Sick Veterans Sue KBR Over Iraq and Afghanistan Burn Pits

KBR burned biohazard materials
 including human corpses, medical supplies, paints, solvents, asbestos,
 pesticides, animal carcasses, tires, lithium batteries, Styrofoam, wood, rubber, medical waste, large amounts of plastics, and even entire trucks.



This photo taken at the al Asad Marine Air base in Iraq's Anbar Province during the summer of 2008, shows the type of burn pit smoke that the service members are suing over. Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

(WAYNE, N.J.) - A lawsuit was filed alleging that KBR, Inc.
(NYSE KBR) endangered the health and safety of American soldiers in
 Iraq and Afghanistan by exposing them to huge quantities of toxic dust, fumes and other air pollutants by burning unsorted waste in vast open-air pits without any safety controls.



The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in New Jersey by the law firm of Jon L. Gelman LLC on behalf of two military veterans whose
illnesses – which include respiratory disease, chronic cough,
debilitating headaches, and neurological skin disorders – were
 allegedly caused by 24/7 hazardous emissions from burn pits.



KBR is accused of operating burn pits in such an unsafe manner that
 they permitted thick, noxious smoke emerging from the flames,
 sometimes colored blue or green by burning chemicals, to hang over US
bases and camps across Iraq and Afghanistan since 2004.



According to the complaint, the burn pits are so large that tractors 
are used to push waste onto them and the flames shoot hundreds of feet
into the air. KBR allegedly burned waste such as biohazard materials
including human corpses, medical supplies, paints, solvents, asbestos,
 items containing pesticides, animal carcasses, tires, lithium 
batteries, Styrofoam, wood, rubber, medical waste, large amounts of plastics, and even entire trucks.



Attorney Jon L. Gelman said, “It is alleged that KRB failed to follow
prescribed safety protocols for the proper disposal of waste
materials, and protect the health and safety of those soldiers serving
in and about those areas. It was common knowledge that open-air incineration of toxic substances, including known carcinogens,
endangered those individuals living in and about those areas. A
 company should not willfully disregard appropriate safety precautions and endanger US Solders heroically serving their country."

The plaintiffs are: Gene L. Matson of Superior, Wisconsin and Timothy J. Watson of Clarkesville, Tennessee.



The defendants are KBR, Inc., of Houston; Kellogg, Brown & Root LLC. 
of Austin, Texas; Kellogg, Brown & Root Services, Inc., of Houston; 
and Halliburton Company, of Houston.

The case is: Gene L. Matson, et al. v KBR, Inc., et al. (In the U.S.
 District Court of New Jersey (Case No. 2:10-cv-01492-KSH-MAS).



Attorney Contact: Jon L. Gelman, of Jon L. Gelman LLC, Wayne, NJ, 973.696.7900 or visit: gelmans.com.

Larger version of same photo shows smoke that Marines and others on this base breathe during the day. Tim King Salem-News.com

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