DPC | July 18, 2008

Press Release: Senators Want Independent Safety Review of KBR's Electrical Work in Iraq

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who chaired a Senate hearing last week on the electrocution of U.S. troops in Iraq, and four other U.S. Senators are objecting to the Pentagon's selection of contractor KBR to inspect its own electrical work in Iraq. The hearing examined reports that at least a dozen U.S. troops were electrocuted since 2004 at U.S. military bases in Iraq where KBR holds the contract for electrical work. The Pentagon asked KBR to inspect its work for hazards following those reports.

 

Dorgan, Senators Bob Casey (D-PA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) raised their objection in a letter sent Friday to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and General David Petraeus. The inspections should be independently conducted by someone "both well-qualified and objective," they wrote.

 

Dorgan also called Friday onSecretary of Defense Robert Gates and General David Petraeus to take immediate action to suspend KBR's contract for electrical work at U.S. military bases in Iraq and replace the company with "people who know what they are doing and whose work won't put the lives of American soldiers at risk." Dorgan said.

 

A New York Times report Friday revealed electrical problems at military bases in Iraq are much more numerous, widespread and severe than previously acknowledged. "This is a problem that requires immediate action to protect American troops," Dorgan said. "Somebody other than KBR ought to be doing electrical work at U.S. bases in Iraq immediately. KBR's failure is massive and American troops are dying because of it."

 

On July 11, Dorgan presided at a Senate Democratic Policy Committee (DPC) hearing which examined the electrocution reports. The panel heard testimony from the mothers of two soldiers who were electrocuted and a soldier who saw other U.S. troops being shocked. It also received testimony from two KBR whistleblowers who said KBR routinely hires non-electricians - even in supervisory posts - to perform electrical work and resists fixing known hazards.

 

The testimony "documented KBR's poor performance and lax standards in hiring employees to do electrical work. Given this track record, and the fact that a number of deaths have occurred at facilities maintained by the company, it makes no sense to entrust KBR with inspecting electrical safety conditions in Iraq," the Senators wrote.

 

KBR would also "have strong incentive to describe its own work in the best possible light," the Senators noted. "In fact, KBR's spokesperson has insisted from the outset - before KBR has even completed the inspections - that there is no evidence that KBR has done anything wrong. Thus, the company seems to be prejudging the outcome of its investigation."

 

 

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DPC