Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.

During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.

And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.

Electrical problems were the most urgent noncombat safety hazard for soldiers in Iraq, according to an Army survey issued in February 2007. It noted “a safety threat theaterwide created by the poor-quality electrical fixtures procured and installed, sometimes incorrectly, thus resulting in a significant number of fires.”

The Army report said KBR, the Houston-based company that is responsible for providing basic services for American troops in Iraq, including housing, did its own study and found a “systemic problem” with electrical work.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/world/middleeast/18contractors.html?hp

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Ten buildings were destroyed late last month at a Marine base near Falluja, Iraq, after an electrical fire broke out.

Bless the mom of Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth of my town of Pittsburgh who was killed in the shower. She is the one that pushed to get this investigated. Also Senator Bob Casey(D) was instrumental in pushing it in Congress and the Pentagon.

IMHO KBR people need to be prosecuted for manslaugher and corruption!

[Captain Angry]

1. I want a president that will say "This shit stops now."

"All payments to the contractors are immediately frozen, and within 30 days all assets will be frozen if this problem isn't completely solved at all sites.

And any attempt to shuffle money or hide from responsibility will be met with lifetime imprisonment."


I'll bet our guys would get better conditions very quickly.

[Ian David]

17. "This Shit Stops Now! Yes We Can! This Shit Stops Now! Yes We Can!

I like it!

That's better than The Buck Stops Here.

[alfredo]

2. there are people being tortured in Gitmo for much less than this.

[spag68]

3. Of course they are wrong

but that is missing the point, which is, we shouldn't be building these huge bases at all. That is part of the problem that is not usually considered. Where do you think a large part of the 12 billion a month is going? KBR has been robbing us blind since Nam, when they did the same thing there. They were known then as Burn and Loot.

[struggle4progress]

4. knr

[Solly Mack]

5. Electrical Risks at Bases in Iraq Worse Than Previously Said

Source: NYTimes


WASHINGTON — Shoddy electrical work by private contractors on United States military bases in Iraq is widespread and dangerous, causing more deaths and injuries from fires and shocks than the Pentagon has acknowledged, according to internal Army documents.

During just one six-month period — August 2006 through January 2007 — at least 283 electrical fires destroyed or damaged American military facilities in Iraq, including the military’s largest dining hall in the country, documents obtained by The New York Times show. Two soldiers died in an electrical fire at their base near Tikrit in 2006, the records note, while another was injured while jumping from a burning guard tower in May 2007.

And while the Pentagon has previously reported that 13 Americans have been electrocuted in Iraq, many more have been injured, some seriously, by shocks, according to the documents. A log compiled earlier this year at one building complex in Baghdad disclosed that soldiers complained of receiving electrical shocks in their living quarters on an almost daily basis.

Electrical problems were the most urgent noncombat safety hazard for soldiers in Iraq, according to an Army survey issued in February 2007. It noted “a safety threat theaterwide created by the poor-quality electrical fixtures procured and installed, sometimes incorrectly, thus resulting in a significant number of fires.”



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/world/middleeast/18contractors.html?hp

[tekisui]

6. This is disgusting.

I was going to post this from the AP at the Star Tribune:

Experienced electricians who raised concerns about shoddy work and its possible hazards were often dismissed and told, "This is a war zone," the electricians said Friday.

"Time and again we heard, `This is not the states, OSHA doesn't apply here. If you don't like it you can go home,'" said Debbie Crawford, a journeyman electrician with 30 years experience.


link: http://www.startribune.com/politics/24491564.html

[Solly Mack]

7. and this part

"It is impossible to determine the exact number of the resulting deaths and injuries because no single document tallies them up."

[stlsaxman]

8. well at least it's only dangerous when they actually HAVE electricity.

maybe the Iraqi citizenry is better off without electricity after all.

:argh:

[More_liberal_than_mo]

9. I know why!

I've spent many months in Iraq and know first hand why this is happening. KBR at first hired certified US electricians after getting the no-bid contracts but soon afterwords discovered that there were thousands of "qualified" electricians on the Indian sub-continent that would do the same jobs as US electricians for a tenth of what they had to pay US electricians. The bottom line drives everything that KBR does.

I've also visited India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and have seen what passes for electrical code in these countries. It's no mystery to me why there have been so many electrical fires, shocks, and electrocutions.
x(

[tanyev]

10. Say, has anyone moved into the brand new embassy building yet?

I wonder how many frak-ups they'll find in that multi-million dollar boondoggle.

[RamboLiberal]

14. I hope the damn thing burns down

Less than three months later, the State Department announced that the embassy would need another $144 million worth of work, and Waxman's committee learned that its electrical and fire-protection systems had repeatedly failed inspections.

The immediate State Department response to the allegations came from spokesman Sean McCormick, who said the fuss over the project was "ridiculous."

He compared the inspection failures to items on a contractor's "punch list," a fairly routine list of items that need to be fixed or changed before a project is accepted by the buyer.

McCormick said the additional $144 million price tag was not a cost overrun, but "an additional contract requirement." He said it would cover additional secure office and living space for personnel at the complex.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15393136

w/o loss of life of course. Course I wouldn't mourn any neocons loss.

[hootinholler]

11. Who needs IEDs when ya got Halliburton!

Manslaughter indeed!

-Hoot

[Tesla]

12. The big "H" sure has a lot of freedom to break the law

I mean just being a "No-bid" contract has got to be illegal.
This was a big deal after WW1 with the "Liberty" engine.
Colonel Deeds had to go before Congress because he was trying to build an engine

[AwakeAtLast]

13. I posted this in the last thread about this

The first job my husband was given upon arriving on their base was to rewire their barracks. He is a former electrician, so his commanders knew he could do the job right. He said whoever had wired it was (his quote) "on crack."

My question has always been: Wouldn't this be something the Corps of Engineers should be monitoring? :shrug:

[Stuart G]

15. This may be one of the saddest stories of the war...All deaths and injuries.preventable

[Stuart G]

16. Please..everyone..you gotta read this story..nt