Toxin in Iraqi Water Pipes Kills First US Soldier

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http://www.inquisitr.com/50975/first-american-soldier-to-die-by-toxin-laden-water/

First American soldier to die by toxin laden water

Bullets whizzing by your head are one thing. IEDs just waiting to blowup passing troops is a daily occurrence. Such are the hazards of trying to survive in a war-zone. What isn’t expected though is to die because of toxin laden water.

However such is the case of Indiana National Guardsman Lt. Col. Jim Gentry who when he passed away this past Tuesday was classified as the first American soldier to die from exposure to a cancer-causing toxin while serving in Iraq.

The guilty agent in the matter was a hexavalent chromium which the Iraqis use to prevent corrosion in the pipes used to pump water into the ground at oil-pumping sites. The chemical has been linked to leukemia and several other kinds of cancer, as well as leading to damage of the liver and kidneys. It is also the same chemical poison that was blown onto the clothes and into the faces of hundreds of unknown soldiers in one of Iraq’s wind swept deserts.

Hexavalent Chromium is the same compound that lead to the famous “Erin Brockovich” trial in California and what Max Costa, chairman of New York University’s Department of Environmental Medicine calls the one of the most potent carcinogens know to man.

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The area in Iraq where this was supposed to happen was the Qarmat Ali facility which KBR took over control of after it had been looted and abandoned. Part of that looting was the slashing open of the containers holding the chemical. Then during many of the high wind storms that are found in the area the rust-colored chemical was spread into the air and ground around the facility.

KBR has denied any responsibility or wrong doing that might have led to any soldiers becoming ill or dying. However in light of a recent lawsuit filed against KBR by soldiers a whistle-blower has come forward with some pretty damning documents and information.

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1. .... will there be justice for Lt. Col. Jim Gentry?