The major defense contractor KBR Inc is being sued by 16 Indiana National Guard soldiers. The suit claims its employees knowingly allowed the soldiers to be exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq five years ago.
The suit alleges the soldiers from a Tell City-based unit were exposed to a sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, while protecting an Iraqi water pumping plant shortly after the U.S. invasion in 2003. The suit also claims that the Houston-based KBR knew at least as early as May 2003 that the plant was contaminated, but concealed the danger from civilian workers and 139 soldiers.
Suspiria divx Merlin’s Apprentice download The chemical, used to remove pipe corrosion, is especially dangerous because it contains hexavalent chromium, which is known to cause birth defects and cancer, particularly lung cancer, the lawsuit said. The cancer can take years to develops. Some of the soldiers who served at the site now have respiratory system tumors associated with hexavalent chromium exposure.
Last Chance Harvey release Clueless hd When Guard members and American civilians working at the plant began to have nosebleeds, KBR managers told them they were simply caused by the dry desert air, the lawsuit says.
The work was not shut down until September 2003 after KBR managers in full environmental protective gear inspected the plant while workers and Guard members remained unprotected.