Report: Untreated water at U.S. base in Iraq

[spindrifter]

Halliburton denies contamination of supply to American soliders, civilians
NBC NEWS EXCLUSIVE

Updated: 5:42 p.m. ET Jan. 22, 2006

WASHINGTON - Troops and civilians at a U.S. military base in Iraq were exposed to contaminated water last year and employees for the responsible contractor, Halliburton, couldn’t get their company to inform camp residents, according to interviews and internal company documents.

Halliburton, the company formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney, disputes the allegations about water problems at Camp Junction City, in Ramadi, even though they were made by its own employees and documented in company e-mails.

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“The level of contamination was roughly 2x the normal contamination of untreated water from the Euphrates River,” Granger wrote in one of several documents. The Associated Press obtained the documents from Senate Democrats who are holding a public inquiry into the allegations Monday.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., who will chair the session, held a number of similar inquiries last year on contracting abuses in Iraq. He said Democrats were acting on their own because they had not been able to persuade Republican committee chairmen to investigate.

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A military medical unit that visited Camp Ramadi in mid-April found nothing out of the ordinary in terms of water quality, said Marine Corps Maj. Tim Keefe, a military spokesman. Water-quality testing records from May 23 show the water within normal parameters, he said.

“The allegations appear not to have merit,” Keefe said.

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“It is my opinion that the water source is without question contaminated with numerous micro-organisms, including Coliform bacteria,” Carter wrote. “There is little doubt that raw sewage is routinely dumped upstream of intake much less than the required 2 mile distance.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10977706/

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Hopefully, we can monitor the Democratic hearings on this dirty business.