Feds look for soldiers likely exposed to toxic chemical in Iraq
By Andrew Clevenger-Staff writer
October 3, 2009
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — More than 1,100 soldiers, including members of the West Virginia National Guard were likely exposed to a highly toxic chemical in southern Iraq in 2003, according to information provided to U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd by the U.S. Defense Department.
Hundreds of those soldiers still may not know they were exposed to the chemical, according to the U.S. Army.
Last month, then-Secretary of the Army Pete Geren wrote to Byrd after the West Virginia Democrat expressed concern about soldiers who may have been exposed to sodium dichromate at the Qarmat Ali water plant outside Basra.
During Project RIO, members of the West Virginia National Guard’s 1092nd Engineering Battalion, as well as guard units from Indiana and Oregon, helped guard the plant while employees from KBR, Inc., repaired the facility, which provided water pumped to the oil fields to create the pressure needed to extract oil from the ground.
Sodium chromate, a known carcinogen, was used to keep the pipes from rusting.
Of the 1,164 soldiers likely exposed, the Department of Defense has confirmed contact with 863, Geren reported. Almost 260 have enrolled in a registry that helps track soldiers with possible exposure, and 154 have undergone medical exams.
“During the last few months we have continued our efforts to identify and contact soldiers who may have been at the site, and have worked with several agencies of the federal government to identify potential health issues and provide the service connection needed to ensure eligibility for care,” Geren wrote.
Geren’s information does not break down the total number of soldiers by state.
On Aug. 3, at a Democratic Policy Committee hearing on the possible exposure at Qarmat Ali, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., put the number of West Virginia guardsmen who had possible exposure at 150.
Earlier this week, the Department of Defense’s Inspector General announced that it would investigate the military’s response to possible exposure and lasting health implications from Qarmat Ali, a move applauded by both Byrd and Rockefeller.
At the August hearing, Russell Powell, a onetime member of the 82nd Airborne Division who served as the West Virginia National Guard unit’s medic in 2003, described how he and other soldiers began having nosebleeds, nausea, difficulty breathing and burning throats and lungs after deploying to the Qarmat Ali facility.
“I questioned one of the KBR workers about the powder and the related medical problems. He told me that his supervisors at KBR told him not to worry about the powder or health problems because we must be allergic to dust,” said Powell, who lives in Moundsville. “I laughed at the explanation, it seemed pretty bogus. After 15 years of working as a medic, I knew there was no way that all of us could be allergic to dust at the same time.”
Powell said he had no idea about the possible cause of his lingering health problems until he got a letter from the West Virginia National Guard earlier this year.
“During the time I was serving in Iraq, I was never informed that our West Virginia platoon, or unit, had been exposed to sodium dichromate while serving at Qarmat Ali. The Army never told us before the mission that there might be a risk of chemical exposure. As a medic, had I known the true nature of the risk, I would have made sure that everyone had personal protection equipment,” he said.
“After leaving Iraq in April 2004, I went to the VA [Veterans Administration] Clinic in Clarksburg, West Virginia, to talk to doctors about my skin rashes, lesions, stomach problems, and nosebleeds. The doctors were unable to determine what caused my problems. Five years passed before I received a letter from the WV National Guard saying that we were exposed [to] sodium dichromate while serving at Qarmat Ali.”
In June, Powell and six other members of the West Virginia National Guard unit filed a lawsuit in the state’s Northern District, alleging that KBR, a former Haliburton subsidiary that was awarded billions of dollars’ worth of no-bid contracts to rebuild Iraq, negligently exposed them to the chemical.
KBR has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Qarmat Ali.
The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, of which Rockefeller is a member, has scheduled a hearing on chemical exposure for Oct. 8. (click HERE for the original article)
