Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

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Taxpayers foot the bill for KBR attorneys at $750 per hour plus other outrageous perks

By Ms Sparky | Filed in CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Politics, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

Wyden: KBR is Wasting Taxpayer Money While Avoiding Responsibility for Exposure of Oregon Guard to Toxic Chemicals

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Washington, D.C. – In a letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) called on the DoD to investigate the excessive expenses racked up by the legal team of Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) – a defense contractor that operated in Iraq with the contractual ability to pass all of their legal costs to American taxpayers. A lawsuit against KBR brought by a group of Oregon National Guard members assigned to provide security for KBR personnel claims that KBR management knew that the soldiers were being exposed to toxic chemicals while working at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant. Read the remainder of this entry »

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Tags: David Sugerman, Jeff Raizner, KBR, Mike Doyle, Oregon National Guard, Qarmat Ali, RIO-KBR, Secretary Leon Panetta, Sen. Ron Wyden

Lawyers for KBR and Oregon veterans file dueling briefs (Updated w/links to documents)

By Ms Sparky | Filed in CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

Mike Francis – (The Oregonian) – May 4, 2012 – Lawyers in the lawsuit filed by a set of Oregon National Guard soldiers against KBR Inc., the Houston-based military contractor, have filed dueling briefs following the soldiers’ assertion that KBR knowingly concealed a key document from the soldiers.

In a 41-page filing in U.S. District Court in Portland last week, KBR’s lawyers called the charge “completely, utterly and demonstrably false.”

The filing went on to cite multiple occasions when KBR, the plaintiffs’ lawyers, witnesses and the Army discussed contingency planning for restoring Iraq’s oil flow in the months leading up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Further, according to the response, the contingency planning documents do not discuss the possibility of sodium dichromate contamination.

KBR is calling for U.S. District Judge Paul Papak to deny the soldiers’ motion and to impose sanctions on their lawyers for filing the motion in the first place.

In reply, the soldiers’ lawyers Thursday filed a reply insisting that KBR did indeed conceal or fail to disclose some key information during the lawyers’ discovery process.

They said key witnesses gave misleading answers to questions about the water treatment plant at Qarmat Ali, in southern Iraq. They also repeated their call for sanctions against KBR.

The lawsuit’s roots lie in the spring and summer of 2003, when Oregon National Guard soldiers and other U.S. and British troops provided security for KBR contractors who were trying to restore a damaged water treatment plant used to help produce Iraqi oil.

Among the substances at the plant was a carcinogenic compound called sodium dichromate, which contains hexavalent chromium and is used to prevent corrosion. (Click HERE for original article)

Tags: Hexavalent Chromium, Judge Paul Papak, KBR, Oregon National Guard, Qarmat Ali, Sodium Dichromate

Oregon case against KBR is streamlined

By Ms Sparky | Filed in A Soldiers Story, CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

Mike Francis - (The Oregonian) - April 10, 2012 – The suit brought by several dozen Oregon National Guard soldiers against military contractor KBR Inc. has been downsized by the federal judge hearing the case.

In an effort to reduce the number of plaintiffs to a manageable number, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak has ordered trial to proceed in October with 12 plaintiffs — four chosen by lawyers for each side, and four selected by the court.

Separately, one plaintiff, Michael O’Rielly, has withdrawn from the case at his own request.

That leaves 21 soldiers whose case against KBR will be set aside while the trial of the first dozen proceeds in Portland this fall.

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KBR May Have Knowingly Poisoned U.S. Soldiers in Iraq, But It Won’t Pay a Penny

By Ms Sparky | Filed in CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

"Where Community Matters" (photo from POGO Website)

Dana Liebelson – (POGO) – April 5, 2012 – Lawyers representing U.S. soldiers poisoned at a water treatment plant in Iraq have presented strong evidence that contractor Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) knew personnel stationed there would be exposed to a carcinogenic chemical, according to The Associated Press. But as POGO reported earlier, KBR’s contract with the U.S. Army contains a classified provision that lets KBR off the hook for damage, injury, and death occurring at its worksites–so even if KBR is proved to be at fault, U.S. taxpayers will be footing the bill. Read the remainder of this entry »

Tags: DoDIG*, Hexavalent Chromium, Indiana National Guard, KBR, Oregon National Guard, POGO, Qarmat Ali, Sodium Dichromate, West Virginia National Guard

Complaint says KBR knew of Iraq toxin (updated with docs)

By Ms Sparky | Filed in A Soldiers Story, CHEMICAL AND OTHER EXPOSURES, GOV. CONTRACTORS, KBR, LAWSUITS, Lawsuits Against KBR, Qarmat Ali Lawsuits, Reports & Investigations, RIO-KBR, Sodium Dichromate @ Qarmat Ali

Post updated on 4-5-2012 with links to docs-see below

Nigel Duara - (Associated Press AP) – PORTLAND, Ore. – April 4th, 2012 – A document uncovered by attorneys for soldiers sickened at an Iraqi water treatment plant shows a military contractor knew a deadly toxin was being stockpiled and used in massive quantities at the facility, despite the contractor’s repeated denials that it had knowledge of the toxin’s presence until soldiers fell ill.

The document, an environmental assessment that Kellogg, Brown and Root completed for the U.S. government before the invasion of Iraq, was finalized in January 2003- a full five months before the company said it had found evidence of the toxic material, sodium dichromate.

The documents show KBR knew Iraqis ordered 8 million pounds of sodium dichromate to keep pipes from corroding, and that the company expected lax environmental maintenance and “lamentable” conditions.

Phone messages and emails left Wednesday for KBR were not immediately returned.

Sodium dichromate is an anticorrosive compound that can cause skin and breathing problems and cancer.

Read the remainder of this entry »