LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- An Air Force veteran and a one-time contractor who served in Iraq are suing military contractors Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc., accusing the companies of exposing them to toxic fumes and ash from “burn pits” for waste.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville on Monday by former Air Force Sgt. Sean Alexander Stough of Stanton and Charles Hicks of Bellevue, claims the military contractors burned everything from human remains to tires in open-air pits, exposing everyone nearby to harmful ash and smoke.
The men are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.
“The burn pits are still going on,” said attorney Susan Burke, who represents the two men. “It’s everything you can think of.”
The suit in Kentucky, which names KBR, Halliburton and a Turkish company, ERKA Ltd., is the latest in a string of litigation on behalf of former military members and contract workers who claim they were exposed to toxins from burning waste in the warzone. At least 32 suits over burn pits have been filed in 32 states against KBR and Halliburton, which are both Houston-based, and other contractors.
The suits have been merged for pretrial proceedings under U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus in Greenbelt, Md. Burke expects the Kentucky suit to be transferred there for pretrial purposes.
KBR spokeswoman Heather Brown said the company denies the allegations and follows military regulations on the disposal of waste.
“KBR operates burn pits in accordance with guidelines approved by the Army,” Brown said.
A Halliburton spokesman did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Tuesday. An e-mail sent to ERKA’s offices in Adana, Turkey, was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Stanton, who was stationed at Camp Bucca, near Umm Qasr, Iraq, until April 2006, and Hicks, who was stationed at Balad Air Base north of Baghdad in 2004 and 2005, both claim exposure to the burn pits caused multiple medical issues, including pulmonary and breathing problems.
Earlier this year, several members of Congress asked Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to investigate potential burn pit hazards. Shinseki said his agency is conducting a health study of 30,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and noted the VA “has learned important lessons from previous military conflicts” as it deals with environmental exposure questions.
pipeliner said on November 10, 2009 at 1:17 PM
Are you kidding me. I lived in the country all my life, and there was no other way to get rid of your trash but to burn it. The courts ought to go back in these people lives and see where their roots are and they will find out they used to burn their trash in the back yard too. I worked for KBR and Halliburton, and I will tell you they are a great company to work for. They put their people fist and I saw evidence of that everyday. These people are just trying to get money out of these companies. Just like the women that were raped. Why are they NOT sueing the rapist instead of KBR. Why and how could the actions of other employees be the fault of the companies as a whole. That is like sueing the trash man because you got and infection from your trash. DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Punish the people at fault, not the company that gave them a job. If these companies started to screen all of us, how many would get a job. Then you would be sueing over that. Get a grip.