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Guest Thinkers — November 10, 2009

Toxic Tale

Defense contractor KBR has been accused of exposing 100,000 people, including US troops, to cancerous toxins in Iraq.

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There are at lease 22 separate lawsuits being filed against defense contractor KBR accusing it of exposing as many as 100,000 people, including US troops, to toxic material by burning waste in open air pits in Iraq. Soldiers believed to have been poisoned by the potentially cancer-causing toxins, claim that KBR (the former subsidiary of Halliburton) was trying to save money and cut corners by disposing of the waste in such unsanitary conditions. “According to one of the lawsuits filed in a federal court in Nashville, KBR burned ‘tires, lithium batteries … biohazard materials (including human corpses), medical supplies (including those used during smallpox inoculations), paints, solvents, asbestos insulation, items containing pesticides, polyvinyl chloride pipes, animal carcasses, dangerous chemicals, and hundreds of thousands of plastic water bottles,’ reports Raw Story.

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