and mortar fire. This was a surprise to me since my recruiter had told me that I would be sent to the green zone in Baghdad. When I arrived in Ar Ramadi I was anxious to get to work right away. It was at the air base, Al Asad, that I got my first indication that things were askew with their water treatment plants.
While waiting to finish up with orientation, I saw the first of many serious deficiencies regarding the water purification for U.S. troops. We were instructed to have the managers in our job field sign off on our time sheet to indicate we had worked 12 hours each day. The fact of the matter was we were actually just making an appearance in order to obtain the necessary signature for the time sheets. While this weighed a little on my conscience, I concluded that this is just a transitional problem and surely when I got to my permanent station I would have more work than I could handle every day. So, while I was at the ROWPU water plant for Al Asad air base, I was given a tour of the facility by a KBR ROWPU operator and was surprised that they were using the rejected drainage water from the ROWPU process and using it for the production of potable and non-potable water. I questioned him about this problem. He answered by saying I had a lot to learn about working here, and that replacement cost was not an issue.
click post title for more then think of what this really means.
My Boss at KBR: "The military is none of our fucking concern."
Posted by Brave New Films, Brave New Films at 9:47 AM on July 12, 2008.
Ben Carter sheds light on KBR's atrocities.
From Ben Carter:
I had been operating my own company in the fall of 2004, when my 20-year-old son suddenly died from a bad combination of prescription medication. This tragedy caused my marriage to end only a month later. With little reason to stay in Utah, I pursued the opportunity of going to work for Halliburton, because I had gotten word that Halliburton was looking for people with expertise in water purification to operate their reverse osmosis water purification units (ROWPU). I had extensive experience with a wide range of water purification technologies, and I was attracted to the idea of providing a valuable service to our soldiers serving in Iraq.
At the time, I was very excited at the prospect of being an employee once again, doing great things with providing clean safe water to U.S. troops and seeing some exciting places around the world. This was before I learned anything about Halliburton and their business practices.
If you recall, in late 2004 the war in Iraq was thought to be over after the declaration of "mission accomplished" by President George W. Bush. This impression was clearly wrong once I arrived, and I was sent to the base at Ar Ramadi. The talk around the water coolers was that the KBR camp there was getting hit on a regular schedule with rocket and mortar fire. This was a surprise to me since my recruiter had told me that I would be sent to the green zone in Baghdad. When I arrived in Ar Ramadi I was anxious to get to work right away. It was at the air base, Al Asad, that I got my first indication that things were askew with their water treatment plants.
While waiting to finish up with orientation, I saw the first of many serious deficiencies regarding the water purification for U.S. troops. We were instructed to have the managers in our job field sign off on our time sheet to indicate we had worked 12 hours each day. The fact of the matter was we were actually just making an appearance in order to obtain the necessary signature for the time sheets. While this weighed a little on my conscience, I concluded that this is just a transitional problem and surely when I got to my permanent station I would have more work than I could handle every day. So, while I was at the ROWPU water plant for Al Asad air base, I was given a tour of the facility by a KBR ROWPU operator and was surprised that they were using the rejected drainage water from the ROWPU process and using it for the production of potable and non-potable water. I questioned him about this problem. He answered by saying I had a lot to learn about working here, and that replacement cost was not an issue.
click post title for more then think of what this really means.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Families, ex-employees testify about KBR role in electrocutions
Contractor under fire for Iraq electrocutions
Families, ex-employees testify about firm’s role
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 11, 2008 18:09:22 EDT
Halliburton KBR improperly installed electrical wiring or failed to fix known electrical hazards at U.S. bases in Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 11 service members and two civilians, family members and former employees of the contracting giant testified at a Congressional hearing.
Electrical hazards in showers, swimming pools and work spaces have killed 10 soldiers, one Marine and two civilian contractors since 2003.
Sen. Robert Casey, D-Penn., expressed frustration that the latest electrocution that caused the death of Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth Jan. 2, 2008, occurred four years after an Army Corps of Engineer report warning that these electrical hazards on bases were a “killer of soldiers.”
“That’s October 2004 and we are sitting here in 2008 and we are still talking about this,” Casey said, describing his disgust that Maseth, a Special Forces soldier, lost his life while taking a shower in his barracks in Baghdad. “That’s an abomination.”
Maseth’s mother, Cheryl Harris, testified at the Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing, telling lawmakers that she has learned that KBR found the electrical hazard during an inspection of her son’s barracks 11 months before his death. She listed deficiencies such as that “the building’s main circuit panel, the secondary feeder panel and the water tank were not grounded.” In addition, the “wiring leading into the secondary electrical panel was not sized properly for the main [circuit] breakers, did not have proper thermal coating, and did not meet U.S. or British electrical codes.”
click post title for more
Families, ex-employees testify about firm’s role
By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 11, 2008 18:09:22 EDT
Halliburton KBR improperly installed electrical wiring or failed to fix known electrical hazards at U.S. bases in Iraq that resulted in the deaths of 11 service members and two civilians, family members and former employees of the contracting giant testified at a Congressional hearing.
Electrical hazards in showers, swimming pools and work spaces have killed 10 soldiers, one Marine and two civilian contractors since 2003.
Sen. Robert Casey, D-Penn., expressed frustration that the latest electrocution that caused the death of Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth Jan. 2, 2008, occurred four years after an Army Corps of Engineer report warning that these electrical hazards on bases were a “killer of soldiers.”
“That’s October 2004 and we are sitting here in 2008 and we are still talking about this,” Casey said, describing his disgust that Maseth, a Special Forces soldier, lost his life while taking a shower in his barracks in Baghdad. “That’s an abomination.”
Maseth’s mother, Cheryl Harris, testified at the Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing, telling lawmakers that she has learned that KBR found the electrical hazard during an inspection of her son’s barracks 11 months before his death. She listed deficiencies such as that “the building’s main circuit panel, the secondary feeder panel and the water tank were not grounded.” In addition, the “wiring leading into the secondary electrical panel was not sized properly for the main [circuit] breakers, did not have proper thermal coating, and did not meet U.S. or British electrical codes.”
click post title for more
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Non-combat death of Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Lynn Woodham, electrocuted
Arkansan dies in Iraq
The Arkansas National Guard today announced the death in Iraq of Sgt. Anthony Lynn Woodham, 37, of Rogers. Full release on the jump.
GUARD NEWS RELEASE
CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. - The Department of Defense today announced the death of an Arkansas Army National Guard Soldier with the 39th Brigade Combat Team participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Lynn Woodham, 37, of Rogers, Ark., died July 5, at Camp Adder, Tallil, Iraq, from non-combat related injuries resulting from contact with an electrified piece of metal in the vehicle maintenance area. Woodham, of Rogers, Ark. was assigned to Delta Company, 39th Brigade Support Battalion, 39th Brigade Combat Team of Heber Springs, Ark. At the time of his death, he was attached as a vehicle maintenance supervisor with the 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalry Regiment, 39th Brigade Combat Team at Tallil, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.
Maj. Gen. William D. Wofford, adjutant general of the Arkansas National Guard, said "My heart goes out to this Soldier's Family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this trying time. No words can fill the gap left by such a loss. "
"A dark cloud hangs over the Bowie Brigade today, and it's a day we had hoped we wouldn't see during this deployment," said Col. Kendall Penn. "There are no words that can describe the loss of a Soldier, a loved one, a friend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Anthony Woodham in their time of mourning. They should know that every Soldier in this Brigade feels the pain associated with this loss."
click post title for more
The Arkansas National Guard today announced the death in Iraq of Sgt. Anthony Lynn Woodham, 37, of Rogers. Full release on the jump.
GUARD NEWS RELEASE
CAMP JOSEPH T. ROBINSON, Ark. - The Department of Defense today announced the death of an Arkansas Army National Guard Soldier with the 39th Brigade Combat Team participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Lynn Woodham, 37, of Rogers, Ark., died July 5, at Camp Adder, Tallil, Iraq, from non-combat related injuries resulting from contact with an electrified piece of metal in the vehicle maintenance area. Woodham, of Rogers, Ark. was assigned to Delta Company, 39th Brigade Support Battalion, 39th Brigade Combat Team of Heber Springs, Ark. At the time of his death, he was attached as a vehicle maintenance supervisor with the 1st Squadron, 151st Cavalry Regiment, 39th Brigade Combat Team at Tallil, Iraq. The incident is under investigation.
Maj. Gen. William D. Wofford, adjutant general of the Arkansas National Guard, said "My heart goes out to this Soldier's Family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this trying time. No words can fill the gap left by such a loss. "
"A dark cloud hangs over the Bowie Brigade today, and it's a day we had hoped we wouldn't see during this deployment," said Col. Kendall Penn. "There are no words that can describe the loss of a Soldier, a loved one, a friend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Anthony Woodham in their time of mourning. They should know that every Soldier in this Brigade feels the pain associated with this loss."
click post title for more
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
After Deaths, U.S. Inspects Electric Work Done in Iraq
After Deaths, U.S. Inspects Electric Work Done in Iraq
By JAMES RISEN
Gen. David H. Petraeus told Congress of the new inspections while also disclosing that at least 13 American personnel had been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has ordered electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR, a major military contractor, after the electrocutions of several United States service members.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq, told Congress of the new inspections while also disclosing that at least 13 Americans had been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began. Previously, the Pentagon said that 12 had been electrocuted. In addition to those killed, many more service members have received painful shocks, Army officials say.
General Petraeus’s written statement was made public on Monday afternoon by Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania. The statement said that of the 13 Americans electrocuted, 10 were in the Army, 1 in the Marines, and 2 were contractors.
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a Green Beret from Pennsylvania, died Jan. 2 when he stepped into a shower and was electrocuted at his base in Baghdad. His death prompted investigations this spring by Congress and the Pentagon’s inspector general into evidence that poor electrical work at facilities used by American personnel had led to other electrocutions.
click above for more
By JAMES RISEN
Gen. David H. Petraeus told Congress of the new inspections while also disclosing that at least 13 American personnel had been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began.
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has ordered electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR, a major military contractor, after the electrocutions of several United States service members.
Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq, told Congress of the new inspections while also disclosing that at least 13 Americans had been electrocuted in Iraq since the war began. Previously, the Pentagon said that 12 had been electrocuted. In addition to those killed, many more service members have received painful shocks, Army officials say.
General Petraeus’s written statement was made public on Monday afternoon by Senator Bob Casey, Democrat of Pennsylvania. The statement said that of the 13 Americans electrocuted, 10 were in the Army, 1 in the Marines, and 2 were contractors.
Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a Green Beret from Pennsylvania, died Jan. 2 when he stepped into a shower and was electrocuted at his base in Baghdad. His death prompted investigations this spring by Congress and the Pentagon’s inspector general into evidence that poor electrical work at facilities used by American personnel had led to other electrocutions.
click above for more
Saturday, June 21, 2008
KBR blamed for exposing troops to cancer causing chemical
June 21, 2008, 3:20PM
Ark. man, others blame KBR for contaminants in Iraq
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An Arkansas man who worked as a contractor in Iraq says he lost his job after warning workers they were being exposed to a cancer-causing chemical there.
Ed Blacke, a former safety inspector for Houston-based contracting giant KBR, says his exposure to sodium dichromate in 2003 gave him chronic thyroid problems and early signs of cancer. He said supervisors initially ignored his warnings about contamination at the Qarmat Ali water injection plant near Basra, Iraq.
"In my mind, it was criminally negligent of (the company) to make a decision to continue to expose personnel to sodium dichromate poisoning," the Bella Vista, Ark., man told a congressional panel Friday.
KBR is formerly a subsidiary of Houston-based oilfield services giant Halliburton Co. It was not represented at the Democratic Policy Committee oversight hearing. The committee created by Senate Democratic leaders is comprised solely of Democrats and has no legislative authority.
go here for more
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5849937.html
Linked from ICasualties.org
Ark. man, others blame KBR for contaminants in Iraq
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — An Arkansas man who worked as a contractor in Iraq says he lost his job after warning workers they were being exposed to a cancer-causing chemical there.
Ed Blacke, a former safety inspector for Houston-based contracting giant KBR, says his exposure to sodium dichromate in 2003 gave him chronic thyroid problems and early signs of cancer. He said supervisors initially ignored his warnings about contamination at the Qarmat Ali water injection plant near Basra, Iraq.
"In my mind, it was criminally negligent of (the company) to make a decision to continue to expose personnel to sodium dichromate poisoning," the Bella Vista, Ark., man told a congressional panel Friday.
KBR is formerly a subsidiary of Houston-based oilfield services giant Halliburton Co. It was not represented at the Democratic Policy Committee oversight hearing. The committee created by Senate Democratic leaders is comprised solely of Democrats and has no legislative authority.
go here for more
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/5849937.html
Linked from ICasualties.org
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Jamie Leigh Jones rape case can go to trial against Halliburton-KBR
Judge: Woman's rape case against Halliburton can go to trial
Judge: Lawsuit against Halliburton by woman claiming rape in Iraq can go to trial
Staff
AP News
May 09, 2008 21:34 EST
A woman who said she was raped by co-workers while employed by a contractor in Iraq can take her claims to trial, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Jamie Leigh Jones filed a federal lawsuit last year, saying she was attacked while working for a Halliburton Co. subsidiary at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. Her lawsuit claims that after she endured harassment from some of the men where she lived in coed barracks, she was drugged and raped by Halliburton and KBR firefighters.
Jones, a former Conroe resident, said a KBR representative imprisoned her in a shipping container for a day so she wouldn't report the assault.
Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.
click post title for more
Judge: Lawsuit against Halliburton by woman claiming rape in Iraq can go to trial
Staff
AP News
May 09, 2008 21:34 EST
A woman who said she was raped by co-workers while employed by a contractor in Iraq can take her claims to trial, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Jamie Leigh Jones filed a federal lawsuit last year, saying she was attacked while working for a Halliburton Co. subsidiary at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005. Her lawsuit claims that after she endured harassment from some of the men where she lived in coed barracks, she was drugged and raped by Halliburton and KBR firefighters.
Jones, a former Conroe resident, said a KBR representative imprisoned her in a shipping container for a day so she wouldn't report the assault.
Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.
click post title for more
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Another KBR Rape Case
article posted April 3, 2008 (web only)
Another KBR Rape Case
Karen Houppert
Editor's Note: Lisa Smith is a pseudonym used on request. Additional reporting by Te-Ping Chen. Research support provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute.
Houston
It was an early January morning in 2008 when 42-year-old Lisa Smith*, a paramedic for a defense contractor in southern Iraq, woke up to find her entire room shaking. The shipping container that served as her living quarters was reverberating from nearby rocket attacks, and she was jolted awake to discover an awful reality. "Right then my whole life was turned upside down," she says.
What follows is the story she told me in a lengthy, painful on-the-record interview, conducted in a lawyer's office in Houston, Texas, while she was back from Iraq on a brief leave.
That dawn, naked, covered in blood and feces, bleeding from her anus, she found a US soldier she did not know lying naked in the bed next to her: his gun lay on the floor beside the bed, she could not rouse him and all she could remember of the night before was screaming and screaming as the soldier anally penetrated her while a colleague who worked for defense contractor KBR held her hand--but instead of helping her, as she had hoped, he jammed his penis in her mouth.
Over the next few weeks Smith would be told to keep quiet about the incident by a KBR supervisor. The camp's military liaison officer also told her not to speak about what had happened, she says. And she would follow these instructions. "Because then, all of a sudden, if you've done exactly what you've been instructed not to do--tell somebody--then you're in danger," Smith says.
As a brand-new arrival at Camp Harper, she had not yet forged many connections and was working in a red zone under regular rocket fire alongside the very men who had participated in the attack. (At one point, as the sole medical provider, she was even forced to treat one of her alleged assailants for a minor injury.) She waited two and a half weeks, until she returned to a much larger facility, to report the incident. "It's very easy for bad things to happen down there and not have it be even slightly suspicious."
go here for the rest
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/houppert
KBR, as you know, has no US connection because they said they paid their employees from an offshore account. The US government may be able to allow a suit because of the tax shelter they set up for themselves in order to not play by the rules, they now want the protection of. The case came out last week that may have paved the way for others to be given some justice for what they have gone through with these rapes. Rape is a crime and not a dispute for an arbitrator to deal with. Much like the Catholic Arch Diocese decided that child abuse and rape was a bad thing to do instead of a crime, covering this up only comes back to bite them in the end. Let's pray in this case, they get the full Monty in terms of justice!
Another KBR Rape Case
Karen Houppert
Editor's Note: Lisa Smith is a pseudonym used on request. Additional reporting by Te-Ping Chen. Research support provided by the Investigative Fund of The Nation Institute.
Houston
It was an early January morning in 2008 when 42-year-old Lisa Smith*, a paramedic for a defense contractor in southern Iraq, woke up to find her entire room shaking. The shipping container that served as her living quarters was reverberating from nearby rocket attacks, and she was jolted awake to discover an awful reality. "Right then my whole life was turned upside down," she says.
What follows is the story she told me in a lengthy, painful on-the-record interview, conducted in a lawyer's office in Houston, Texas, while she was back from Iraq on a brief leave.
That dawn, naked, covered in blood and feces, bleeding from her anus, she found a US soldier she did not know lying naked in the bed next to her: his gun lay on the floor beside the bed, she could not rouse him and all she could remember of the night before was screaming and screaming as the soldier anally penetrated her while a colleague who worked for defense contractor KBR held her hand--but instead of helping her, as she had hoped, he jammed his penis in her mouth.
Over the next few weeks Smith would be told to keep quiet about the incident by a KBR supervisor. The camp's military liaison officer also told her not to speak about what had happened, she says. And she would follow these instructions. "Because then, all of a sudden, if you've done exactly what you've been instructed not to do--tell somebody--then you're in danger," Smith says.
As a brand-new arrival at Camp Harper, she had not yet forged many connections and was working in a red zone under regular rocket fire alongside the very men who had participated in the attack. (At one point, as the sole medical provider, she was even forced to treat one of her alleged assailants for a minor injury.) She waited two and a half weeks, until she returned to a much larger facility, to report the incident. "It's very easy for bad things to happen down there and not have it be even slightly suspicious."
go here for the rest
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080421/houppert
KBR, as you know, has no US connection because they said they paid their employees from an offshore account. The US government may be able to allow a suit because of the tax shelter they set up for themselves in order to not play by the rules, they now want the protection of. The case came out last week that may have paved the way for others to be given some justice for what they have gone through with these rapes. Rape is a crime and not a dispute for an arbitrator to deal with. Much like the Catholic Arch Diocese decided that child abuse and rape was a bad thing to do instead of a crime, covering this up only comes back to bite them in the end. Let's pray in this case, they get the full Monty in terms of justice!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
KBR can be sued because of tax loophole they used
Iraq contractor fights suit over toxic exposure
Tax loophole may subject construction firm to damages
By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / March 25, 2008
WASHINGTON - When the American team arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2003 to repair the Qarmat Ali water injection plant, supervisors told them the orange, sand-like substance strewn around the looted facility was just a "mild irritant," workers recall.
The workers got it on their hands and clothing every day while racing for 2 1/2 months to meet a deadline to get the plant, a crucial part of Iraq's oil infrastructure, up and running.
But the chemical turned out to be sodium dichromate, a substance so dangerous that even limited exposure greatly increases the risk of cancer. Soon, many of the 22 Americans and 100-plus Iraqis began to complain of nosebleeds, ulcers, and shortness of breath. Within weeks, nearly 60 percent exhibited symptoms of exposure, according to the minutes of a meeting of project managers from KBR, the Houston-based construction company in charge of the repairs.
Now, nine Americans are accusing KBR, then a subsidiary of the oil conglomerate Halliburton, of knowingly exposing them to the deadly substance and failing to provide them with the protective equipment needed to keep them safe.
But the workers, like all employees injured in Iraq, face an uphill struggle in their quest for damages. Under a World War II-era federal workers compensation law, employers are generally protected from employee lawsuits, except in rare cases in which it can be proven that the company intentionally harmed its employees or committed outright fraud.
KBR is citing the law, called the Defense Base Act, as grounds to reject the workers' request for damages.
But the company's own actions have undermined its case: To avoid payroll taxes for its American employees, KBR hired the workers through two subsidiaries registered in the Cayman Islands, part of a strategy that has allowed KBR to dodge hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes.
That gives the workers' lawyer, Mike Doyle of Houston, a chance to argue to an arbitration board that KBR is not an employer protected by federal law, but a third-party that can be sued.
KBR's lawyers argued in a legal brief that the workers should be considered employees of KBR because they were part of a corporate subsidiary that was working on a KBR team. The company's spokeswoman, Heather Browne, pointed out that the company's projects in Iraq take place in a "dangerous, unpredictable environment," but said the firm maintains an "unwavering commitment to safety."
Like domestic workers' compensation plans, the Defense Base Act entitles employees in Iraq to medical care, disability, and death benefits, regardless of who is at fault for the injury. In exchange, it generally prohibits employees from seeking any further compensation, even if the employer is at fault.
Continued... click post title for link
Tax loophole may subject construction firm to damages
By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / March 25, 2008
WASHINGTON - When the American team arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2003 to repair the Qarmat Ali water injection plant, supervisors told them the orange, sand-like substance strewn around the looted facility was just a "mild irritant," workers recall.
The workers got it on their hands and clothing every day while racing for 2 1/2 months to meet a deadline to get the plant, a crucial part of Iraq's oil infrastructure, up and running.
But the chemical turned out to be sodium dichromate, a substance so dangerous that even limited exposure greatly increases the risk of cancer. Soon, many of the 22 Americans and 100-plus Iraqis began to complain of nosebleeds, ulcers, and shortness of breath. Within weeks, nearly 60 percent exhibited symptoms of exposure, according to the minutes of a meeting of project managers from KBR, the Houston-based construction company in charge of the repairs.
Now, nine Americans are accusing KBR, then a subsidiary of the oil conglomerate Halliburton, of knowingly exposing them to the deadly substance and failing to provide them with the protective equipment needed to keep them safe.
But the workers, like all employees injured in Iraq, face an uphill struggle in their quest for damages. Under a World War II-era federal workers compensation law, employers are generally protected from employee lawsuits, except in rare cases in which it can be proven that the company intentionally harmed its employees or committed outright fraud.
KBR is citing the law, called the Defense Base Act, as grounds to reject the workers' request for damages.
But the company's own actions have undermined its case: To avoid payroll taxes for its American employees, KBR hired the workers through two subsidiaries registered in the Cayman Islands, part of a strategy that has allowed KBR to dodge hundreds of millions of dollars in Social Security and Medicare taxes.
That gives the workers' lawyer, Mike Doyle of Houston, a chance to argue to an arbitration board that KBR is not an employer protected by federal law, but a third-party that can be sued.
KBR's lawyers argued in a legal brief that the workers should be considered employees of KBR because they were part of a corporate subsidiary that was working on a KBR team. The company's spokeswoman, Heather Browne, pointed out that the company's projects in Iraq take place in a "dangerous, unpredictable environment," but said the firm maintains an "unwavering commitment to safety."
Like domestic workers' compensation plans, the Defense Base Act entitles employees in Iraq to medical care, disability, and death benefits, regardless of who is at fault for the injury. In exchange, it generally prohibits employees from seeking any further compensation, even if the employer is at fault.
Continued... click post title for link
Saturday, March 8, 2008
KBR: Water still making troops sick in Iraq
AP: Water Makes US Troops in Iraq Sick
The Associated Press
By LARRY MARGASAK – 3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of U.S. troops in Iraq fell sick at bases using "unmonitored and potentially unsafe" water supplied by the military and a contractor once owned by Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, the Pentagon's internal watchdog says.
A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.
The Pentagon's inspector general found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc., and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations.
It was impossible to link the dirty water definitively to all the illnesses, according to the report. But it said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and the military-run sites "were not performing all required quality control tests."
"Therefore, water suppliers exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water," the report said.
The problems did not extend to troops' drinking water, but rather to water used for washing, bathing, shaving and cleaning. Water used for hygiene and laundry must meet minimum safety standards under military regulations because of the potential for harmful exposure through the eyes, nose, mouth, cuts and wounds.
KBR said its water treatment "has met or exceeded all applicable military and contract standards." The company took exception to many of the inspector general's assertions. "KBR's commitment to the safety of all of its employees remains unwavering," the company said in a statement to the AP.
KBR is a former subsidiary of Halliburton Co., the oil services conglomerate that Cheney once led.
Is this "supporting the troops" the way Cheney always puts it when it comes to keeping the troops in Iraq? Is this what Bush means when he says it? How can they keep allowing this to go on? The reports of bad water for the troops and the people of Iraq have been going on long enough that someone should have done something about it if they wanted to, but it all boils down to all talk and no proof with deeds. The Democrats haven't done much better on this either. What does it say to the troops everyone is "supporting" when they cannot even depend on the water they are supplied while risking their lives?
UPDATE
Or as NewBusters put it, it's the media's fault.
AP Implicates Vice President Cheney in Iraq Water Problem
By Noel Sheppard March 9, 2008 - 12:59 ET
One of the truly disgraceful media fixations since America invaded Iraq five years ago has been to blame all the world's problems on energy contractor Halliburton while making it clear that Vice President Dick Cheney used to be its Chief Executive Officer.
Despite it being almost eight years since Cheney resigned his position with the contracting giant and sold all of his stock, Halliburton-obsessed press members continue to implicate the Vice President in any bad news concerning his former company.
But then they must not have heard of tax returns and financial reports the elected have to release.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2003
Cheney was chief executive officer of Halliburton from 1995 through August 2000. The company's KBR subsidiary is the main government contractor working to restore Iraq's oil industry in an open-ended contract that was awarded without competitive bidding.
According to Cheney's 2001 financial disclosure report, the vice president's Halliburton benefits include three batches of stock options comprising 433,333 shares. He also has a 401(k) retirement account valued at between $1,001 and $15,000 dollars.
His deferred compensation account was valued at between $500,000 and $1 million, and generated income of $50,000 to $100,000.
In 2002, Cheney's total assets were valued at between $19.1 million and $86.4 million.http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/26/politics/main575356.shtml
From the White House
Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney Release 2002 Income Tax Return
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Terrence O'Donnell
of Williams & Connolly LLP
at (202) 434-5678
Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2002 today.
The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2002 of $341,114 on a taxable income of $945,051. During the course of 2002 the Cheneys paid $436,972 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. The Cheneys elected to apply $20,000 of the resulting $95,858 tax overpayment to their 2003 estimated tax payments.
The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes $190,134 in government salary for the Vice President. In addition, the tax return reports the payment of deferred compensation from Halliburton Company, in the amount of $162,392. In December 1998, the Vice President elected to defer compensation earned in calendar year 1999 for his services as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount is to be paid in fixed annual installments (with interest) in the five years after the Vice President's retirement from Halliburton.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030411-8.html
From the White House
Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney Release 2004 Income Tax Return
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Terrence O'Donnell or James T. Fuller
Williams & Connolly LLP
(202) 434-5000
Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2004 today. The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2004 of $393,518 on taxable income of $1,328,678. During the course of 2004 the Cheneys paid $290,855 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. The Cheneys paid $102,663 upon filing their tax return.
The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President's $203,000 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports the payment of deferred compensation from Halliburton Company in the amount of $194,852. In December 1998, the Vice President elected to defer compensation earned in calendar year 1999 for his services as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount was required be paid in fixed annual installments (with interest) in the five years after the Vice President's retirement from Halliburton. That election to defer income became final and unalterable before Mr. Cheney left Halliburton. The amount of deferred compensation received by the Vice President is fixed and is not affected in any way by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings.The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's wage and salary income from the American Enterprise Institute and compensation from Reader's Digest, on whose board of directors she served until her retirement in 2003.
The Cheneys donated $303,354 to charity in 2004, primarily from Mrs. Cheney's book royalties from Simon & Schuster on her books America: A Patriotic Primer, A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Woman, and When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots, and the exercise of stock options dedicated to charity pursuant to the Gift Administration Agreement which the Cheneys entered into in January of 2001. The book royalties and the proceeds from the stock options were donated to designated charities on a tax neutral basis.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050415-3.html
And then we have the Katrina Connection
April 17, 2006
Kirsch: Cheney Tax Return Shows Katrina Tax Benefits for Non-Katrina Charitable Contributions
Michael Kirsch (Notre Dame) points out an interesting aspect of the Vice-President's 2005 tax return:
It appears that the VP is a major beneficiary of the Hurricane Katrina tax relief act. In particular, he claimed $6.8 million of charitable deductions, which is 77% of his AGI -- well in excess of the 50% limitation that would have applied absent the Katrina legislation. The press release indicates that the charitable contribution reflects the amount of net proceeds from an independent administrator's exercise of the VP's Halliburton options -- apparently, the VP had agreed back in 2001 that he would donate the net proceeds from the options to charities once they were exercised.
The press release seems to confirm, at least implicitly, the VP's efforts to take advantage of the Katrina legislation -- it mentions that the Cheneys wrote a personal check of $2.3 million to the administrator in December in order to "maximize the charitable gifts in 2005." Admittedly, I don't know anything about the transactions beyond the info in the press release, but my gut reaction is that the personal check was given in order to make sure the independent administrator had sufficient liquid assets to pay all of the promised charitable contributions before the 50% limit returned on 1/1/06.
Despite the importance of the Katrina legislation to his tax return, it looks like none of the charitable contributions actually went to Katrina-related charities (the press release lists the 3 charitable recipients, all of which were designated in the original 2001 gift agreement). While there's nothing inappropriate about that from a legal perspective, it does demonstrate how the legislation, which was sold to the public as providing relief to Katrina victims, provided significant tax benefits to the VP (and potentially other wealthy individuals) in situations that have nothing to do with Hurricane Katrina.
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2006/04/kirsch_cheney_t.html
Readers of this blog are aware of American Enterprise Institute and their "advice" on PTSD, which boils down to they need to stop whining and go to work. See posts on Sally Satel here and on Screaming In An Empty Room at www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Jamie Leigh Jones case against KBR should go to court
Attys: Iraq Rape Case Belongs in Court
By JUAN A. LOZANO – 22 hours ago
HOUSTON (AP) — A woman who says co-workers raped her while she was a contractor in Iraq should have her case tried in court, not settled in private arbitration, her lawyer told a federal judge Wednesday.
In a federal lawsuit, Jamie Leigh Jones says she was drugged, raped and held against her will in a storage locker while working for KBR Inc., then a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., in 2005.
As part of her employment, Jones agreed to settle claims against the company in arbitration. But she never imagined such claims would include being imprisoned in a storage locker, said one of her attorneys, L. Todd Kelly.
Attorneys for Halliburton and KBR argued that the contract Jones signed binds her to settle all claims — including claims of sexual assault — against her former employer through arbitration.
Halliburton attorney W. Carl Jordan said that because the purported attack is said to have happened in Halliburton-provided barracks, it ties any claims Jones makes to her employment.
Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison is expected to rule at a later date.
Jones sued in May, saying she was raped by co-workers at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005
click post title for the rest
Since when has a crime like rape, gang rape on top of that, been considered an arbitration case instead of a crime?
By JUAN A. LOZANO – 22 hours ago
HOUSTON (AP) — A woman who says co-workers raped her while she was a contractor in Iraq should have her case tried in court, not settled in private arbitration, her lawyer told a federal judge Wednesday.
In a federal lawsuit, Jamie Leigh Jones says she was drugged, raped and held against her will in a storage locker while working for KBR Inc., then a subsidiary of Halliburton Co., in 2005.
As part of her employment, Jones agreed to settle claims against the company in arbitration. But she never imagined such claims would include being imprisoned in a storage locker, said one of her attorneys, L. Todd Kelly.
Attorneys for Halliburton and KBR argued that the contract Jones signed binds her to settle all claims — including claims of sexual assault — against her former employer through arbitration.
Halliburton attorney W. Carl Jordan said that because the purported attack is said to have happened in Halliburton-provided barracks, it ties any claims Jones makes to her employment.
Attorneys for Halliburton, KBR and other subsidiaries that have been sued have disputed Jones' allegations. KBR split from Halliburton last year.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison is expected to rule at a later date.
Jones sued in May, saying she was raped by co-workers at Camp Hope, Baghdad, in 2005
click post title for the rest
Since when has a crime like rape, gang rape on top of that, been considered an arbitration case instead of a crime?
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