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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.

Defense Spending Bill Calls for Immediate Release of Report; Manchin Builds on Work of Senator Rockefeller and Others

Washington, D.C. – West Virginia National Guard members exposed to a lethal carcinogen in Iraq are one step closer to getting the answers they deserve after U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, included a provision in the Defense Authorization bill to finalize a report into the hazardous situation immediately.

In August 2003, after the invasion of Iraq, 122 West Virginia National Guard troops – along with servicemembers from Indiana, Oregon, and units from a few other states – were exposed to the potentially lethal levels of the sodium dichromate while protecting the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Facility, an installation under the oversight of defense contractor KBR. Several servicemembers have experienced major health problems in the wake of their exposure and at least two Indiana servicemembers have died from cancer.

The Department of Defense issued a partial report in September 2009, but key questions remain unanswered because the release of the second half of the report has been overdue since late 2010.

“These brave servicemembers and their families have waited far too long for answers,” Senator Manchin said. “They deserve to know the truth about what happened to them and why. They also deserve to know that their government and their elected representatives in Congress will do everything possible to make sure they – and all our veterans – get the respect and help they deserve. I hope that this report finally sheds light on the truth these brave servicemembers deserve and have deserved for years.”

Senator Manchin is carrying forward the effort of several other Senators – including fellow West Virginia Senator Jay Rockefeller – who have long worked to bring justice to the servicemembers and their families. Senator Manchin’s contribution to this long-standing effort came during the defense bill “markup,” in which Senators on the committee negotiate the bill’s language. Senator Manchin successfully worked with his Democratic and Republican colleagues to include a provision that would require the Department of Defense to report to the servicemembers, their families and the American people about what happened in the Qarmat Ali water treatment facility. The bill requires the Defense Department to submit the report 60 days after the bill becomes law.

“The 122 members of the West Virginia National Guard who faced exposure in Iraq should receive high level attention and assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs to see if they are at risk, and I fought to secure access for testing and care,” said Rockefeller, who is the longest serving member on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.  “It’s extremely important for every West Virginia Guardsmen who served at Qarmat Ali to go to the VA for the health care they deserve.  I’m also proud that Senator Manchin is pushing to get to the truth about this incident for Guardsmen and their families.  We must never stop working to make sure that our troops and veterans receive the care they need, including for the brave members of our West Virginia National Guard.”

Rockefeller is the former Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a leader on issues to improve veterans’ care.

After members of the West Virginia National Guard were notified in 2008 of possible sodium dichromate exposure, Rockefeller fought hard to make sure that the DoD and the VA were notifying and testing soldiers, and that they had the contact information for those Guard members at their disposal.  He secured VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki’s commitment to provide specialized testing and care for soldiers when needed.

More than 900 soldiers and Army Corp civilians provided protection at the site. West Virginia National Guard’s 1092nd Engineer Battalion, along with Guard units from Indiana and Oregon worked as part of Operation RIO to guard the facility, which treated water used in fracking in Iraq’s oil fields.  Toxic dust was reportedly 4 feet deep in some areas. Soldiers have testified that when they were working on the site, they began having nosebleeds, nausea, trouble breathing and started coughing up blood.

Full text of the provision, with additional background, is below:

In 2003, U.S. service members, including members of the National Guard, serving in Iraq were exposed to sodium dichromate, a hazardous and carcinogenic chemical, at the Qarmat Ali Water Injection Facility.  Since then several members of Congress have requested information regarding this issue.  In a letter to the Secretary of Defense, dated September 15, 2009, this committee requested an evaluation of the adequacy and timeliness of the Department’s efforts to identify and contact soldiers who were or may have been exposed to sodium dichromate to determine if those soldiers were experiencing medical problems related to the exposure and to ensure that they have access to appropriate care.  The committee also asked the Secretary to identify any additional actions that may be necessary and specify whether any require authorization or funding from Congress.  On September 17, 2010, the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Defense responded on behalf of the Secretary and provided a report entitled, “Exposure to Sodium Dichromate at Qarmat Ali in 2003:  Part 1 – Evaluation of Efforts to Identify, Contact and Provide Access to Care for Personnel”.  The response also explained that a “second part of the review, which is based on a requested originating from seven of your colleagues on the United States Senate Democratic Policy Committee to review the Army and contractor actions taken at the Qarmat Ali facility in 2003” was underway and that a draft report was expected to be issued by the end of 2010.   To date, this second report has not been received.

The committee believes it is important to have a full accounting of any environmental assessments performed by the contractor prior to service members entering the site; an assessment of the health risks associated with exposure to hazardous chemicals at Qarmat Ali prior to site encapsulation; and to better understand the site assessment by the Defense Health Board.

Accordingly, the committee directs the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the second part of the review is completed expeditiously and submitted to the Congressional defense committees within 60 days.

Video is available on Pathfire. Instructions for accessing Pathfire: http://democrats.senate.gov/tv/pathfire/manchin.pdf

Web video is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2D6nmyAmHw

Audio is available here: http://demradio.senate.gov/actualities/manchin/061711_MANCHIN.mp3

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Visit Oregonlive.com for full story

Julie Sullivan, The Oregonian

The Pentagon legally covers dozens of military contractors doing dangerous jobs at home, such as making anthrax vaccine or disposing of mustard gas. But the immunity for harm granted KBR in Iraq appears to be far broader — and potentially costlier to taxpayers — according to documents released by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer on Wednesday.

The disclosure comes as The Oregonian independently obtained a Feb. 18, 2010, letter from KBR managers reporting that the total cost of soldiers’ claims against the contractor could exceed $150

“KBR does not believe that the company is liable for any damages,” KBR’s Michael Morrow wrote to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. But he wrote that KBR continues to incur research and legal fees, and would bill the government for allowable costs not paid by insurance.

Who pays when a military contractor causes harm has become a key issue in an Oregon lawsuit in which 34 National Guard soldiers have sued KBR. They allege that while guarding KBR’s operations, they were exposed to a rust-fighter piled around the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in 2003. It contained the carcinogen hexavalent chromium, and soldiers say they suffer serious health problems from it.

KBR collected $2.5 billion in its no-bid contract to get Iraqi oil flowing.

A deposition filed last summer in U.S. District Court in Portland revealed that on the eve of the Iraq invasion, a KBR attorney won a secret clause ensuring that U.S. taxpayers, and not KBR, would pay in the event of any death or injury. In September, Democratic Reps. Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader, and Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley introduced a bill in both houses to boost congressional oversight of defense contracts.

Blumenauer also sought a list of contracts with similar immunity provisions from the Pentagon. On Nov. 24, Undersecretary of Defense Frank Kendall released a list of more than 120 contracts issued by the Army, Air Force, Navy and other defense agencies since 2004. They are posted on Blumenauer’s website.
To date, at least one case has resulted in lawsuits or taxpayer fees. In December 2008, Emergent BioDefense Operations Lansing Inc. sought $1.5 million from the Army for 14 lawsuits arising from its manufacture of the anthrax vaccine. The Pentagon deemed many of the claims ineligible and paid $646,000 in two of the lawsuits.

The only other immunity clause granted a contractor in Iraq besides KBR went to Raytheon Technical Service Co. for chemical, radiological, nuclear and high-explosive expertise. It did not result in any lawsuit or taxpayer legal cost, according to the release.

“This is a victory for transparency,” Blumenauer said in a statement. “Many of these documents reveal a diligent, responsible process for work carried out in the United States that protects taxpayers from liability in cases of contractor negligence. However, these documents also suggest that contracts associated with our Iraq war efforts do not contain similar protections.”

Blumenauer said he remained concerned that “KBR’s contract may be much more loosely drawn, removing incentives for the contractor to behave responsibly and exposing taxpayers to enormous liability. Taxpayers should not be on the hook for KBR’s reckless actions that exposed our National Guard troops to harm.”

KBR’s specific agreement remains classified.

The Oregon Democrats have proposed legislation to require congressional notification in all cases where the Department of Defense accepts liability, remove the protection for harm caused by a defense contractor’s own gross negligence or misconduct, and prevent what Blumenauer calls “indemnification creep.”

Allison Stanger, a political science professor at Middlebury College in Vermont and author of “One Nation Under Contract, the Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy,” said most Americans don’t realize the transformation that has taken place in their government.

About 82 percent of the Pentagon’s current budget goes to contractors and grants, along with 83 percent of the State Department’s and 99 percent of USAID’s net operation costs. Every federal contract and grant needs to be managed, she said, yet the government currently lacks the capacity for appropriate oversight.

“Contractors are doing the functions government used to do but are not bound by the same rules and ethics,” Stanger said. “When you privatize government functions and you don’t talk about the unintended consequences, you’re in very dangerous and uncharted territory.”

Julie Sullivan

Documents now uncovered in the lawsuit by several soldiers against Kellog, Brown and Root (KBR) show that KBR managers were aware of alarming blood and urine test results of site personnel subject to “significant exposure” to sodium dichromate.  These documents are in direct contradiction to KBR’s long-held position  there was no medical evidence of harm related to soldiers who are suing the company for their exposure to sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant in Iraq in 2003.

Minutes of an October 2, 2003 meeting of KBR managers reveal that, in addition to the damaging test results themselves, KBR knew that sodium dichromate had contaminated the soil, was “being spread all over the place,” and was even still in use at the site.  The minutes also confirm that KBR was aware that sodium dichromate was present at Qarmat Ali as early as May 2003.  KBR had been contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense to restore the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant as part of the U.S. goverment’s Iraqi reconstruction efforts.

KBR also knew about the toxic and carcinogenic health effects of sodium dichromate. KBR noted that the chemical was already “presenting a problem” to members of the public, including children, in the surrounding villages and the corporation also expressed concerns about being held liable for the resulting health problems.

Doyle Raizner LLP is currently representing U.S. National Guardsmen and members of the British Royal Air Force in their lawsuits against KBR for exposure to sodium dichromate at Qarmat Ali.

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Minutes from October 2, 2003 meeting of KBR managers show their knowledge of safety hazard being posed by sodium dichromate, concern over human exposure to the chemical, and fear of being held responsible.

Minutes from September 16, 2003 meeting of KBR managers showing alarming medical test results from exposure to sodium dichromate.

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]]> http://kbrlitigation.com/uncovered-docs-confirm-kbr-knew-soldiers-exposed-to-dangerous-levels-of-sodium-dichromate/feed/ 0 http://kbrlitigation.com/a-second-setback-for-kbr-motion-to-dismiss-burn-pit-cases-rejected/ http://kbrlitigation.com/a-second-setback-for-kbr-motion-to-dismiss-burn-pit-cases-rejected/#comments Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:48:57 +0000 Doyle Raizner llp http://www.kbrlitigation.com/?p=603 By Amanda Halter / Doyle Raizner LLP Military personnel injured by the poisonous fumes emanating from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan had a victory yesterday when United States District Judge Roger Titus rejected KBR’s Motion to Dismiss their lawsuits. As they have repeatedly in other lawsuits, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, KBR argued that [...]


]]> By Amanda Halter / Doyle Raizner LLP

Military personnel injured by the poisonous fumes emanating from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan had a victory yesterday when United States District Judge Roger Titus rejected KBR’s Motion to Dismiss their lawsuits.

As they have repeatedly in other lawsuits, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, KBR argued that it need not answer in the courts for its actions harming Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Specifically KBR argued that the courts have no jurisdiction to hear the burn pit cases because they present a “political question” that must be be left to the other branches of government.  In a second defense, KBR argued that the company was essentially functioning as the government (even though KBR and its subsidiaries are private corporations making oodles of money off of American taxpayers) and therefore entitled to the same immunity from suit as the government under a creative theory of “derivative sovereign immunity.”  Finally, they argued that they could not be sued because they were engaged in “combatant activities.”

In declining to rule in KBR’s favor, the court noted that KBR’s defensive arguments are in tension with the concerns of “soldiers and civilians injured from wartime logistical activities performed by hired hands allegedly acting contrary to military-defined structures.”  Moreover, “Courts must be prepared to adjudicate cases that ultimately expose defense contractors to appropriate liability where it is demonstrated that they acted outside the parameters established by the military and, as a result, failed to exercise proper case in minimizing the risk to service members and civilians.”

The court’s decision paves the way for the plaintiffs to proceed with carefully limited discovery.  The court did, however, leave open the possibility for KBR to raise its defenses again after discovery, so this will not be the last time KBR claims that it need not answer to American citizens in American courts.

Still, this is a meaningful victory for the many burn pit victims and is the second time in recent weeks that KBR has suffered a litigation setback.  On August 30, 2010, a federal district judge in Oregon rejected KBR’s immunity arguments in a suit by several American soldiers injured at the Qarmat Ali Water Treatment Plant in Iraq where KBR knowingly exposed them to the potent human carcinogen, sodium dichromate.

INDIANAPOLIS — After their lawsuit was dismissed in Indiana, attorneys for a group of National Guard soldiers have refiled it in Texas.

The lawsuit against a defense contractor claims the company knew of the presence of a deadly toxin at a site the soldiers were guarding in Iraq but waited before telling anyone.

The lawsuit against KBR was filed Tuesday in a federal court in Houston.

Brought by a group of attorneys led by Houston-based Mike Doyle, the lawsuit was dismissed in February by a federal judge in Indiana. The judge ruled the court lacks “personal jurisdiction” to take up the matter and did not consider the merits of the lawsuit.

The soldiers, about 140 from Indiana, say they were exposed to sodium dichromate, an anti-corrosive that was likely dusted across the wind-swept desert near Basra when Iraqis cut open storage containers as they fled the site at the beginning of the 2003 American-led invasion.

Known carcinogen

The soldiers were guarding Qar-mat Ali, a plant being operated by Houston-based KBR where water was pumped underground to boost oil production.

Sodium dichromate contains hexavalent chromium, a known human carcinogen. Exposure to the toxin, experts say, can cause nosebleeds and severe respiratory problems, as well as heightened risks of cancer, and kidney and liver diseases.

The soldiers’ lawyers charge that KBR was aware of the risk but kept it secret. KBR has said it collected air samples that showed low levels of the chemical. Doyle’s team also is representing soldiers in cases pending in Oregon and West Virginia.

One of the exposed soldiers, Lt. Col. James Gentry, 52, of Mitchell, Ind., died in November. Gentry, a nonsmoker, was diagnosed in 2006 with a rare form of lung cancer. Military doctors say it most likely was caused by the exposure.

“Only the good Lord knows what happened at that site,” said Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, Indiana’s top-ranking National Guard general, at the funeral of Gentry, who commanded the group including soldiers from a battalion based in Jasper, Ind., and Tell City, Ind.

Another soldier, David Moore, 42, of Dubois, Ind., died in 2008.

For Full Article

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.

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National Guardsmen suing KBR for chemical exposure

December 30, 2009 Wednesday
NBC Nightly News 6:30 PM EST NBC

NBC News Transcripts
ANCHORS: BRIAN WILLIAMS
REPORTERS: LISA MYERS

We’re back and we have an NBC News investigation tonight that takes us back to Iraq in 2003, after the combat phase of the war was over. American troops were working alongside contractors from private corporations, racing to get that nation’s oil flowing again, as you’ll recall. Tonight we bring you the story of some Army National Guardsmen who are suing the defense contractor KBR, accusing the company of putting them in a different kind of danger in the war zone. Here is our senior investigative corespondent Lisa Myers.

Mr. LARRY ROBERTA: Independence Hall.

LISA MYERS reporting:

When National Guardsman Larry Roberta went to Iraq, he expected sandstorms, physical hardship, perhaps even combat. What he didn’t expect was this: orange dust all over the place at a plant where his unit was assigned to provide security for contractors working for Kellogg Brown and Root, KBR. The workers were repairing the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant, needed to supply water to Iraqi oil fields.

Mr. ROBERTA: You could taste stuff in the air that–it had a really strange metallic taste.

MYERS: Roberta and others say the dust was throughout the plant and the grounds, and permeated the air during sandstorms.

Mr. ROBERTA: And it blew up in my face and on my chicken patty and my mouth and stuff like that. I didn’t really think a whole lot of it, other than it tasted really bad, and made me throw up and burned.

MYERS: Another Guardsman, Captain Russ Kimberling, says he asked KBR officials what the orange dust was.

Captain RUSS KIMBERLING: And what we got from them was it’s a mild irritant.

MYER: The orange dust actually was a highly toxic chemical, sodium dichromate, which had been used by the Iraqis prior to the war to prevent corrosion in pipes. Scientists have found that the chemical can cause lung cancer in humans. There were hundreds of bags of it at the plant, clearly labeled. Six years later, several Guardsmen who spent time at the site have reported rashes, perforated septums and severe respiratory problems. Former Lieutenant Colonel James Gentry developed a rare lung cancer. First Sergeant David Moore developed lung disease.

Larry Roberta, who hiked up Mount Sinai before he went to Iraq, now struggles to catch his breath when he walks. He has serious stomach and liver issues, migraines and acute respiratory problems.

Mr. ROBERTA: You almost feel like you’re–like you’re drowning. Like you want to breath but you just can’t.

MYERS: A KBR spokesman says the company immediately notified the Army as soon as it discovered there was sodium dichromate contamination at the plant. That, the company says, was in late July 2003. But an internal KBR document says a company technician actually identified the chemical at the site in May. Yet another KBR document warns of potential contamination at the site, and suggests testing and cleanup. It’s dated June 21st, more than a month before the Army was alerted. It wasn’t until late August that the Guardsmen became aware of the danger, and then only because they saw images like this, KBR workers wearing white chemical suits.

Capt. KIMBERLING: They were in full protective chemical gear, you know, from head to toe. I kind of looked at one of my men and just said, `This can’t be good, can it?’

MYERS: These and other Guardsmen are now suing KBR, charging that the company knowingly endangered their lives. KBR strongly denies wrongdoing. The company says it was the Army’s responsibility to ensure the site was free of environmental hazards and that tests done by the Army concluded that no soldier encountered a significant inhalation exposure. The company also disputes claims that the chemical made Guardsmen sick. We went to one of the foremost experts on sodium dichromate, Dr. Herman Gibb.

KBR says that there was simply no evidence that soldiers were harmed by exposure to this chemical.

Dr. HERMAN GIBB: I don’t see how they can say there’s no evidence. I mean, they experienced symptoms that are consistent with sodium dichromate exposure. The exposure must have been fairly significant to be associated with these symptoms.

MYERS: Since our interview, Dr. Gibb has been hired by lawyers representing the Guardsmen to review material for their case. Recently the Army acknowledged that 700 soldiers may have been exposed to the chemical at the plant. The Defense Department is now investigating. David Moore died last year at age 42. James Gentry died the day before Thanksgiving. Larry Roberta struggles just to get through each day.

Capt. KIMBERLING: They said it was a mild irritant. That’s what I told my soldiers, and suck it up and drive on with the–with the mission.

Mr. ROBERTA: IF KBR did now…(clears throat)…excuse me—about this before we were there, it should have been rectified.

MYERS: Lisa Myers, NBC News, Washington.

WILLIAMS: When NBC NIGHTLY NEWS continues in just a moment, who do we admire most these days in this country? Some new poll numbers are out tonight.

Doyle Raizner LLP is proud to represent over 75 National Guardsmen from Indiana, Oregon, and West Virginia fighting to uncover the important truth of what KBR knew about the dangerous risk from exposure to the chemicals at Qarmat Ali and what its managers failed to share with dedicated American and British servicemen serving in Iraq.

Our soldiers, including the commander of the Indiana Guardsmen, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Gentry, understood and accepted the risks of enemy action when serving in harm’s way for their nation, but they had no way to anticipate that KBR’s managers, charged with safely completing the Qarmat Ali project, would not fully share all they knew with the men on ground directly exposed to dangerous toxins spread across the plant. 

At Doyle Raizner LLP, we are proud of the fighting spirit of all our clients, and we are especially proud of the men of the United States Army and Army National Guard who are still carrying on the fight for full exposure of what happened at Qarmat Ali.