W. Va. soldiers sue firm(KBR) for chemical exposure in Iraq

[RamboLiberal]

Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

-----

In February, Mr. Powell, who was a sergeant in the 1092d Engineer Battalion, received a letter from the state surgeon of the West Virginia Army National Guard. He thinks it explains why he's been out of breath and nauseous, suffering from rashes and sick to his stomach for the last five years. And he thinks it explains why, for three months in Iraq, he constantly coughed up blood, had frequent bloody noses and, at one point, passed out, waking up in a hospital with blackened lips and a blistered face.

The letter said Mr. Powell and other soldiers in his unit may have been exposed to sodium dichromate, an industrial chemical used to prevent the corrosion of pipes at a water treatment facility near Basrah, Iraq.

The chemical contains hexavalent chromium, which can cause sores inside the nose and on the skin, general skin irritation, nose bleeding, wheezing, coughing and pain in the chest when breathing, fever, nausea and upset stomach. It also has been linked to cancer.

Hexavalent chromium was the subject of the 2000 film "Erin Brockovich," which followed the true story of people in a California town who developed health problems following exposure to the chemical. They sued Pacific Gas and Electric Co., settling in 1996 for $333 million.

-----

On June 25, Mr. Powell and six other members of his company in the 1092d, sued KBR, the firm in charge of rebuilding the water treatment facility.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09193/983405-82.stm

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

1. Halliburton got away with murder

and we are told how wonderful this type of "free enterprise" is.

[Norrin Radd]

2. Halliburton and KBR are enemies of the state.

[bulloney]

3. More evidence of how dumbed-down Americans are.

The links between KBR and Haliburton and Dick Cheney are well documented. The ways in which these parties have endangered peoples' lives has been documented. Yet, the media gerbils refuse to go after this issue and Cheney gets a free pass even though he's the most rogue VP we've had in our lifetime, if not in our history.