Source:
oregon liveAn Oregon Army National Guard soldiers' lawsuit against war contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root over exposure to a cancer-causing chemical will go forward, a federal judge ruled Friday in Portland.
U.S. District Judge Magistrate Paul Papak denied KBR's motion to dismiss the case, saying the court in Oregon does have jurisdiction.
The ruling is a significant step for 21 Oregon soldiers who claim they were intentionally exposed to the chemical hexavalent chromium after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Troops from Oregon and two other states were ordered to guard employees of the Houston-based holding company and its four subsidiaries, which were restoring oil production in southern Iraq.
The soldiers claim that at the Qarmat Ali water plant, KBR ignored and downplayed the health risks of a corrosion-fighter scattered across the facility that contained hexavalent chromium. Soldiers sued alleging lung and other health problems as a result.
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