A Halliburton whistleblower gets fired for trying to spare American soldiers from food poisoning. Don’t read this just before eating.
“On July, 17, 2003, Heather Yarbrough flew to Kuwait to start a new job: monitoring the quality and safety of food served to soldiers on U.S. military bases in Iraq. Her employer was the Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) Government Services division of Halliburton, the Texas-based oil company formerly run by Vice President Dick Cheney that has contracts with the U.S. government to support military personnel in the field and to help with Iraq reconstruction.
“Yarbrough, 33, felt upbeat and excited. She had trained hard for a position like this, one that required expertise in food and science. She was banking on the high salary — $1,500 a week — to pay off her student loans. And unlike many of her fellow students at Humboldt State University, she supported the Bush Administration and its war on terrorism.”
You probably already sense what’s coming, and I know what you’re thinking: Why does Heather Yarbrough hate America?
“It was Aug. 6, opening day for the camp’s dining facility. ‘Two thousand five hundred anxious soldiers, many waiting to eat their first cooked meal in months, stood around us [at a ribbon-cutting ceremony], she wrote later in her Web log (www.humboldt.edu/~hdy1). ‘Dinner was served on time, and it appeared to be a smooth operation.’
“But the next evening, when Yarbrough started her first 12-hour overnight shift, she was shocked at conditions in the kitchen. Freezers and refrigerators weren’t working. Food was spoiling. The kitchen workers were exhausted, and some of them weren’t following basic sanitation practices. ‘It became apparent to me that much of the food served at the banquet the night before was … possibly dangerous,’ she wrote.
“At 2 a.m. Yarbrough saw a lone kitchen worker spreading mayonnaise onto several thousand slices of bread for the next day’s sandwiches. He was halfway through the job, and the mayonnaise had sat in open bowls for hours.
“The kitchen’s air conditioner had moderated the desert heat somewhat, but it had also spewed dust over the worker, the mayonnaise and the bread. Yarbrough conferred with a kitchen supervisor, and they agreed that the mayonnaise and partially made sandwiches should be thrown away.”
Not smart, Ms. Yarbrough. Now you’re cutting into Halliburton’s profits.
“On her second night on duty, Yarbrough met with kitchen staff — all third-country nationals working for [Halliburton subcontractor] ESS — and wrote down a list of supplies needed for sanitary purposes: thermometers to check the heat in steam trays, test strips to measure chlorine in sanitizing water, rubber gloves and other items.
“She noted that the day shift had left the dining facility a mess: dirty tables, overflowing trash, no sodas stocked. And she took some feedback from a sergeant who represented Halliburton’s client, the Army. ‘The cream[ed] beef was greasy. Dessert table is messy with crumbs. Stock juices earlier in the morning because they want the products to be cold,’ she wrote in her journal.
“About midnight, an American who managed the dining facility for ESS came into the kitchen. Yarbrough read him the list of sanitary items needed, described the problems in the dining room and relayed the Army sergeant’s requests.
“But before she finished, the man she knew only as ‘Ray’ erupted in anger. ‘He told me that I was not aware of my position or duties,’ she wrote later that morning in her journal. ‘He told me not to attempt to address [kitchen workers, only the] night manager.’
“To underscore the point, Ray stepped menacingly close to Yarbrough. ‘With riveted eye contact [he] reminded me of his instruction.’ Then he left.”
Only the best for America’s finest, right? By which I mean Dick Cheney’s friends.
“Over the next few days, Yarbrough trained kitchen workers in sanitation methods and taught seminars on botulism, E. coli and other dangerous bacteria. The kitchen crews seemed to be paying more attention to safety. ‘Overall, this is much better,’ she wrote Aug. 10 in her journal.
“But while conditions in the kitchen were improving, Yarbrough’s position in the dining facility’s power structure was deteriorating. She’d learned from co-workers that Ray was tight with her supervisor. Even more ominous, the Army officer in charge of food services at Camp Iron Horse was also a friend of Ray’s.
“On Aug. 11, that officer called Yarbrough angrily to an impromptu meeting. When she began to take notes, he stopped abruptly and walked away.
“The next day, Yarbrough recorded another confrontation with Ray, but she went on with her job. “I gave a short brief on salmonella, likely sources, mode of contamination, toxicity and symptoms of infection,’ she wrote. ‘Cooks seem pleased with this nightly entertainment.’
“She planned to give the same talk to day cooks, but she was suspended the next day, relieved of duty and told to pack up and be ready to take the next convoy back to Kuwait.”
At least no one threatened her for, y’know, doing her job.
“While waiting for the convoy, Yarbrough appealed to a Halliburton district manager. She told him Ray was compromising food safety, and she believed he’d used his influence to get her fired.
“‘He told me that I was a danger to myself if I remained at Tikrit,’ said Yarbrough. ‘He wouldn’t tell me why, but I thought it was that somebody would have been sent to do me harm.'”