The poisoning of our US troops and civilians at Qarmat Ali is a clear example of KBR’s total disregard for the safety of their employees and their client.- Ms Sparky
by Melissa Swan
Posted on November 2, 2009
Related links to this article
- KBR’s statement and News Release on the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant litigation
- Statements from KBR’s Director of Communications and from Attorney for Indiana National Guard members
- Raw Video: Evan Bayh testifies at a Senate Veterans Affairs hearing
- Toxic Tour of Duty: Site History & Chronological Events
- Information from the EPA on Chromium Compounds
- Toxic Tour of Duty: Part 1
(WHAS11)–Russ Kimberling has nearly 2,000 images from Iraq on his computer. They chronicle his duties there as a captain in the Indiana National Guard.
Kimberling now pours over the pictures wondering why he and other soldiers weren’t warned about a yellowish substance in thesand at Qarmat Ali, a water injection plant near Basrah.
Kimberling recently told me, “If it came up they would say don’t worry about it. It’s a mild irritant. It’s not a big deal. You may get a bloody nose. It’s not a problem.”
He says he got that “don’t worry” message from workers with KBR, an American contractor headquartered in Houston, Texas and at the time owned by Halliburton.
KBR was restoring Iraqi oil fields. The guard members were protecting the private contractors.
Clinton Hammack is a retired National Guard soldier from Tell city who says he wasn’t too concerned about what he calls “dirty sand.” He says “You know I didn’t worry about it. I did what I was there to do – take care of the contractor.”
The yellow substance in the sand was later confirmed to be sodium dichromate. The Environmental Protection Agency calls it a human carcinogen.
It was used as an anti-corrosive at the Qarmat Ali plant before the Americans arrived. It may have been spread by Iraqis to sabotage the site at the beginning of the American invasion.
Currently 51 Southern Indiana National Guard members have filed a federal lawsuit against KBR claiming the company knew about the chemical and endangered the soldiers’ health.
Kimberling says one day in Iraq he realized the yellow substance might be more than a mild irritant.
He says, “I remember that day when we jumped out, jumped out of the vehicle. I’m kicking the ground around. I’m kicking the ground and everyone’s in chemical gear all protected but not me or any of the soldiers.”
He says the people in the protective gear were managers from KBR. He remembers thinking at the time, “They know something we don’t and it can’t be good.
Mike Doyle the attorney for the National Guard Members who have filed suit says, “That’s what’s kind of frustrating about it. You have these fellows they have every reason to expect if KBR knew — and they did — there was this poison they’ll tell them about it.” (Link to original article)
Statements from KBR’s Director of Communications
Heather Browne, KBR’s Director of Communications on when the Company was told about Sodium dicromate at Qarmat Ali Water Injection Plant:
It is important to remember that to date the plaintiffs still show no signs of illness consistent with the long-term sodium dichromate exposure they allege. Medical reports by both the U.S. and British Military support this finding as well as findings from the plaintiff’s own doctors.
KBR engineers learned around June 1, 2003, that sodium dichromate was previously used at Qarmat Ali by the Iraqi state-owned Southern Oil Company. The Southern Oil Company had used sodium dichromate as an anti-corrosive agent in the chemical injection process, but it was no longer being used and the water plant was not operational. The June 21, 2003 memo attached to your email reflects KBR’s first awareness that the sodium dichromate used in the past may have contaminated some of the soil surrounding the plant.
As KBR’s efforts at the Qarmat Ali facility continued, it notified USACE about the potential contamination of the soil by sodium dichromate in late July 2003. KBR subsequently worked with the military to conduct air and soil testing to confirm the presence and extent of the contamination. Once contamination was confirmed, KBR received authorization from the military to commence remediation efforts, which it immediately began.
In addition, KBR initiated a medical surveillance program for its workers. The U.S. military and the British military initiated a similar medical surveillance program for military personnel who had been at the plant. The results were negative for signs and symptoms of exposure to sodium dichromate or hexavalent chromium. Regardless, out of abundance of caution, the U.S. Army and KBR decided to discontinue all work at the plant pending additional air and soil testing. The plant subsequent was closed and remained closed until mid-October 2003.
Statements from Attorney for Indiana National Guard members
Mike Doyle, Attorney for Indiana National Guard members in Federal Lawsuit:
“Having spent time recently with Jim Gentry and knowing what the VA has recently confirmed for the US Senate about the health affects of soldiers exposed to hexavalent chromium at KBR’s Qarmat Ali project, KBR’s claim of no ill health effects is contrary to the known facts. KBR has been continually changing its story about what it knew and did about the dangerous chemicals present, and these most recent admissions only came when the previously concealed Kimbro memo was revealed during his testimony this month. There is still no explanation, nor can there ever be, for KBR’s concealing of what it knew for months from Jim Gentry and our soldiers serving in Iraq.” (Link to original article)
