KBR "We're not responsible for soilder electrocutions"

this is the least shocking thread title i could come up with

WASHINGTON — Houston-based military contractor KBR Wednesday vigorously denied responsibility for the deaths of at least 16 military personnel known to have been electrocuted in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.

With soldiers dying while taking a shower, swimming in a pool or operating a car wash, lawmakers have been investigating the problem with faulty wiring in Iraq and KBR's responsibilities as the Army's largest contractor there.

KBR's actions "were not the cause of any of these terrible accidents," company executive Thomas Bruni told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

But House Democrats presented documents they say appear to contradict KBR as to the death of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, who was electrocuted in a shower Jan. 2.

Revelations that soldiers are dying in Iraq because of faulty wiring have caused an uproar on Capitol Hill.

Gordon Heddell, the Defense Department's acting inspector general, told the committee that many were killed when they came into contact with power lines during work or combat. But four of the 16 died because of ungrounded or faulty electrical equipment, and three were electrocuted while attempting to repair bad equipment, he said.

"No soldier should die while relaxing in a swimming pool or washing a vehicle or taking a shower," said committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Under a multibillion-dollar contract with the Army, KBR builds bases and provides a host of other logistical support services, from laundering clothes to serving meals.

Bruni, KBR's theater engineering and construction manager in Baghdad, told the committee the company had maintenance responsibility in only one facility where one of the electrocutions has occurred — the Radwaniyah Palace Complex where Maseth was living.

He was killed when an electrical water pump shorted out after he had stepped into the shower and turned on the water.

Bruni said company workers conducted an inspection of the electrical system at the complex nearly a year earlier and noted some deficiencies. But the company wasn't authorized to make repairs without the Army's specific direction, Bruni said.

Indeed, KBR was responsible under its contract for providing only "limited" maintenance at that facility, which did not include routine inspections, preventive maintenance or upgrades, Jeffrey Parsons, executive director of the Army Contracting Command, told the committee.

Bruni said company officials do not know who installed the water pump but added: "We do know that KBR did not do so." He said that instead of Teflon tape, the pump featured camel-hair string commonly used by Iraqi workers.

But Democrats on the panel produced documents Wednesday showing that another soldier, Staff Sgt. Justin Hummer, who had lived in the same quarters Maseth later occupied, had complained he was shocked four or five times in the shower between June and October 2007.

Hummer submitted a work order on July 8, 2007, stating: "Pipes have voltage, get shocked in the shower," according to documents obtained by Democrats.

A KBR electrician who came that day found a faulty pressure switch on the east side of the building and noted: "Plumber needs to repair."

On July 9, 2007, according to documents, three KBR workers replaced the pressure switch and the water pump. The work order was stamped "finished" and was signed by Hummer.

Asked about that document Wednesday, Bruni testified that Hummer also wrote work orders for other buildings, and KBR believes "the work was accomplished in another building."

An interim report from the Pentagon inspector general's office backs KBR's assertion that it was not responsible for Maseth's death. "Our review has not found any credible evidence that representatives from KBR were aware of imminent, life threatening hazards" in Maseth's living quarters, the report says.

But Acting Inspector General Heddell conceded he had not seen what he called the "very dramatic" documents obtained by committee Democrats.

Maseth's mother, Cheryl Harris, who has pushed the Pentagon to investigate her son's death, said after the hearing it was "painful" and "distressing" to hear KBR officials "deflect responsibility." She has filed suit against KBR.