WASHINGTON, DC- After receiving a response from William Utt, CEO of KBR on the electrocutions issue, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement. In July, Senator Casey met with Mr. Utt and sent him a follow-up letter.
“KBR’s response leads to many more questions. Most importantly I am rather skeptical of KBR’s argument that there is no evidence KBR performed any inspection/repair work on the faulty ground pump that led to Ryan Maseth’s electrocution in a shower.
“At my request following a personal meeting with the KBR CEO, the company provided to my office copies of all work order requests submitted by Ryan Maseth and other U.S. military personnel who occupied his room in a building in the Radwaniyah Palace Complex for a period of seven months leading up to Ryan’s electrocution.
“KBR states that these work orders demonstrate that, contrary to sworn testimony, only one work order was filed referencing an electric shock received while in the shower. That work order was filed by Sergeant First Class Justin Hummer, who preceded Ryan Maseth in the residential quarters where he was electrocuted.
“KBR contends that this work order was filed for a separate facility, not his residence. However, after examining all of the work orders, I do not see how KBR has reached that conclusion. The work order is sufficiently ambiguous that we simply do not know which building it referenced.
“More to the point, why would a soldier complain of getting shocked in a shower unless it was his very own shower? We know that Sergeant First Class Hummer’s personal shower was the same shower where Ryan Maseth died.
“I appreciate KBR’s response to my letter. But many, many questions still remain. As I have maintained all along, there must be accountability for the electrocution deaths of Ryan Maseth and seventeen other U.S. military personnel. We must find out what went wrong and ensure that no future tragedies occur.”
Senator Casey also recently received a letter from James I. Finley, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, in which Senator Casey was told that the Ryan Maseth death was the first known death by electrocution made aware to the Pentagon that occurred in facilities managed by KBR. The letter also confirms that KBR was issued a Corrective Action Request on September 11, 2008 highlighting deficiencies with its work in Iraq and that KBR is now required to submit a Corrective Action Plan.
Senator Casey has pressured the Department of Defense (DoD) for answers on the trend of electrocution-related deaths in Iraq since learning about this fatal problem from Cheryl Harris, mother of Staff Sergeant Ryan Maseth who was electrocuted while taking a shower in Iraq. Senator Casey, after meeting with the CEO of KBR Inc., William Utt, sent follow-up letters to Mr. Utt and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about what they are doing to fix the systemic problem of faulty wiring at facilities and prevent further harm to our troops in Iraq. He has also sent letters back and forth with General David Patraeus. The Department of Defense Inspector General’s office has determined that eighteen U.S. military personnel have died by electrocution in Iraq since 2003.
According to the Army Criminal Investigation Division, Staff Sergeant Maseth died when the electricity in the shower facility short-circuited because an electric water pump on the rooftop was not properly grounded. An initial investigation by the DoDs Criminal Investigative Division office found that the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) was aware of the electrical safety hazard posed by this shower facility prior to the death of Staff Sgt. Maseth. The Pentagon has turned over the investigation to the Department’s Inspector General’s office for further investigation.
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