The IBEW loses Sister Katharina (Kat) Engnell, a licensed journeyman electrician from Local 46 in Seattle, Washington. Engell was electrocuted and died on the job on November 20, 2008 at the Saint Gobain glass plant.
Kat Engnell was an amazing woman. Originally from the South, Kat moved to Seattle after receiving her Masters Degree in Fine Arts. She bought a beautiful home in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood and then decided to become an electrician. She started attending the PSEJATC Apprenticeship program in 2000.
Kat was a most humble, hard working, serious electrician. Diversity and full inclusion in the electrical industry were passions of hers. The fact that a scholarship for those seeking to become Union Trades people is being funded in her name testifies to that. If you would like to donate, please make checks or money orders payable to the Katharina Engnell Memorial Schollarship Fund, Account 471001014441 at Key Bank.
Her interests included kayaking, raising hens, collecting antiques, creating and teaching art, politics, unionism, and rocking out to hippy music. If there was a party, Kat was there having a good time. She was a fantastic mechanic, intellectual, and a bohemian all in one. All who knew her can say that her kindness and generosity were boundless. She will be missed but will live on in the memories and stories of her, and in the kindness and care we show to each other in this truly dangerous field.
There is a memorial at the job site and a memorial service will be held at the IBEW Local 46 Hall in Kent, Washington on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 5:00 p.m.
For me, the loss of any worker on the job is tragic. But the loss of an electrician is personal.
My personal condolences to Kat’s friends and family. My thanks to Nicole Grant for this information.
Ms Sparky
IBEW Local 48
Portland, Oregon
Update: The following info was taken from IBEW Local 46 website.
This item was posted on the IBEW Local 46 web site http://www.ibew46.com/kat.html :
IBEW Local 46 Electrician, Kat Engnell, was killed at work, Thursday,
November 20, 2008, during the day shift at the Saint Gobain glass plant. Kat
was up on a metal platform, like a catwalk, doing lighting maintenance. It
is normal to work on equipment up there while it is still ‘hot’,
unfortunately, while Kat was changing out a 500W 120V fixture, after making
sure that the ground and neutrals had both been made up, she was
electrocuted and died. She was found by a Local 46 Brother working on sight
who stayed with her body until the fire crew got her down and took her away.
The following comment was left via email by a Safety professional:
I suspect that she was not wearing rubber insulating gloves, considered by
most electricians as unnecessary and too cumbersome for this type of low
voltage work.
According to 1910 subpart S
1910.333(a)(1) “Live parts to which an employee may be exposed shall be
deenergized before the employee works on or near them….” (does not apply to
circuits of 50 volts or less)
1910.333(a)(2) “If the exposed live parts are not deenergized (i.e., for
reasons of increased or additional hazards or infeasability) other
safety-related work practices shall be employed …”
1910.335(a)(1)(i) Employees working in areas where there are potential
electrical hazards shall be provided with, and shall use, electrical
protective equipment that is appropriate for the specific parts of the body
to be protected and for the work to be performed.
NFPA 70E 2009 – Table 130.7(C)(9)
Panelboards or other equipment rated 240 volts and below
Work on energized electrical conductors or circuit parts, including voltage
testing requires the use of Rubber Insulating gloves and Insulated or
Insulating Tools.
Iraq’s parliament on Nov. 27 endorsed a landmark military pact that will govern some 150,000 U.S. Soldiers assigned to 400 bases across the country beginning Dec. 31, when the United Nation’s mandate now governing the troops expires.
Here are the main points of the deal, spelled out in the official English version of the 24-page agreement.
Article 4: All military operations undertaken in Iraq must be conducted with the agreement of the Iraqi government and should be “fully coordinated” with Iraqi authorities through a joint U.S.-Iraqi committee. However, U.S. and Iraqi forces have the right to “legitimate self defence within Iraq” as defined by international law.
Article 12: Iraq will have the right to prosecute U.S. troops and associated civilians for “grave premeditated felonies” committed “outside agreed facilities and areas and outside duty status.” Should they be arrested however, they must be handed over to U.S. custody for the duration of the investigation and trial, and U.S. forces are responsible for certifying whether the alleged crime took place while the individual was on “duty status.”
No such immunity is extended to private security contractors, over whom the agreement grants Iraq the “primary right to exercise jurisdiction.” (Read the rest of the story here…)
Thank you for protecting our country and my family. I know you would much rather be with your families today. But can’t because you are committed too keeping our country safe from those who would harm us.
A special thanks to the Veterans who have already served this country, some paying with the ultimate price. Thank you on so many levels.
A special thank you to the Soldier’s families who will sit down to dinner today without them. Although they will not be at your table, I know they will be in your hearts.
To my civilian friends who are committed to protecting and caring for our soldiers….Thank You!
For those that missed it…here is the CNN Special Investigation Report that was on Lou Dobbs on November 25, 2008. If you are having problems seeing the video in Internet Explorer click HERE and see if that makes a difference.
By Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A contractor providing services to the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan has committed serious violations of its contract, mainly byconducting inadequate inspections of electrical wiring and grounding at American bases, according to Pentagon sources.
Ryan Maseth, a 24-year-old Green Beret, died in his shower January 2.
The Pentagon findings on Houston, Texas-based KBR stem from the widely publicized death of Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a highly decorated 24-year-old Green Beret from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Maseth was electrocuted while taking a shower at his base in Baghdad.
His January 2 death was just one of many deaths now believed to be linked to shoddy electrical work done at U.S. bases, managed by U.S. contractors, according to Pentagon sources.
The Pentagon’s Defense Contract Management Agency recently gave KBR a “Level III Corrective Action Request” — issued only when a contractor is found in “serious noncompliance” and just one step below the possibility of suspending or terminating a contract, Pentagon officials said.
In KBR’s case, it means that the contractor’s inspections and efforts to ensure electrical safety for troops have been unacceptable, and must be significantly improved, Pentagon sources told CNN. (Read the rest of the story here…)
Uplift has ALWAYS been a HUGE issue with KBR/SEII Employees.
Uplift is a percentage in addition to the base pay. When I worked for KBR the uplift was 55% on the first 40 hours. Then in the fall of 2006 it was raised to 75%. Again, only on the first 40 hours.
Current uplift for Iraq and Afghanistan consist of the following:
International Bonus 5%
Area Differential 35%
Hazardous Conditions 35%
Evidently KBR does not feel the last 44+ hours in your work week are as hazardous as the first 40 because they DON’T pay Uplift and they don’t pay overtime.
There have been many lawsuits against KBR over uplift and overtime. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that all cases have been dismissed. One of the big issues is, you don’t actually work for KBR. You work for SEII or OAS, offshore shell companies of KBR. US laws don’t apply. Plus…you signed that damn contract.
I have several questions:
1. Who approves uplift increases? When I worked for KBR we were always told it was the “Client” (DoD/DoS) that would NOT increase our uplift. Is it the “Client” or is it KBR?
2. What is KBR charging the “Client”? Have they been charging uplift for every hour worked? If so what percentage are they charging? 100%? I think it’s time for an audit! I have all my pay stubs if anyone in DoD or Congress wants to compare what KBR charged for me to what I actually got paid.
3. Is there a planned uplift increase in the near future? If so…who approved it, the “Client” or KBR? Is it only on the first 40 hours or on every hour worked? How much will it be? 100%?
Personally, I think every person over there deserves 100% uplift on EVERY hour worked!
Health concerns » An environmental report on the burn pit at Balad Air Base now is classified for ‘national security’
Matthew D. Laplante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 11/21/2008 09:01:12 AM MST
Military officials insist there’s no problem.
But veterans’ advocates are calling for full transparency about the health risks faced by service members who have been stationed at the largest U.S. air base in Iraq, where one inspector called an open-air burn pit “the worst environmental site I have ever personally visited.”
But for the moment, that quote — found in a memo from a military environmental engineer from Utah — is all that is publicly known from a 2006 Environmental Health Site Assessment on the situation at Balad Air Base. That’s because the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine is refusing to make the document public, saying that the information it contains “would damage our national security.”
How could a health assessment damage national security? For veteran Paul Rieckhoff, the situation smells as bad as Iraq’s foul air.
“It’s troubling,” said Rieckhoff, an Iraq combat veteran and director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which lobbies on behalf of vets who have served in the nation’s ongoing conflicts. “Just saying ‘everything is fine’ is not going to fly.”
The Army insists that it is doing more. Michael Kilpatrick, a spokesman for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, said the military has done extensive sampling of the air in Balad and other bases where burn pits are used to get rid of garbage — including weapons, chemicals, plastics, and even amputated limbs. (Read more HERE)
Unbelievable!! This is the DoD’s answer to the problem? Just classify it and it goes away? Alrighty then…how stupid do they think we are?
Time to call your Senators and Congresspersons. Maybe the new administration can fix this.
Iraq-U.S. Accord Wipes Out Contractor Immunity (Update1)
By Gopal Ratnam and Viola Gienger
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) — U.S. government contractors in Iraq are balking at a new agreement that eliminates their immunity from local laws, saying thousands of Americans would be subject to a legal system that still fails international standards.
“This agreement throws the DoD contractors under the bus,” said Doug Brooks, president of the International Peace Operations Association, a trade group that represents 57 firms that provide services including security, development and military support. Pretrial detention and incarceration in Iraq are “way below” global standards, he said.
The Defense Department and State Department briefed their private contractors today on a provision of the so-called status- of-forces accord that eliminates contractors’ immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law. While the agreement applies to U.S. military operations, the State Department told its contractors today that Iraq will make them subject to the same rules.
The provision is part of an agreement that would govern U.S. military operations in Iraq after a United Nations Security Council resolution expires on Dec. 31. About 28,000 of the 163,500 people employed as Pentagon contractors in Iraq are U.S. citizens. Others are Iraqis or citizens of other countries, according to Defense Department data. About 4,500 of the State Department’s 5,500 contractors in Iraq are U.S. citizens. (Read more HERE)
That’s just damn scary!!! I just can’t imagine being in an Iraqi jail! Oh hell no!
By Kelly Kennedy – Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Nov 20, 2008 16:33:59 EST
A soldier concerned about his tour at Forward Operating Base Hammer near Balad, Iraq, this year sent Military Times a report showing high levels of particulate matter and low levels of manganese, possibly due to materials destroyed in a burn pit.
“The high risk estimate is due to the average (particulate matter) level being at a concentration the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers ‘hazardous,’ and is likely to affect the health of all troops,” wrote Jeffrey Kirkpatrick, director of health risk assessment for the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. “Manganese was also detected above its one-year military exposure guidelines.”
It was sent to the command surgeon general’s office for U.S. Central Command.
Particulate matter can lead to coughing, difficulty breathing, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, chronic bronchitis, irregular heartbeat, nonfatal heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease, according to the EPA.
Long-term levels of high exposure to manganese can lead to problems in the central nervous system, such as slow visual reaction time, inability to keep the hands steady, and poor eye-hand coordination. It can also lead to feelings of weakness, tremors, a mask-like face and psychological effects. It can also lead to impotence and loss of libido, according to the EPA. (Read more HERE)
Burn pit fallout
Military official: Situation improving; troops report health complications
By Kelly Kennedy – Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 16, 2008 16:27:03 EST
Disabled American Veterans has issued a call to all service members and veterans who think they may have illnesses related to burn pits in Afghanistan and Iraq: Contact DAV so they can collect data and look for trends.
“Anyone out there who thinks they may have had a long-term health effect … needs to file a complaint” with the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Kerry Baker, DAV’s associate national legislative director.
Noting that it took Vietnam veterans 20 years to gain benefits for exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange, Baker said, “We don’t want to see these guys have to wait 20 years. We want to see Congress act right away.”
He said service members should be alert for respiratory-related problems, such as allergies, sleep apnea, trouble breathing, asthma and lymphocytic leukemia, as well as skin diseases. Of the 300 to 400 disability cases Baker said he has personally reviewed since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began, he said 30 percent potentially could be linked to the burn pits. He said he’s amazed by the numbers of troops reporting sleep apnea.(Read more HERE)
Senator wants answers on dangers of burn pits
By Kelly Kennedy – Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Nov 9, 2008 10:44:15 EST
Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., has written to Gen. David Petraeus, the new chief of U.S. Central Command, demanding to be informed about any pending investigations into health problems for troops exposed to burn pit smoke in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“After years of helping veterans of the Vietnam and Gulf wars cope with the health effects of toxic battlefields, we have learned that we must take exposures to toxins seriously to ensure that this generation of service members does not face the same difficulties,” Feingold wrote in a letter dated Oct. 31.
“While I appreciate the nearly overwhelming set of challenges we face in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no excuse for exposing service members and local civilians to preventable hazards.” (Read more HERE)
Cheney, Gonzales indictment in Texas moves ahead
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN
RAYMONDVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge has set a Friday arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, a state senator and others named in indictments accusing them of responsibility for prisoner abuse in a South Texas federal detention center.
Presiding Judge Manuel Banales said Wednesday he will allow them to waive arraignment or have their attorneys present rather than appear in person at the hearing.
Banales also said he would issue summonses rather than warrants for the indicted since all have served in some public capacity. That would allow them to avoid arrest and the need to post bond.
After the prosecutor who won the indictments, lame duck Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, was a no-show in court, Banales ordered Texas Rangers to go to his house, check on his well-being and order him to court on Friday. (Click HERE to read more)
This is a quick message for KBR/SEII employees that are being interviewed by Criminal Investigations (CID) in Iraq. I understand that once CID has requested to talk to a KBR employee about an ongoing investigation, Ron Allen attaches himself and accompanies them to the interview. Ron Allen or any other KBR Corporate attorney IS NOT your attorney. They are 100% KBR Corporate. If they are telling you anything different they are lying.
If KBR is threatening to fire you for talking, coaching you or in any other way impeding any ongoing investigation contact the CID investigator or email me and I will get you in touch with someone that can help.
Do not lie. Tell the truth. And OMG do not think for one minute that KBR will in any way protect you. KBR will throw you under the bus at the drop of a hat.
For the second year in a row, The American Red Cross is collecting holiday cards to distribute to American service members, veterans and their families in the United States and around the world.
Click HERE and follow the instructions carefully. Do it now.
There is a December 10th deadline!!
Take the time to show your appreciation for everything they do.
What a great project to do as a family. My grandson and I are doing ours tonight.
Ed Blacke was the Health, Safety and Environmental Coordinator for KBR at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant near Basra, Iraq. He was fired after warning workers they were being exposed to the cancer causing chemical, sodium dichromate. Yes, sodium dichromate is the once little known carcinogen made very public in the movie Erin Brochovich.
An Internal KBR Memorandum Acknowledges that People Were Potentially Exposed to a Dangerous Substance: Senator Dorgan examines an internal KBR memorandum on the exposure of KBR’s employees and U.S. Troops to Sodium Dichromate at the Qarmat Ali plant in Iraq during a DPC hearing on 6/20/08 (02:55).
For those of you who like ALL the information. You can watch the entire hearing video and get the official testimony of the witnesses by clicking HERE
The following article was just published by Channel 13 WTHR Indianapolis.
Posted: Nov 17, 2008 03:13 PM
Updated: Nov 17, 2008 08:00 PM
Scott Swan/Eyewitness News
Dubois, IN – The Indiana National Guard says two soldiers exposed to a deadly chemical in Iraq now have cancer. The Guard is trying to contact more than 600 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry who may have been exposed to sodium dichromate.
“The Battalion Cdr (commander) was diagnosed with cancer last summer and there is another soldier who came home on leave from this deployment who has been diagnosed with rectal cancer,” LTC Deedra Thombleson wrote in an email to Channel 13.
A third soldier, Sergeant First Class David Moore, died in 2008 from a mysterious illness after returning from Iraq.
Moore’s daughter, 10-year-old Rylee Weisheit, squeezes a teddy bear on the front porch of a home in Dubois, Indiana. The bear has a t-shirt with her dad’s picture. When she squeezes the arm, the voice of her father can be heard.
“Hi, my little sweetheart. I love you. Sleep tight and have sweet dreams. Daddy misses and loves you very much.”
The voice is David Moore. The teddy bear was a gift to his daughter before he died. Moore was a platoon leader and a 20-year-veteran of the guard.
“He was over there helping little boys and girls,” the girl says of her father.
Rylee’s mother says Moore returned from Iraq in 2004 and got sick with a variety of symptoms.
“The wheezing, the unable to breathe, the coughing,” says Audrey Weisheit.
David Moore went from doctor to doctor but his health got progressively worse. Moore died in February of 2008. The death is puzzling to Moore’s family, including his brother.
“We still don’t know what happened. No doctor can tell us. Why he got sick or nothing,” says Steve Moore.
Moore’s mother wipes away tears while looking at family pictures on a table.
“He was too young to die,” says Leona Moore.
David Moore’s death certificate reads chronic interstitial lung disease. But Moore’s family still considers it a mystery. However, there is a man in rural Arkansas who believes he has solved the issue. 71-year-old Ed Blacke spent several months in Iraq working alongside the Indiana National Guard soldiers. He thinks the answer to Moore’s death might be written on a tank at the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant in Iraq. Blacke has pictures on his home computer and points to the words on one tank.
“That says very plainly Sodium Dichromate. A day’s exposure could write you a death warrant. Just one day’s exposure,” says Blacke.
Blacke was the Health, Safety and Environmental Coordinator at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant near Basra, Iraq. Blacke arrived in June of 2003 and remained through the middle of August 2003. His Houston-based company, Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) was contracted to rebuild the facility after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam’s regime. The soldiers guarding the plant were from Indiana. Blacke says he was warned about grenades in the equipment.
“The area was heavily booby-trapped,” says Blacke.
But Blacke says he was not told another enemy was hiding – a chemical that can cause cancer.
“The very subtle sabotage was the chemicals that we were not aware of,” says Blacke.
The former KBR worker says his Iraqi interpreter told him the Iraqi Baath party sabotaged the facility prior to the U.S. invasion by opening bags of sodium dichromate and spreading the chemical around the plant. The chemical had been used at the plant to prevent rust and fungus in the pipes. But the chemical is dangerous.
Dr. Max Costa is the professor and chairman at the Department of Environmental Medicine at New York University School of Medicine. At NYU, Dr. Costa is in charge of a large department that conducts research and instruction on how chemical and physical agents in the environment injure humans. His area of expertise is heavy metals, such as hexavalent chromium which is present in sodium dichromate. He studies how these agents cause cancer in humans. He served as an expert witness in the Erin Brockovich case and is known as one of the nation’s leading experts on sodium dichromate.
“It’s one of the most potent carcinogens known to man,” says Dr. Costa.
Back in Arkansas, Blacke looks at another picture that he took while working at the Iraqi plant.
“That is another one of the drainage ditches, and you can see it’s just full of sodium dichromate solution by the coloring. The chemical was quite obvious. The broken bags were obvious. The chemical mixed in with water in the drainage ditch was obvious,” says Blacke.
Blacke described the chemical he saw at the plant.
“It was like a course, granular sand. Orange, reddish in color,” says Blacke.
Blacke says when many of the soldiers and workers began having nose bleeds and difficulty breathing, he sounded the alarm bells.
“When I saw the medical symptoms and signs increasing in the fellas, that’s when I looked, did the research, brought it up to my management, and my management told me I was being a troublemaker,” says Blacke. “When the issues came up, it was denial and intimidation to keep it quiet. And people were getting hurt,” added Blacke. “They (KBR) told the men that they had looked at it, it was a mild irritant. That we were making a lot to do about nothing. A mountain out of a mole hill.”
“Judging from their symptoms, the nasal bleeding, the nasal symptoms, those are all pretty good signs of hexavalent chromium exposure,” says Dr. Costa. “I would say they had a pretty severe exposure over several months that they worked there,” added Dr. Costa.
Ed Blacke claims KBR knew sodium dichromate was at the plant.
“They knew about this in May,” says Blacke. “Everything seemed to be focused on we made a commitment, we’re going to get this done, we’re going to get it done in this time frame, hell or high water, we’re gonna get it done,” added Blacke. “They (KBR) just had an attitude – they were focused on that finish line and they didn’t care how they got there.”
KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne released a statement saying, “KBR’s commitment to the safety and security of all employees, the troops and those we serve, is the company’s top priority. The company takes issue with the assertion that KBR knowingly harmed troops and was responsible for an unsafe condition. That is simply untrue. Further the company in no way condones any action that would compromise the safety of those we serve. KBR has fully cooperated with the government on this issue and provided information requested of us.”
The “Erin Brockovich” movie is where most people learned about sodium dichromate. People in that case became sick after drinking the chemical in water. In Iraq the exposure was different.
“They were standing out in it, patrolling in it, working in it,” Blacke says of the Indiana National Guard members. “The poor soldiers, they were outside a lot of the times. I’d say 90 percent of the time, they were outside.”
Blacke says the soldiers were outside for hours over the course of several weeks, even during windstorms when the chemical was getting blown around.
“It got into our clothing, it was on our skin,” says Blacke. “We had no benches, no tables. We sat on the ground, so we were sitting in it. It was there. So, you couldn’t help but inhale it and ingest it,” added Blacke. “The environment we were required to take our meals in, to work in, it was just saturated with sodium dichromate.”
Blacke says KBR was negligent by not giving the Indiana National Guard soldiers protective gear.
“I’d say grossly negligent,” says Blacke. “It would have been so simple just to say, we made a mistake, we didn’t realize this was here. Here’s what we’re going to do.”
Blacke went one step further when testifying before the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy committee investigating the issue. The committee submits information to the defense department, state department and other agencies.
“I do feel it was criminally negligent of KBR to make a decision to continue to expose my colleagues to sodium dichromate poisoning at Qarmat Ali water treatment plant, particularly when they knew the exposure, they knew of the absence of any personal protective gear whatsoever,” Blacke told the committee. ”
Blacke testified that people took air and soil samples of the plant.
“The soil samples showed extremely high levels of sodium dichromate,” says Blacke. “The air samples showed very low levels. Now, this is misleading because they were taken in no wind conditions. We often had high winds,” added Blacke. “KBR management focused on the air samples in an attempt to continue operations at the plant without personal protective equipment and without the contamination being cleaned up.”
“The effects of the chemical are long lasting and potentially deadly,” says committee chairman Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota). “Hundreds of U.S. troops may not even know of their exposure to sodium dichromate that could one day result in a horrible disease, cancers and death,” added Senator Dorgan. “Rather than accepting responsibility, the Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) Corporation is seeking in an aggressive way to escape accountability for its actions,” said Senator Dorgan.
The Senate committee produced an internal document from a KBR meeting that took place in Kuwait City in August of 2003. In the memo, KBR wrote “serious problem at water treatment plant with a chemical called sodium dichromate…the problem seems worse than considered.. almost 60% of the people now exhibit the symptoms.”
“The chemical has been on the ground since day one…wind is blowing the chemical that is lying on the ground…people are potentially exposed to something that may be very dangerous,” according to the internal report assessment.
“If you had a site that was assessed by the United Nations beforehand and the UN assessed this site, found sodium dichromate, the corporation sends its workers there, U.S. soldiers are there to provide security, British soldiers are there to provide security, Iraqi workers are there, the wind is blowing, you’ve got this orange chemical – this deadly chemical flying around – you’ve got the company itself saying 60% of the employees exhibiting these symptoms, and these are symptoms of a deadly problem, why would the company not have said ‘wait a second, this has to stop,’” says Senator Dorgan.
“When you see something like that, you shouldn’t let people continue to go to work there,” says Dr. Costa. “You should shut it down and remediate it, cover with rocks and plastic and prevent human exposure.”
Dr. Costa says sodium dichromate causes cancer, other diseases and infections. I asked Dr. Costa if it is possible or even likely that David Moore’s chronic interstitial lung disease was triggered by exposure to sodium dichromate.
“If he got into an area with high concentrations and he was outside a lot and breathed very small particles of it, it’s possible it could have caused this,” says Dr. Costa.
The Indiana National Guard confirmed that Sgt. First Classic David Moore visited the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant twice and spent four to five hours at the site.
Blacke described the impact of sodium dichromate. “The joker in the deck is you. What’s your genetic background? What is your weaknesses? If you have weaknesses in lungs normally, it’s going to take you down very hard.”
Blacke testified before the Senate committee that he has entered the chronic phase of sodium dichromate poisoning, including failure of his thyroid function.
Indiana Senator Evan Bayh called on the US Army to investigate. According to Bayh, Army Secretary Pete Geren agreed to launch” a 60-day senior-level Army Review Panel to evaluate the steps taken to identify, inform and treat members” exposed to the sodium dichromate.
“If a company – because they wanted to make a quick buck, intentionally exposed Indiana Guardsmen and women to a cancer-causing chemical, if that’s proven, they ought to go to jail,” says Senator Bayh. (Watch a longer interview with Bayh.)
Bayh is proposing legislation that would create a registry for soldiers exposed to dangerous chemicals, giving them access to best medical care. Bayh said he is thinking of David Moore’s family, especially Moore’s daughter Rylee.
“You can’t bring her daddy back. But what we can do is make sure that this never happens to anybody else and that Dave Moore didn’t lose his life in vein. It should never have happened in the first place. But at least he can serve to save others from suffering a similar fate,” says Bayh.
“These 139 guys, that was their mission. And they were just doing their job,” says Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger of the Indiana National Guard which held town hall meetings and wrote letters in an effort to notify 656 soldiers in the battalion about the exposure and have them tested. As of this writing, the Guard is still trying to contact 46 soldiers. Umbarger wants those soldiers to call 1-800-237-2850 ext. 3128. (Watch a longer interview with Umbarger.)
“We owe every one who laid down their lives and willing to serve – and volunteered to serve for us – that we medically take care of them if there is a problem with their health,” says Umbarger.
Texas resident Danny Langford is a former KBR employee who worked at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in 2003 where he repaired pumps. Langford told the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy committee much of the plant was covered with orange dust.
“It was everywhere,” testified Langford.
Langford said he began having a bad sore throat, a hacking cough and irritated eyes.
“I had nose bleeds and began spitting blood,” says Langford.
“It was everywhere,” says Langford. “We had no breathing mask or any other type of personal protective equipment that would have kept this stuff out of our nose, throats, lungs or off any part of our bodies,” added Langford. “During the initial two-week period, at the end of every working day, my boots, my pants, my clothing, were caked with this orange colored material.”
Langford said in late July of 2003, two KBR supervisors held a meeting to talk about the concerns.
“At that meeting, these men told us the plant was safe, that this plant had been checked out and it was ok for us to go back to work,” Langford testified. “When asked specifically about chromium contamination, they said ‘at most, it was a mild irritant and the exposure would not pose any serious health risk.’”
Langford testified he continued working at the plant.
“KBR kept insisting that nothing on this jobsite was harmful, keep on working,” says Langford. “In mid-August, we were sent to Kuwait to give blood so we could test for chromium and other heavy metals,” added Langford. “Within a week or two after they drew our blood, KBR called us back to Kuwait and said they were shutting the plant down to clean it up,” Lanford told the Senate committee.
Langford said the blood tests showed high levels of chromium and other heavy metals.
Dr. Costa questions the testing method.
“There are two forms of chromium. The trivalent form which is not that dangerous and the hexavalent form,” Dr. Costa explained to the U.S. Senate Democratic Policy Committee. “And the problem is we have a lot of trivalent in our blood, but only in our red blood cell do we have the hexavalent form. So, the proper test for hexavalent chromium exposure is to take out the red blood cell and measure it in the red blood cell,” added Dr. Costa. “There are not many labs that do that type of thing and I doubt this was done in their case,” says Dr. Costa.
“KBR said after they got the plant cleaned up, we would not be forced to go back to the job site, that we could be placed in other positions in Iraq,” says Langford.
“I was in good health when I went to work for KBR in Iraq,” says Langford. “I had extremely high elevated blood pressure and high levels of chromium in my blood after working at the plant for three months.”
Langford said he suffered short-term memory loss, severe sinus, congestion problems and a chronic cough.
“It was wrong KBR exposed us to a poisonous contaminant such as sodium dichromate,” Langford testified.
David Moore’s daughter and family are grieving and questioning. Was there an enemy in Iraq David was not armed to fight?
“She wants answers. She wants to know why her daddy’s not here,” says Audrey Weisheit. “He went over a very healthy man and he came back very sick,” added Weisheit.
“Rylee was granted benefits from the VA and Dave’s death has been ruled service related,” wrote Weisheit in an email to Channel 13.
Blacke is haunted by what happened in Iraq. He believes exposure to sodium dichromate may kill him. He feels badly for the Indiana National Guard soldiers.
“They were led down a primrose path. Those men were my duty to protect,” says Blacke. “I was a steward for those folks and I missed it.”
Asked what he would tell the guard members exposed to sodium dichromate, Blacke responded this way. “Don’t go out buying a gravestone. Some of them will be very ill. Some could die.”
The Indiana National Guard has a number for soldiers exposed to sodium dichromate. Call 1-800-237-2850 ext. 3128. (end of article)
This is a classic example of KBR’s “Do it till we get caught” management style. I myself had safety concerns about asbestos exposure and confined spaces and brought them up in the Fall of 2004. “Not and issue.” according to my Safety Manager. Then all of a sudden, in 2005 it’s an issue.
What other issues are we not even aware of yet?
KBR in Iraq is a “money first” company. They thought they would be immune from litigation but that is proving to be incorrect. Hopefully, there will be some criminal charges soon.
When I first saw this article, I was again infuriated by the apparent mind set of the DoD. I seems clear to me the DoD thinks there are no other contractors in the world that can carry out these contracts other than KBR. That’s completely WRONG!!! It looked like one more gift to KBR before the Administration changed. But it’s starting to look like there’s more to it.
KBR to provide power during emergencies
Published: Nov. 11, 2008 at 3:03 PM
HOUSTON, Nov. 11 (UPI) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has contracted KBR to provide power during emergency or disaster situations.
U.S. company KBR was awarded a $75 million deal from the Army Corps or Engineers for disaster relief services. Under the contract, KBR will supply emergency power for the Western region of the United States in case of a natural or manmade disaster.
KBR officials say during an emergency situation they will provide labor, transportation and equipment, among other services, to support power requirements for designated critical public facilities.
“This award allows KBR the opportunity to expand our capabilities portfolio in the government and infrastructure business to include emergency response, an area of growth due to recent natural disasters,” Bruce Stanski, KBR government and infrastructure president, said in a statement.
“We look forward to continuing our relationship with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in this new area and are committed to providing the premier services the Army Corps has come to expect of KBR.” (End)
Then I recalled another article I had read in the Army Times about a month ago.
Brigade homeland tours start Oct. 1
3rd Infantry’s 1st BCT trains for a new dwell-time mission. Helping ‘people at home’ may become a permanent part of the active Army
By Gina Cavallaro – Staff writer Army Times
Posted : Tuesday Sep 30, 2008 16:16:12 EDT
The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent 35 of the last 60 months in Iraq patrolling in full battle rattle, helping restore essential services and escorting supply convoys.
Now they’re training for the same mission — with a twist — at home.
Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
It is not the first time an active-duty unit has been tapped to help at home. In August 2005, for example, when Hurricane Katrina unleashed hell in Mississippi and Louisiana, several active-duty units were pulled from various posts and mobilized to those areas.
But this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities. (Read More)
WMR has learned from knowledgeable Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sources that the Bush administration is putting the final touches on a plan that would see martial law declared in the United States with various scenarios anticipated as triggers. The triggers include a continuing economic collapse with massive social unrest, bank closures resulting in violence against financial institutions, and another fraudulent presidential election that would result in rioting in major cities and campuses around the country.
In addition, Army Corps of Engineer sources report that the assignment of the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) to the Northern Command’s U.S. Army North is to augment FEMA and federal law enforcement in the imposition of traffic controls, crowd control, curfews, enhanced border and port security, and neighborhood patrols in the event a national emergency being declared. The BCT was assigned to duties in Iraq before being assigned to the Northern Command.
On April 3, 2008, WMR reported on a highly-classified document regarding the martial law scenario: WMR has learned from knowledgeable sources within the US financial community that an alarming confidential and limited distribution document is circulating among senior members of Congress and their senior staff members that is warning of a bleak future for the United States if it does not quickly get its financial house in order. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those who have reportedly read the document.
The document is being called the “C & R” document because it reportedly states that if the United States defaults on loans and debt underwriting from China, Japan, and Russia, all of which are propping up the United States government financially, and the United States unilaterally cancels the debts, America can expect a war that will have disastrous results for the United States and the world. “Conflict” is the “C word” in the document. The other scenario is that the federal government will be forced to drastically raise taxes in order to pay off debts to foreign countries to the point that the American people will react with a popular revolution against the government. “Revolution” is the document’s “R word. (End)
What is Veterans Day? Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring the 24.9 million military veterans in the United States. It is both a federal and state holiday in all states and is usually observed on November 11. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world. November 11 is the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.
Armistice Day was celebrated starting November 1919 until 1954 where is was official changed to Veterans Day and was to include all Veterans of all wars.
So, thank a Veteran for fighting for and protecting the following, just to name a few:
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of the Press
Freedom of Assembly
China doesn’t have that. Many many countries don’t have that. We have our issues, but I have traveled all over the world and there is no better country than the United States of America.
There are veteran and war memorials all over the US. Here are four National War Memorials from Washington DC.
World War I Memorial; Washington DC
4,734,991 US Troops deployed; 320,518 killed and wounded; 1917-1918
World War II Memorial; Washington DC
16,112,566 deployed worldwide; 1,077,245 killed and wounded; 1941-1945
Korean War Memorial; Washington DC
5,720,000 deployed worldwide; 157,530 killed and wounded; 1950-1953
Vietnam War Memorial; Washington DC
8,744,000 deployed worldwide; 243,512 killed and wounded; 1964-1975
Desert Shield/Desert Storm Memorial; Evansville, IN 694,550 Deployed to the Gulf; 849 killed and wounded; 1990-1991
Dozer operator at the Balad Burn Pits In Iraq – note the mask.
“Seriously….you want me to do what??”
Personally I’d be saying, “Take me to the airport!” The number of emails and photos I have received from readers regarding my previous post on the Balad Burn Pits in Iraq has been amazing and has prompted me to post more of their photos. The origin and location of photos is based on the information given me by the senders. I do not guarantee the accuracy. The following article appeared in the Stars & Stripes today (Nov 7, 2008)
Study says burning on bases in Iraq not hazardous, but some officials, still fearing health risks, want available incinerators put to use
By Michael Gisick and Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, November 7, 2008
Despite serious health concerns over the widespread open-air burning of trash at U.S. bases in Iraq, only 17 of 41 incinerators the military purchased four years ago to combat the problem are in operation.
And while plumes of smoke continue to rise over even the military’s most settled facilities, contractual issues have slowed the installation of the incinerators, which release lower levels of pollutants into the air. (Click HERE to read more)
Balad burn pit at Air Force Base
Feeding the fire at Balad Burn Pit
Un-named burn pit in Iraq
Fallujah burn pit
Thanks to everyone for all these awesome pics. If you are stationed or are working around a burn pit please take precautions.
With the recent press coverage I can only hope the DoD is working diligently to resolve this issue.
Keep sending those pics and sharing your personal experiences. Let me know if this issue is being resolved at your camp.
Senior Airman Frances Gavalis tosses unserviceable uniform items into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq. (U.S. Air Force photo)
What is wrong with this photo!!! I can’t find anything right about it and looking at it makes me cringe. This burn pit is at Balad Air Base in Iraq. Up wind from a hospital and located where 100’s of thousands of US Troops and Civilians have been exposed to it.
I know this post is a little long, but this is so important to the safety of our Soldiers and Civilians. Below are several different news articles about this. Interesting….we don’t hear about this kind of stuff on the news!! This is unacceptable!!! These burn pits are not unique in Iraq. KBR had one in the Green Zone that dumped smoke and ash on our camp all the time. The Marines finally had it shut down.
Troops say chemicals and medical waste burned at base are making them sick, but officials deny risk
By Kelly Kennedy- Staff writer
Army Times
Posted : Wednesday Oct 29, 2008 16:31:18 EDT
An open-air “burn pit” at the largest U.S. base in Iraq may have exposed tens of thousands of troops, contractors and Iraqis to cancer-causing dioxins, poisons such as arsenic and carbon monoxide, and hazardous medical waste, documentation gathered by Military Times shows.
The billowing black plume from the burn pit at 15-square-mile Joint Base Balad, the central logistics hub for U.S. forces in Iraq, wafts continually over living quarters and the base combat support hospital, sources say. (To read more click HERE)
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Article Launched: 10/29/2008 12:02:55 AM MDT
The great plume of black smoke that rises above the burn pit at Balad Air Base in northern Iraq is such an invariable part of the horizon that software engineers writing a program to help fighter pilots navigate their way onto the base made it a central part of the digitally simulated skyline.
Now the burn pit has become the central part of a conversation about what obligations the military has to keep its members healthy during war.
A memo being circulated at military bases across the country, written by an officer from Hill Air Force Base, calls the pit an “acute health hazard” – one that may have increased the risk of chronic problems for hundreds of thousands of service members and contractors who have done tours of duty at the largest base in Iraq. (To read more click HERE)
This is the memo that was written and distributed in Iraq. This is eerily reminiscent of the electrical shock hazard memo that was distributed by the Army in 2004. Another serious hazard identified and again, nothing is done. Clearly negligent.
SUBJECT: Burn Pit Health Hazards
(From the blog of Aaron Rognstad)
Darrin L. Curtis, Lt Col, USAF, BSC
Dec. 20, 2006
1. The burn pit at Balad AB (Logistics Support Area Anaconda) has been identified as a health concern for several years in numerous action reports, in addition to other Bioenvironmental Enginnering continuity documentation. During the Environmental Health Site Assessments conducted January – April 2006 by the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine, open burning of solid waste was identified as the number two most common environmental health finding. Balad’s burn pit was quoted as being “the worst environmental site I have ever personally visited, and that includes 10 years working RCRA/CERCLA clean-up for the Army and DLA,” by one of the assessment team members.
2. The Air Force documents exposure to the burn pit for those stationed at Balad AB as an environmental health hazard by placing detailed information in each Airman’s medical record during their post-deployment medical record during their outprocessing. It is amazing that the burn pit has been able to operate without restrictions over the past few years without significant engineering controls put in place. I would hope in the future that issues such as burn pits are identified early on and engineering controls such as incinerators would be used to mitigate these hazards. It seems that money has been the issue of why enginnering controls are not currently in place.
3. The smoke hazards are associated with burning plastics, Styrofoam, paper, wood, rubber, POL (petroleum, oil, lubricant) products, non-medical waste, some metals, some chemicals (paints, solvents, etc.), and incomplete combustion by-products. A list of possible contaminants includes: acetaldehyde, acrolein, arsenic, benzene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, dichloroflouromethane, ethylbenzene, formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen flouride, various metals, nitrogen dioxide, phosgene, sulfuric acid, sulfur dioxide, toluene, trichloroethene, trochlopropane, and xylene. Many of these chemical compounds have been found during past air sampling. Burn pits may have been an acceptable practice in the past, however today’s solid waste contain materials that were not present in the past that can create hazardous compounds such as those listed above. Open burning may only be practical when it is the only available option and should be only used in the interim until other ways of disposal can be found. This interim fix should not be years, but more in the order of months.
4. In my professional opinion, there is an acute health hazard for individuals. There is also the possibility for chronic health hazards associated with the smoke; thus the information is being made a permanent part of each Airman’s medical record. I base this assessment on the data that I have reviewed and on-site smoke plume assessments (boots on the ground). My background includes a Doctor of Philosophy in Enginnering (Environmenmtal), registered and licensed as a Professional Enginner in Arkansas and Utah respectively and seventeen years of conducting health risk assessments.
I am writing this memo to translate what I see is an operartional healthy risk to those that have been, are now and will be deployed to Balad AB (LSAA). It is my recommendation that enginnering controls, such as the anticipated incinerators, should be expedited to solve this problem.
I was always under the impression the Military took care of the sons and daughters we sent them. I couldn’t have been more wrong! Someone please email me when and if this issue is ever resolved.
The IBEW loses Sister Katharina (Kat) Engnell, a licensed journeyman electrician from Local 46 in Seattle, Washington. Engell was electrocuted and died on the job on November 20, 2008 at the Saint Gobain glass plant.
