LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) November 10, 2009 - 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 by burning everything from human remains to tires in massive open-air pits.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Louisville on Monday by former Air Force Sgt. Sean Alexander Stough and ex-contractor Charles Hicks.

"The burn pits are still going on," said attorney Susan Burke, who represents the men.

The suit names Houston-based companies KBR and Halliburton, as well as the Turkish company ERKA Ltd. The lawsuit is the latest 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.

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 as well.

KBR spokeswoman Heather Brown said the company denies the allegations and follows military regulations on the disposal of waste.

A Halliburton spokesman did not immediately return a message and an e-mail to ERKA's offices in Adana, Turkey, also was not returned.

Stanton was stationed at Camp Bucca near Umm Qasr in Iraq until April 2006 while Hicks was 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.

"In many ways, I consider the burn pits like the Agent Orange of the Iraq War," said Capt. Jeffrey Cox, of the Massachusetts National Guard, who filed a lawsuit in Boston last week.

Cox, 40, of Salem, Mass., served as a combat stress social worker in an Army Reserve medical unit at Balad, the Green Zone and Camp Liberty from 2005 to 2006. He said smoke from the massive pits would often drift over the hospital and living areas at the base.

"There would be nights it would be so foggy and full of this smoke ... you could smell it and it would just go in and you would breathe it all night," said Cox, who claims he suffers from a chronic cough as a result of his exposure to the burn pits in Iraq.

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.

Views: 42

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
38 minutes ago
tjdavis's blog post was featured
38 minutes ago
Burbia's blog post was featured

Mystery illness strikes Russia with fever, blood symptoms, and no cure in sight.

I guess releasing this bio-weapon upon Israeli neighbors would be hitting too close to home. I…See More
39 minutes ago
Less Prone commented on Doc Vega's photo
Thumbnail

main-qimg-357a10f7111dcf87a3cc6e2afad83855

"Islam is only a phase preceding a total Talmudic rule and a new world religion."
42 minutes ago
Less Prone commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

WWRJD

"I doubt a d-rat Jesus would be better. Much worse. “Politicians are the lowest form of life…"
43 minutes ago
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
48 minutes ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
8 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thumbnail

Lost History

"The Tartar wall - aka The Great Wall of China is hundreds of years old and was up and running in…"
9 hours ago
cheeki kea posted a photo
9 hours ago
tjdavis posted a blog post
23 hours ago
tjdavis posted a photo
yesterday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a photo
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

No Place to Hide

Stumbling through this confusing lifeLike a blunt and rusty knifeSo why is there all this…See More
Wednesday
Burbia posted a blog post
Wednesday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's blog post Vaccines Cause Autism: The Burden of Proof has been met.
Wednesday
cheeki kea posted a blog post
Wednesday
tjdavis posted a video
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

Soros Will Never Recover..Elon AIR The whole Thing

"Good find Burbia. It can only get worse. Is Soros too big to fail for he has his thumb in every pie…"
Monday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted