A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Amy Weiss

Defense Department officials and a senior employee from defense contractor KBR testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Wednesday about the electrocution deaths of 16 soldiers in Iraq due to shoddy, unstable electrical systems on military facilities, many of which still exist from the Saddam Hussein regime.

Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth, one of the soldiers killed, was electrocuted in the shower on January 2, 2008 at his residence at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex (RPC) in Baghdad. Sergeant Justin Hummer was stationed in the same room and used the same shower as Sgt. Maseth from June to October 2007, before Sgt. Maseth moved in. During that time, Sgt. Hummer was shocked in the shower four or five times and once used a wooden handle to turn off the shower nozzle because the current was so strong. Each time a work order was filed to have the electrical problem repaired.

At the hearing, KBR Theater Engineering and Construction Manager Tom Bruni told the Committee that KBR's contract stipulated that individual buildings would be classified as one of two levels of maintenance service: A or B. Under level A, KBR inspects facilities and automatically makes repairs. Under level B, KBR is authorized to inspect the facility but then turns over reports to the military officials who must authorize KBR to make repairs.

Army Contracting Command Executive Director Jeffrey Parsons told the Committee the "Mayor" of the RPC would have been the person who designated Sgt. Maseth's facility as level B and would have been the person to authorize repairs. Although he could only say that this person was a military officer, no one on the panel could tell the Committee who the mayor was or what the chain of command responsible for Sgts. Hummer and Maseth was. Parsons agreed with committee members that there were "gaps" in the process. All the panel members asked to testify agreed with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), a former Army officer, that the initial responsibility fell to commanders on the ground charged with protecting their soldiers.

Ranking Minority Member Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) pressed Bruni significantly on whom he thought was responsible for Sgt. Maseth's death. If KBR isn't to blame, Davis pushed, then it must be the Army -- who else could it be? After several rounds of verbal sidestepping, Bruni admitted, "Responsibility lies with the Army."

Chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) said at the conclusion of the questioning, "I can't say after this hearing I feel assured that any of you are on top of the situation." Waxman and other members requested further documents and answers from the panel. Department of Defense Acting Inspector General Gordon Heddell said documents obtained by the Committee have changed his mind about statements in a preliminary report sent to the Committee Monday and suggest KBR and the Army were aware of dangerous conditions in Sgt. Maseth's shower. Heddell expects to finish a full report in October.

Waxman was also critical of Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell for holding a press conference Tuesday night in anticipation of the hearing in which he said KBR and the Pentagon were being falsely blamed. Morrell called it "flat out wrong" to imply the DOD and KBR "are so negligent or callous that we have failed to address these dangers."

All documents related to the hearing are available on the Committee's Web site here [1].

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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