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Article

21 Nov 2014

Author:
PBS Newshour

[video] Veterans file class action lawsuit in USA against KBR over lung disease allegedly caused through service in Afghanistan & Iraq

"Veterans claim contractor in charge of burn pits is responsible for lung illnesses", 17 Nov 2014

...[L]ung disease...afflicts…thousands of veterans. Many blame a…defense contractor and have filed a class action lawsuit...Throughout most of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military used...burn pits to dispose of...waste...[The] class action lawsuit...has 250 named plaintiffs...[T]hey represent a group of...up to 100,000…who could join suit. They’re suing Kellogg Brown & Root, or KBR, the company that...was contracted to…get rid of the garbage...[T]he lead attorney for the class action...says…that "open air burning, which violated the terms of the contract, caused these injuries"…[But KBR] Attorney [says]: "That’s completely false. We…lived up to our contractual promise"...The…lawsuit has been in the courts since 2008...[E]arlier this year, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the case should go forward. But KBR has asked the Supreme Court to intervene[,]…assert[ing] that…it should be immune from lawsuits...The Supreme Court is now...deciding whether...to hear this case or send it back to a lower court...[Also refers to Halliburton]