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An Inspector General interim report released on July 28 found that the Department of Defense investigation of the accidental electrocution of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth revealed that Kellog, Brown, and Root (KBR) did not know about the electrical hazards prior to Maseth’s death. However, at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Cali.) disclosed documents obtained by the Committee which show that a soldier notified KBR of the electrical problems well before Maseth’s death.

Staff Sgt. Justin Hummer, who was the previous tenant of Maseth’s room at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad, filed a work order on July 8, 2007, that states, “Pipes have voltage, get shocked in shower,” according to a copy of the report provided by the Committee. Also, in a statement signed by Maseth on June 6, 2008, six months before his death in January, he claimed, “On at least one of these occasions [when he was shocked in the shower] I have to use a wooden handle to turn off the shower nozzle because the electrical current was so strong.”

Inspector General of the Department of Defense Gordon Heddell said the Department of Defense is investigating 15 deaths from electrocutions. The deaths fall into two categories: soldiers who died from contact with power lines and those who died from ungrounded and/or faulty equipment. The first death occurred back in 2003, according to Heddell. Chairman Waxman asked why it took four years for the Department of Defense to begin overseeing KBR.

According to Thomas Bruni, Theater Engineering and Construction Manager for KBR, KBR was not responsible for maintaining the facility where Maseth died because it was a “Level B” facility. There are two types of contracts in these facilities: “Level A”, which allows KBR to perform maintenance and repairs without orders from the Army, and “Level B”, which restricts KBR to only performing repairs with specific Army instruction.

When pressed numerous times by Rep Tom Davis (R-Va.) to pinpoint the organization responsible, Bruni hesitantly admitted the Army was responsible. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.) said KBR should have pulled the plug on the faulty equipment as soon as it found out. Lynch said KBR did not have to repair it, but should have ensured that no soldiers used it.