Soldiers sue KBR over exposure to carcinogen while in Iraq

INDIANAPOLIS – Sixteen Indiana National Guard soldiers filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against a defense contractor they say knowingly allowed them to be exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq.

The suit filed against KBR Inc. in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis alleges the soldiers from a Tell City-based unit were exposed to a carcinogen while protecting an Iraqi water pumping plant shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

The 23-page complaint claims that Houston-based KBR knew at least as early as May 2003 that the plant was contaminated with sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, but concealed the danger from civilian workers and Guardsmen.

The lawsuit says sodium dichromate, an industrial chemical used to remove pipe corrosion, is especially dangerous because it contains nearly pure hexavalent chromium, which is known to cause cancer – particularly lung cancer – and birth defects.

The lawsuit seeks reimbursement for medical costs, monitoring for cancer and other health problems and unspecified monetary damages.

KBR issued a statement Wednesday denying the allegations.

“KBR’s commitment to the safety and security of all employees, the troops and those we serve, is the company’s top priority,” the statement said. “The company takes issue with the assertion that KBR knowingly harmed troops and was responsible for an unsafe condition. That is simply untrue. Further the company in no way condones any action that would compromise the safety of those we serve.”

The lawsuit, however, alleges that KBR knew of the contamination and downplayed the danger.

When Guard members and American civilians working at the plant began to have bloody noses – a symptom of acute hexavalent chromium poisoning – KBR managers told them their nosebleeds were simply caused by the dry desert air, the lawsuit says.
Some of the soldiers now have respiratory system tumors associated with hexavalent chromium exposure, the lawsuit states.

The chemical was found in burst bags around the plant that may have been deliberately left behind by the Iraqi army during the invasion, the lawsuit claims.
Soil testing showed that 1.6 percent of the soil was sodium dichromate at various locations, but KBR said air testing showed safe levels of chromium.

However, the lawsuit said, KBR didn’t do air testing during the windy period in June and July, when the material would have been more stirred.

The lawsuit also claims KBR managers knew as early as March 2003 that the site was contaminated and that a site assessment had been done a month earlier.

By August 2003, some 60 percent of the workers had exposure symptoms, but the work wasn’t shut down until September, after KBR managers in full environmental protective gear inspected the plant while workers and Guard members remained unprotected, the Guard members contend.

The extent of the company’s knowledge of the hazard didn’t become clear until Congressional hearings this June, the lawsuit claims.