Two of Oregon’s senators, as well as Senator Joe Manchin, wrote to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that they’re still waiting on a case brought by the Oregon National Guard army against KBR Inc.
The case began in a Portland federal court in 2009, when an assembly of Oregon soldiers filed a suit against KBR, charging that the firm contractor had knowledge of their exposure to a carcinogen while they were offering security at a treatment plant in Iraq.
The firm indicated it told the Army Corps of Engineers and took steps needed to clean the Qarmat Ali plant as soon as it was found that Iraqis left it contaminated with a carcinogen, known as the hexavalent chromium.
But a jury in Portland didn’t buy into the explanation of the firm, awarding the first group of soldiers over $85 million in damages, an amount that was later minimized to $81 million.
KBR appealed and at present, the case is still pending in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
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