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Electrical Risks at Iraq Bases Are Worse Than Said
 

 

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July 22, 2008
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Electrical Risks at Iraq Bases Are Worse Than Said

July 18, 2008Image

 

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.”

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.

But the Pentagon did little to address the issue until a Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Ryan D. Maseth, was electrocuted in January while showering. His death, caused by poor electrical grounding, drew the attention of lawmakers and Pentagon leaders after his family pushed for answers. Congress and the Pentagon’s inspector general have begun investigations, and this month senior Army officials ordered electrical inspections of all buildings in Iraq maintained by KBR.

“We consider this to be a very serious issue,” Chris Isleib, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday in an e-mail message, while declining to comment on the findings in the Army documents.

Heather Browne, a KBR spokeswoman, would not comment about a company safety study or the reports of electrical fires or shocks, but she said KBR had found no evidence of a link between its work and the electrocutions. She added, “KBR’s commitment to the safety of all employees and those the company serves remains unwavering.”

In public statements, Pentagon officials have not addressed the scope of the hazards, instead mostly focusing on the circumstances surrounding the death of Sergeant Maseth, who lived near Pittsburgh.

But the internal documents, including dozens of memos, e-mail messages and reports from the Army, the Defense Contract Management Agency and other agencies, show that electrical problems were widely recognized as a major safety threat among Pentagon contracting experts. It is impossible to determine the exact number of the resulting deaths and injuries because no single document tallies them up. (The records were compiled for Congressional and Pentagon investigators and obtained independently by The Times.)

The 2007 safety survey was ordered by the top official in Iraq for the Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees contractors, after the October 2006 electrical fire that killed two soldiers near Tikrit. Paul Dickinson, a Pentagon safety specialist who wrote the report, confirmed its findings, but did not elaborate.

Senior Pentagon officials appear not to have responded to the survey until this May, after Congressional investigators had begun to ask questions. Then they argued that its findings were irrelevant to Sergeant Maseth’s electrocution.

In a memo dated May 26, 2008, a top official of the Defense Contract Management Agency stated that “there is no direct or causal connection” between the problems identified in the survey and those at the Baghdad compound where Sergeant Maseth died.

But in a sworn statement, apparently prepared for an investigation of Sergeant Maseth’s death by the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division, a Pentagon contracting official described how both military and KBR officials were aware of the growing danger from poor electrical work.

In the statement, Ingrid Harrison, an official with the Pentagon’s contracting management agency, disclosed that an electrical fire caused by poor wiring in a nearby building two weeks before Sergeant Maseth’s death had endangered two other soldiers.

“The soldiers were lucky because the one window that they could reach did not have bars on it, or there could have been two other fatalities,” Ms. Harrison said in the statement. She said that after Sergeant Maseth died, a more senior Pentagon contracting official in Baghdad denied knowing about the fire, but she asserted that “it was thoroughly discussed” during internal meetings.

Ms. Harrison added that KBR officials also knew of widespread electrical problems at the Radwaniya Palace Complex, near Baghdad’s airport, where Sergeant Maseth died. “KBR has been at R.P.C. for over four years and was fully aware of the safety hazards, violations and concerns regarding the soldiers’ housing,” she said in the statement. She added that the contractor “chose to ignore the known unsafe conditions.”

Ms. Harrison did not respond to a request for comment.

In another internal document written after Sergeant Maseth’s death, a senior Army officer in Baghdad warned that soldiers had to be moved immediately from several buildings because of electrical risks. In a memo asking for emergency repairs at three buildings, the official warned of a “clear and present danger,” adding, “Exposed wiring, ungrounded distribution panels and inappropriate lighting fixtures render these facilities uninhabitable and unsafe.”

The memo added that “over the course of several months, electrical fires and shorts have compounded these unsafe conditions.”

Since the United States invaded Iraq in 2003, tens of thousands of American troops have been housed in Iraqi buildings that date from the Saddam Hussein era. KBR and other contractors have been paid millions of dollars to repair and upgrade the buildings, including their electrical systems. KBR officials say they handle the maintenance for 4,000 structures and an additional 35,000 containers used as housing in the war zone.

The reports of shoddy electrical work have raised new questions about the Bush administration’s heavy reliance on contractors in Iraq, particularly because they come after other high-profile disputes involving KBR. They include accusations of overbilling, providing unsafe water to soldiers and failing to protect female employees who were sexually assaulted.

Officials say the administration contracted out so much work in Iraq that companies like KBR were simply overwhelmed by the scale of the operations. Some of the electrical work, for example, was turned over to subcontractors, some of which hired unskilled Iraqis who were paid only a few dollars a day.

Government officials responsible for contract oversight, meanwhile, were also unable to keep up, so that unsafe electrical work was not challenged by government auditors.

Several electricians who worked for KBR have said previously in interviews that they repeatedly warned KBR managers and Pentagon and military officials about unsafe electrical work. They said that supervisors had ignored their concerns or, in some cases, lacked the training to understand the problems.

The Army documents cite a number of recent safety threats. One report showed that during a four-day period in late February, soldiers at a Baghdad compound reported being shocked while taking showers in different buildings. The circumstances appear similar to those that led to Sergeant Maseth’s death.

Another entry from early March stated that an entire house used by American troops was electrically charged, making it unlivable.

Since the Pentagon reports were compiled, more episodes linked to electrical problems have occurred. In late June, for example, an electrical fire at a Marine base in Falluja destroyed 10 buildings, forcing marines there to ask for donations from home to replace their personal belongings.

On July 5, Sgt. First Class Anthony Lynn Woodham of the Arkansas National Guard died at his base in Tallil, Iraq. Initial reports blamed electrocution, but his death is being investigated because of conflicting information, according to his wife, Crystal Woodham, and a spokesman for the Arkansas National Guard.

By James Risen. The New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/world/middleeast/18contractors.html?_r=2&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

 

 

 

 

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Comments
  • When I was in Germany, they hired a German paint crew to paint our barracks, despite a ready supply of idle privates. Then when the paint was dry they hired another German crew to replace the windows, tearing up the walls in the process. And then they re-hired the paint crew to fix that. Our military gets boondoggled all the time and those in charge are either powerless to stop the waste or in on the take. Once we had a contractor out with the new tacfire system, and I mothered him up and down using every swear word I knew - at one point he suggested that to avoid having his unit fail due to electrical surges, we shouln't elevate or traverse the gun... Our General and Colonels just grinned as I chewed him out and questioned his parentage because they wanted to say it but couldn't - but a segreant could.

    I put this on the forum and it doesn't surprise me a bit.

    Prosecutions are in order. If they killed or injured one of our troops, deliver them to the enemy for special treatment.

    Matt

    Matt
    Reply to this comment

  • This newsletter made me wonder what the Seabees were doing in Iraq. I Googled "Seabees in Iraq" and I found out....trying to do their jobs and stay alive.

    God Bless Our Troops!

    Mark Prairie
    Reply to this comment

  • Intentional or otherwise, these comments parrallel what is taking place within the Congressional Oversight Committee. People ranting about who's at fault but never offering up a plausble solution...not a single one.

    I have spoken with several Representatives since May on this subject and they each have assured me this situation is of the utmost importance. Utmost importance seems to have little to do with resolving the problem.

    KBR has instituted an inspection procedure to resolve outstanding issues but how do you inspect 4,000 structures and an addional 35,000 containers used for housing in a reasonable time frame?

    In the end, unless they utilized existing technology which will identify these problems allowing for resolution to take place before a disaster occurs, little will change.

    Pine Brumett
    Reply to this comment

  • This is a shame, and it hurts me to read about problems that can be resolved, by simply hiring honest, fair, and well rounded electrical contractors. It's obvious that corners are being cut on the electrical systems, and the hiring process!

    Curt
    Reply to this comment

  • "The Army documents cite a number of recent safety threats. One report showed that during a four-day period in late February, soldiers at a Baghdad compound reported being shocked while taking showers in different buildings. The circumstances appear similar to those that led to Sergeant Maseth’s death.

    Another entry from early March stated that an entire house used by American troops was electrically charged, making it unlivable" It was this entry to lead me to believe that the problem was using a single conductor for both equipment grounding and neutral was the cause. This was at one time a practice in Europe and the US (old 3 prong electric ranges) but it is dangerous and has been discontinued. Their are multiple motives for doing this when using a field generator but it's dangerous...

    Bob
    Reply to this comment

  • Here is a link to a radio interview concerning the unsafe electrical work in Iraq. http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=15362 The interview features a female electrician who shares her concerns with unsafe and unqualified electric ans.

    Tom Baker
    Reply to this comment

  • If you have enough bureaucrats involved, and the chain of command is long enouch, No one has to take responsibility.

    Fred
    Reply to this comment

  • Lowest bidder.... What did you expect ?? Since Iraq is on British (electrical) standard (416Y/240V) is seems to me that the electrical work should have gone to a firm familiar with UK standards... Perhaps a UK firm would have done a better job.

    Jim Green
    Reply to this comment
  • Reply from: Mark   
    Sorry Jim, but the voltage at 240 is where the similarity with British standards ends. You can't make a silk purse out of a pigs ear. The whole place wants re-wiring.
    Reply to Mark


  • hey mike, what is the buzz on the combo breakers that will add about 900 dollars to each 40 circuit panels? There seems to be alot of speculation about why this all came about and why at a time when constuction prices are through the roof.Just a little info needed to explain to the masses here in south arkansas. thank-you

    shelby raynes
    Reply to this comment

  • Yup, there is no business like no-bidness, that's what KBR always says! What a waste! This is how we treat our best and finest young men - send them off to a war for no reason and pay zillions for this kind of shoddy work! Somebody's head should roll, and I hope it goes right to the top!

    Lawrence
    Reply to this comment

  • I've worked in the Middle East and I am not ready to blame the electrical contractors. i know what they were up against. As most of you know most of the world does not use our 240/120 volt 3 wire system , they use a 220 volt single phase service with no neutral but with an equipment ground-but no grounded current carrying conductor. The genertors available are built to supply this service. Those responsible for ordering devices for American services often order devices made for the US market. As a result it is highly usual to see 220 volts run to a standard American 120 volt receptacles. The American bonding of the grounded neutral does not exist. There is supposed to be an earth ground at the service but in desert sand this does little to protect against overload or electrocution. It is dangerous to try to interface American electrical components with European ones but I have seen it very often done-tried- it the Middle East.

    Bob
    Reply to this comment

  • Last year I worked with an electrician who had just been to Iraq. Not knowing that he was a Navy reservist, I asked If he had worked for KBR. He responded by saying F*@# You!

    When he cooled down he told me about Turkish made lighting fixtures, and that every day they put out fires from burning ballasts.

    It appears that KBR is working for the other guys.

    Dan Bailey
    Reply to this comment

  • as someone that has been in Iraq For almost four years i will tell you there are some electricians here that are not but most of the problums lie wit the local material and the use of plug strips that ard pluged togather and bags pilled on them i have gone in to tents and chus and seen cord strips with 5 things pluged and another plug strip and than another as many as 7 was my highest count the wiring in the cords it 18 to 22 gage wire and cannot handle that load but when told not to do that the American Solduer just looks at you like yey wait till you leave and back to normal

    more later

    Lanny
    Reply to this comment

  • Having been over to Iraqi Freedom in 05-06, I personnaly saw and tried to get corrected many electrical faults within the base to which I was attached. Later we were moved to Kuwait and the problem was the same there. I was tired of hearing and breathing disel fumes from all of the generators (usually 75,000 kw units) and all electrical even on the American bases is 220. KBR hires Americans for supervisors and Local or TCN's to do their work (TCN = Third country nationals). They are basically trainees who don't know anything and do the work which is then supposidly inspected by the American contractors. I never saw but one contractor inspect the work, and then only cursory. I had to rewire water heaters in the showers once to keep from getting shocked (all I had was a leatherman as no tools were readily available), I still did not trust the breakers (some foreign brand which I couldn't read), but one of the main things I did was provide a bonding ground from some # 12 wire I found under the RLB (relocatable building). The generators were always surging (I burned out more than six surge protectors for my laptop) as well as burning out several heavy duty voltage convertors. In Iraqi, I have seen bare 220 volt wires run spaced about 2inches apart buried into sheetrock and spackled over to the electrical outlets. I made several reports which were probably tossed as nothing ever came of the situation. KBR wasn't the only contractor, but several others. Iam unable to rember the names at this time. I do believe most of the Americans that were supposed licensed contractors were probably what I call rejects from America who were in limbo over their licenses. I hate to say it that way because there were some who were also dedicated as coul be seen from their work. All in all, I guess under the circumstances of war, it could only be expected, however by now, the situation should be fixed. Many times I had TCN's come and ask me how to do something (I had done some welding and showed them how once). They would even come over and show me tools that they had purchased. God bless our troops and remember Freedom isn't Free and that we need to finish the job over there and not back out like some politicians want to do. AT2 Brannan USN-retired

    David R. Brannan
    Reply to this comment

  • I was in Iraq from 2004 - 2006 doing electrical and hvac work, with 11/2 year lay off and came back in March 2008. It is a very tough enviornment for people and equipment, to say nothing of ordering material and expecting a timely delivery. I have worked on bases of 200 soldiers and of 8000 and it is just tough. The mistake people make is coming here and expecting everything just the way it was in the states. It isn't going to happen. We are forgetting that we are in a war and our enemies are not always the ones running around with an AK47. They are out to tear us down any way they can. This has become a political football and we need to understand that. We have all had to work with inferior material and tools but it is just the nature of the beast. Soldiers have it a lot worse than we do. There were 13 soldiers killed here by electrocution and I love everyone of them but they do some stupid stuff sometimes. They put up cable tv antennaes without looking above them and get electrocuted. They work on live circuits with Leathermans and get electrocuted. Please tell me how that is the contractors fault. 90%of the wiring was here before we got here, it is changing but it is not going to be overnight. No, everyone calling themselves electricians here are not electricians but that is changing also. But the one thing I cannot stand is whiners....instead of trying how to find out how to get the job done, they are finding all of ways it can't be done. If you can't hack it please shut up your complaining because there is an enemy out there that is feeding off of this negativity

    Jon
    Reply to this comment

  • This goes a bit beyond shabby work. It enters into the field of criminal manslaughter charges and those charges should begin with Heather Browne of KBR. I am surprised U.S. lawyers aren't involved with this because it is a money maker if there ever was one.

    bnixon
    Reply to this comment

  • It's unforgivable that the brave men and women putting thier lives on the line for our freedom must also endure the hazards of poor craftsmenship due to greed and mismanagement!

    Steve Blackford
    Reply to this comment

  • I was in Iraq (near Bashra) 2003-2004. I can tell same stories as others. The biggest thing I saw wash lack of electrical knowledge of troops. I wired our prewar (built by Eropean contractors) building to small generator to run lights. I had porblems with lights goin out on third floor, when I investigated I found that soldier needed clothes line so he found a junctioin box and pulled out the wire from the conduit for his use.

    The second problem was the lack of skills of Iraqi electricains. If you were a skilled electrician you could go work in Eygpt or Syriea for much more pay and safer conditions.

    Third was poor quality of materials. All Circuit breakers and wiring devices come from China. 220A recpetacels are rates for 13A, but if you pull more than 5 amps for any amount of time they will turn black and fail. Circuit Breakers will fail if they are tripped more than 1 or 2 times.

    I could go on about all theses crazy applications. But My opinion the army needs to trian a few electricians and send them with a truck load fo good materials inspect/repair the Iraqi work. I am surprised that more are not killed. Luckily enoug reservist and active duty guys have electrical experience (and brought tools with them) to do spot rapairs.

    Michael Dintcheff
    Reply to this comment

  • Forget any electrical details, existing conditions, location hazards, etc. If the NY Times says its Bush's fault then it must be so.

    Thankyou to our men in women in uniform.

    EC
    Reply to this comment

  • I understand the theater of war and how decent electrical supplies and material might be very difficult to obtain. But it also seems very clear to me that KBR was contracted to provide just that. How is it that the U.S. Military allows an overwelmed company to handle something as important as this. If KBR is overwelmed, hire someone else to help pitch-in. Whether KBR does the hiring or the military, it does not matter.

    The supply chain can be difficult to keep together but the military is equipped to handle this. They ship thousands of tons of supplies and materials to the conflict area on a daily basis.

    How difficult is it to sit down the local help and show them the basics of safe wiring. About ten minutes should cover a receptacle install etc.

    Lastly, shame on KBR for not providing the exact power equipment for the existing electrical system. If 220V-1PH is what you have to work with then get the job done and do it correctly.

    Just another example of the decline of Western civilization and the inept attitude of our military towards our soldiers. Sad, sad day.

    Rob Murray
    Reply to this comment

  • KBR, Inc. (formerly Kellogg Brown & Root) NYSE: KBR is an American engineering and construction company, formerly a subsidiary of Halliburton.

    War Is Hell!

    Mark Prairie, Former Aircraft Electrician/Flight Deck Trouble Shooter,CVS 11 Intrepid,USN.

    Mark Prairie
    Reply to this comment

  • In my father's day, the military handled all of these tasks themselves, didn't hire outside contractors. The reason we hire outside contractors is they are in the pockets of the politicians, not because it makes any sense. We used to train our GIs to do these sorts of tasks - go out and build bases and fix jeeps and so forth. Now we just hire someone else. This kind of shoddy work is the inevitable result. We should be supporting these fine young men (and women) with the best materials we can muster, and sending them into chaotic situations with the best support we can give them. And stay out of situations we have no business in.

    Lawrence
    Reply to this comment

  • Better to send US electricain

    Ragaey
    Reply to this comment

  • I served as a civilian accompanying the military in Saudia Arabia during Desert Storm and had a later tour in the region. My observation was that unless there is a person with good knowledge of the Code and with backing of authorities anything goes. There must be very close supervision. Our Soldiers appear to be in harms way in their work and sleep.

    Bennie G. Williams
    Reply to this comment


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