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Will anyone be held responsible for soldiers' exposure to a toxic chemical in Iraq?
It was shocking and infuriating to learn this past week that the U.S. Army may have secretly given a private contractor legal immunity during the early stages of the Iraq war that may allow the contractor to evade responsibility for negligently exposing several hundred American and British soldiers to a cancer-causing chemical.
As The Oregonian's Julie Sullivan reported Tuesday, attorneys for war contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root, a former Halliburton subsidiary, argue that the affected soldiers -- including the 26 members of the Oregon Army National Guard who have brought suit in U.S. District Court in Portland -- have no claim against the private company because it demanded, and was given, immunity from liability as a condition that it would work in Iraq.
In their lawsuit, the Oregon soldiers contend that KBR managers downplayed or dismissed the presence of hexavalent chromium, a cancer-causing rust fighter. The toxic chemical stained the soil, water and walls of the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant where, in 2003, hundreds of U.S. and British troops guarded KBR workers repairing the plant used to maintain pressure in oil wells near Basra.