Dutch Defense Ministry to Pay to Workers Over Toxic Paint Scandal – Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Dutch Defense Ministry will provide each of the hundreds of military engineers who were exposed to toxic paint with remunerations worth up to 44,000 euros ($51,600), the Dutch News media outlet reported Monday.

The media noted that over 350 former defense sector employees had filed complaints against the ministry.

Junior Defense Minister Barbara Visser stated that the ministry "neglected to adequately protect these [former] colleagues and did not live up to its duty of care as an employer."

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Military personnel contracted cancer and other illnesses after coming into contact with paint containing high levels of toxic agent Chromium 6 that was used in the maintenance of NATO equipment at five bases between 1984 and 2006, according to the Dutch News.

The problem and possible health issues connected to it had been known to the ministry since 1973, an investigation by the Dutch Institute for Public Health revealed, but the defense body informed neither the troops nor doctors.