Green | June 22, 2008 | 15 comments

Contractors poisoned our troops

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Witnesses linked a highly toxic chemical, sodium dichromate, to illnesses reported by soldiers and workers at an Iraq plant. KBR, the lead contractor on the Qarmat Ali project and one of the largest defense contractors in Iraq was accused of knowingly exposing solders to the chemical, during a senate hearing yesterday.

"These soldiers were bleeding from the nose, spitting blood,” said Danny Langford, an equipment technician from Texas brought to work at the Qarmat Ali Water treatment plant in 2003. “They were sick.”

Even the smallest exposure to sodium dichromate, an orange powdery substance, can cause cancer. The liver and the immune system may also be suppressed.

"Edward Blacke, who served as KBR’s health, safety, and environmental coordinator for the Qarmat Ali project, said he saw soldiers with “continuous bloody noses, spitting up of blood, coughing, irritation of the noses, eyes, throat, and lungs, shortness of breath.”

The Pentagon and KBR dismiss the charges claiming everyone will be fine.
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