West Virginia Soldiers’ Lawsuits Dismissed

WHEELING – Citing jurisdictional concerns, U.S. District Judge Frederick P. Stamp Jr. has dismissed two separate lawsuits filed by 47 National Guard members who allege they were exposed to toxic chemicals while in Iraq.

The soldiers, most of whom were members of the 1092nd Engineering Battalion of the West Virginia National Guard headquartered in Moundsville, filed the lawsuits last year against Kellogg Brown and Root Services Inc. and KBR Technical Services.

Weirton attorney Michael Simon served as counsel on one of the two lawsuits, while Moundsville attorney Jeff Kessler served as counsel on the other. Kessler initially filed his lawsuit in Marshall County Circuit Court; the case later was moved to district court in Wheeling.

The soldiers allege in the lawsuits that they were exposed to sodium dichromate in spring 2003 while stationed at the Qarmat Ali water plant in Iraq. U.S. troops provided security for those working to restore operations at the plant.

Sodium dichromate is a toxic chemical that was used at the site as an anti-corrosive agent. It contains nearly pure hexavalent chromium, a highly potent carcinogen and mutagenic substance.

The lawsuits suggest the defendants knew or should have known about both contamination at the site and the dangers of exposure to hexavalent chromium. It also asserts the companies concealed facts about the dangers of the contamination and exposure to the toxic substance at the water plant.

Stamp’s rulings, entered late Thursday, did not address the lawsuits’ specific allegations but instead noted West Virginia is not the appropriate venue in which to try the cases.

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