Halliburton-supplied water linked to infections

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Halliburton-supplied water linked to infections

Postby Rigorous Intuition » Sat Apr 08, 2006 6:48 pm

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Doctor alleges water linked to infections</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>Halliburton contends it met Army standards<br><br>By DAVID IVANOVICH<br>Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau<br><br>WASHINGTON - A U.S. Army doctor serving in Iraq has linked a small outbreak of bacterial infections among U.S. troops to allegedly contaminated water supplied by Houston-based Halliburton Co.<br><br>In the latest broadside against Halliburton and its performance in Iraq, Senate Democrats produced an e-mail Friday from Capt. A. Michelle Callahan, a family physician serving at Qayyarah Airfield West, recounting how she treated six infections over a two-week period in January, at the same time she was noticing the water in base showers was cloudy and foul-smelling.<br><br>Follow-up testing of the water soldiers were using to bathe, shave and even brush their teeth revealed evidence of coliform and E. coli bacteria, Callahan wrote in an e-mail to a staffer for the Democratic Policy Committee, led by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.<br><br>Halliburton subsidiary KBR was responsible for treating water at that base, under a contract to provide logistical support to U.S. troops.<br><br>...<br><br>Once Callahan raised the alarm, Halliburton chlorinated the water in the area where the infections had occurred.<br><br>But the water was still cloudy, Callahan said. Further investigation revealed that the water the troops were using was actually wastewater from a purification unit, she wrote.<br><br>In response to the issues Callahan identified, KBR installed an additional water purification unit.<br><br>Halliburton spokeswoman Mann noted that "despite the fact that KBR believed it was meeting the Army's own requirements, the Army requested and KBR immediately changed the treatment process and is still handling water treatment there."<br><br>Concerns about possible water contamination first arose in March 2005, when a KBR employee at Camp Ar Ramadi reported spotting what looked like larvae in a toilet.<br><br>...<br><br><!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/3780160.html">Houston Chronicle</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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Re: Halliburton-supplied water linked to infections

Postby robertdreed » Sun Apr 09, 2006 12:13 am

There were earlier stories on that, back in January. <br><br> <!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1533899">abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1533899</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Halliburton gave troops foul water, workers say<br><br>Reuters<br><br>Jan 23, 2006 — By Vicki Allen<br><br>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Halliburton Co. subsidiary provided water to U.S. troops at a camp in Iraq that was twice as contaminated as water from the Euphrates River, former employees of the company said on Monday.<br><br>The subsidiary, Kellogg Brown and Root, also blocked employees' attempts to inform the U.S. military at Camp Junction City in Ramadi that the water was foul or tell them that water tanks should immediately be chlorinated, the workers said.<br><br>They cited KBR's failure to test or treat the water in the latest in a series of hearings Senate Democrats have held on Halliburton, which was once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney and has huge contracts to provide services to the U.S. military in Iraq.<br><br>Halliburton said in a statement it had found "no evidence to substantiate allegations made by these former employees."<br><br>While bottled water was provided for drinking and cooking, the soldiers at the camp used the contaminated water for bathing, shaving and laundry.<br><br>"We exposed a base camp population (military and civilian) to a water source that was not treated," said an internal e-mail from Will Granger, who was KBR's water quality manager for all of Iraq and Kuwait.<br><br>"The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River," continued the e-mail dated July 15 of last year and released at the hearing. It said the exposure lasted for up to a year.<br><br>POLLUTED WITH SEWAGE<br><br>Ben Carter, a water purification specialist who worked for KBR at Junction City, told Senate Democrats that KBR officials had assured him the water was being treated.<br><br>But after Carter discovered a problem, he started tests and learned that the water drawn from the Euphrates and polluted with sewage and other contaminates, was not being chlorinated.<br><br>He said he treated the water tanks for KBR employees, and told company managers the military should be alerted to treat its tanks as well. "I was ordered to concern myself only with the health and safety of KBR personnel," Carter said...<br><br>Also<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1693463,00.html">www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/S...63,00.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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"He was young. He was healthy

Postby sunny » Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:02 am

I don't know if this is related, but a young police officer in our town dropped dead the other day while exercising. He had spent 2 years in Iraq, and was 33 yrs old. This is horribly sad to me, because I had run into him quite often in my previous job. He was a perfect gentleman, a little shy, and remembering how young he looked makes me want to cry.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/114448788483880.xml&coll=3">www.al.com/news/mobilereg...xml&coll=3</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
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