Sunday, September 27, 2009

Retired soldier sues over chemical exposure in Iraq, which he says disabled him and many others

From The AP:

PITTSBURGH — A retired Pittsburgh soldier has joined dozens of others nationwide in suing a contractor for exposure to a dangerous chemical while he guarded a water treatment plant in Iraq.

Glen Bootay's federal lawsuit was filed Sept. 25 against KBR Inc., the same firm that has also been sued for allegedly faulty systems that led 18 soldiers to be electrocuted in barracks during the Iraq war.

Bootay's lawsuit concerns his exposure to sodium dichromate while deployed in 2003 at the water plant which KBR was hired to rebuild. KBR has said its workers discovered the dangerous chemical and got rid of it, and that the company is not responsible for any soldiers who got sick.

Bootay, a 30-year-old sergeant, says he is disabled and takes up to 35 medicines because of the chemical exposure.