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Iraq veteran is cancer ‘timebomb’

AN Iraq War veteran from Skegby has spoken of his fear he may develop cancer as a result of the deadly chemicals he was exposed to while serving in Basra.

Cpl Jon Caunt (35) undertook five tours of Iraq between 2003 and 2007 when he and other members of the RAF Regiment were exposed to a distinctive orange powder at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant.

British troops, who were working alongside US forces and staff from private contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), did not know the orange powder was in fact Sodium Dichromate, which contains a cancer-causing compound.

It is banned in many countries and had been used to stop pipes rusting.

The soldiers were responsible for restoring the plant so Iraqi people could resume oil production in a bid to rebuild their economy after the war – but they had no protection from the chemical and would often sleep on the ground surrounded by it.

Cpl Caunt said: “You have got to understand that we were breathing it in, we were firing in it and it was blown up by the wind – this stuff was everywhere.”

It was only when he was later contacted by Sgt Andy Tosh and underwent a medical examination in April this year that he became aware of the serious threat the exposure had to his health.

He said: “Until I went for the medical, I did not realise how serious it was. When I got the results back, I did not want to look at them.”

Cpl Caunt’s medical revealed he already had the symptoms of several diseases, including respiratory, stomach and skin diseases.

“I have had skin complaints for a while, but I just dismissed it and never really thought anything of it until this came up,” he said.

“I am still fit because I am still serving but I lose my breath a lot more than I used to. There are quite a few of the RAF Regiment lads who are ill and it’s down to the exposure.”

Cpl Caunt fears he could be a ‘cancer time bomb’.

“It could be next year or it could be in 10 years – let’s hope it never happens,” he said. “But it’s a worry I have got to live with I’m afraid.”

Represented by US law firm Doyle Raizner, Cpl Caunt is now one of more than 100 British and American National Guard soldiers to have launched a lawsuit against American firm KBR – who they say knew there was a danger but did not inform them.

“All we want is annual medical screening and if and when we do start to show signs of illness that it is all paid for,” he said.

“It is not about monetary compensation, it’s about answers. Why were we there when they knew that chemicals were all over the ground?”

Officials at KBR have denied the claims, describing them as ‘unproven, incorrect and baseless allegations’.

A spokesman has said: “KBR is proud of its work in Iraq and is honoured that the US military repeatedly has chosen KBR to perform the important work of supporting US troops overseas.

“KBR remains committed to providing the US military with the high-quality service for which we have consistently been recognised.

“The company also remains committed to conducting its business with transparency and integrity.”

The MOD declined to comment when contacted by Chad.

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Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian

On Tuesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied KBR’s request for an unusual early review that could have stalled or stopped the veterans’ lawsuit against it. Thirty six Oregon vets allege they were exposed to a cancer-causing chemical while guarding KBR and Halliburton operations early in the Iraq war and suffer serious health problems as a result. The ruling means attorneys will prepare for a jury trial in Portland later next year. The Oregon case has already proceeded further than similar suits in other states and shone an unprecedented spotlight into the secretive business of military contracting.

Earlier this year, U.S. District Magistrate Paul Papak  twice denied KBR motions to dismiss the case. In September, KBR attorneys sought an appeal by the higher court, arguing that the case raises unique issues that should be resolved before discovery and trial. Chiefly: whether — and to what extent — wartime contractors can be subjected to lawsuits back home. KBR attorneys argued that immediate review by the 9th Circuit would resolve how this and similar cases should proceed. They noted that federal judges elsewhere dismissed all claims against KBR, unlike Papak.

The 9th Circuit’s three-judge panel ruled Tuesday that unresolved questions of fact require the case to go forward in district court.

Veterans’ Portland attorney David Sugerman  called the rulings “good news.”

“There is a lot to learn by developing a full record and allowing us to go forward at trial allowing evidence to be heard,” said Sugerman, “and the court and the jury to decide the case based on that information.”

KBR issued a statement: “This is a procedural ruling with which we are disappointed. Regardless, this ruling does not change the facts of the case. KBR’s position remains that no soldier was injured nor has any soldier demonstrated an injury. The medical evidence confirms these facts.”

Beginning in May 2003, hundreds of U.S. and British troops guarded KBR workers as they restore Iraqi oil flows. At the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant, soldiers were exposed to a rust-fighter that contains hexavalent chromium. Exposure to 40 micrograms of hexavalent chromium per cubic meter — about the size of a grain of salt in about a cubic yard — has shown a high increase in lung, stomach, brain, renal, bladder and bone cancers. Dozens of National Guard soldiers have sued in several states, citing deaths and health problems.

Depositions and documents exchanged in the Oregon case have revealed that the eve of the Iraq invasion, government attorneys signed an agreement with KBR that taxpayers — and not the contractor — would pay for any harm caused by the KBR operations. That immunity clause, still classified, prompted Oregon’s congressional delegates to demand an accounting of all military contractors granted immunity for hazardous work. Oregon Democrats also filed bills in both houses to increase oversight in future contracts.

On Tuesday, KBR restated the company’s position that, “the Army was responsible for confirming the (Qarmat Ali) property was free of all environmental and war hazards before sending KBR to work on the facility. KBR believes it has the facts and law on its side and we look forward to continuing our vigorous defense.”

Sugerman said his clients, who include former and current Oregon Guardsmen, have been remarkably patient with the legal proceedings now in a second year.

“These guys fought as ground troops,” he said. “They know sometimes you have to lay in for the long haul.”

In a terse one-line opinion, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today dismissed KBR’s appeal of Oregon federal judge Paul Papak’s ruling rejecting KBR’s position that the private military contractor is immune from suit.

The decision represents a monumental step forward for the several dozen Oregon National Guardsmen who filed suit against KBR for exposing them to sodium dichromate at the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant in Iraq in 2003.  The soldiers were providing security to KBR personnel paid by the government to restore the plant.  With KBR’s mid-stream Ninth Circuit Appeal now out of the way, the suit is on track for trial.

9th Circuit Dismisses Appeal

First UK Iraq Vet Sues Contractor KBR Over Alleged Toxic Exposure

Contractor also accused of misleading British military

HOUSTON, Feb. 4, 2010 – A retired Royal Air Force sergeant joined more than 80 U.S. veterans in litigation against military contractor KBR, Inc. over alleged toxic exposure at a contaminated site near Basra, Iraq, the Doyle Raizner LLP law firm announced today.

In an amended lawsuit filed today in West Virginia federal court, Andrew M. Tosh claims KBR endangered U.K. and U.S. military personnel by exposing them in 2003 to sodium dichromate – an anticorrosive chemical containing nearly pure hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen – at a water plant they guarded in Qarmat Ali, Iraq. KBR was contracted to restore the water plant to supply water to Iraqi oil wells.

According to the lawsuit, military personnel guarding the site were “unprotected against the hazards of sodium dichromate known to KBR’s managers for months and months.” KBR also is accused of manipulating air and soil testing at Qarmat Ali and of intentionally avoiding blood tests that might have confirmed the presence and extent of hexavalent chromium toxicity in civilian workers showing exposure symptoms.

The lawsuit alleges, “In fact, despite the demonstrated knowledge of elevated chromium levels in the admittedly inadequate blood testing of KBR’s civilian employees, KBR’s managers apparently deliberately told British Forces exactly the opposite.”

Tosh, 44, of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, UK, was deployed with his squadron to Basra, Iraq in May 2003 on force protection duties. His service at the Qarmat Ali site included numerous 24-hour shifts during a five-month period. A 23-year veteran of the RAF Regiment, he suffered from skin rashes during and after his deployment and prolonged chest infections while in Iraq and on return to the UK.

Tosh said, “We now know that the dusty rust-colored substance at Qarmat Ali was extraordinarily dangerous. Whilst afraid for my own long-term health and that of the numerous other RAF Regiment troops I served with in Iraq, I believe KBR management misled the militaries of the U.S. and the U.K. Too many of the men who served at Qarmat Ali were sick whilst there or became ill later. This cannot be coincidental.”

An internal KBR memo from August 8, 2003 noted that “60 percent” of the company’s civilian contractors at the site were showing symptoms of sodium dichromate exposure. Yet, shortly thereafter, the British military reported that “[b]iological monitoring test results to which we have been given access for contractors and American forces have been within normal limits.” The British report then estimated that the “environmental hazards” would have “no effects” on military personnel guarding Qarmat Ali.

Tosh is represented by Michael P. Doyle, Jeffrey L. Raizner, and Patrick M. Dennis, of Doyle Raizner LLP, of Houston, and Michael G. Simon, of Frankovitch, Anetakis, Colantonio & Simon, of Weirton, W.V. Doyle Raizner LLP and co-counsel represent 81 Iraq veterans in three cases pending in federal courts in Indiana, West Virginia and Oregon.

Doyle said about half of the veterans pursuing legal claims still show signs of sodium dichromate exposure, ranging from persistent rashes and nose bleeds to severe respiratory impacts such as tumors. Two cancer deaths – including that of the commanding officer of an Indiana National Guard unit serving at Qarmat Ali, Lt. Col. James Gentry – are attributable in whole or part to the exposure, he said.

“Through this litigation and the Congressional investigation,” Doyle said, “the evidence has begun to show that KBR risked the lives of the U.S. and U.K. military personnel guarding the facility. We allege, contrary to KBR’s dubious claims, that the company continues to conceal the truth about Qarmat Ali.”

The lawsuit seeks medical monitoring costs, future medical costs, and damages related to physical impairment and disfigurement and loss of earning capacity, among other claims.

The Tosh case is “Dale Gallaher, et al., v. KBR, Inc., et al.,” in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, Civil Action No. 5:09-cv-69.

More information about the Qarmat Ali litigation is available through Doyle Raizner at www.kbrlitigation.com.

Media Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for Doyle Raizner LLP, 281.703.6000; info@powersmediaworks.com.