[Vision2020] KBR Faulted in Soldiers Electrocution

[Tom Hansen]

Government contracts, valued in the billions of dollars, have been awarded 
to KBR (a subsidiary of Halliburton) over the years.

"Maseth was one of 10 soldiers, two Marines and two civilians who died as 
a result of electrical hazards related to KBR-run showers, swimming pools 
and work spaces between March 2003 and January 2008."

Courtesy of the Army Times at:

http://www.ArmyTimes.com

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KBR faulted in soldier’s electrocution

By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jan 23, 2009 6:45:52 EST
   
An Army investigation calls the electrocution death of a U.S. soldier in 
Iraq “negligent homicide” caused by military contractor KBR Inc. and two 
of its supervisors.

In a document obtained by The Associated Press, an Army criminal 
investigator says the manner of death for Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, has 
been changed from accidental to negligent homicide because the contractor 
failed to ensure that “qualified electricians and plumbers” worked on the 
barracks where Maseth died.

The Special Forces soldier from Pittsburgh died of cardiac arrest on Jan. 
2, 2008. He was electrocuted while taking a shower in his barracks in 
Baghdad.

Maseth’s death occurred four years after an Army Corps of Engineers report 
warning that these electrical hazards on bases were a “killer of soldiers.”

Two electricians who formerly worked for KBR in Iraq testified at a July 
2008 Congressional hearing that qualified supervision of electrical work 
on KBR jobs was “sorely lacking” and that many of the employees KBR hired 
were third-country nationals and Iraqis who weren't properly trained.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards did not apply on 
KBR job sites, Debbie Crawford, an experienced electrician and former KBR 
employee, testified at the hearing.

Maseth was one of 10 soldiers, two Marines and two civilians who died as a 
result of electrical hazards related to KBR-run showers, swimming pools 
and work spaces between March 2003 and January 2008.

Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, said, “We cannot comment on the report 
by an unidentified Army investigator because we have not seen the report. 
KBR's investigation has produced no evidence that KBR was responsible for 
Sgt Maseth's death. We have cooperated fully with all government agencies 
investigating this matter and will do so in the future.”

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No established standards.  No responsibility.  No accountability. Just 
billions of dollars, ten dead soldiers, two dead Marines, and two dead 
civilians.

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"For a lapsed Lutheran born-again Buddhist pan-Humanist Universalist 
Unitarian Wiccan Agnostic like myself there's really no reason ever to go 
to work."

- Roy Zimmerman


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