When dozens of Indiana National Guard soldiers were exposed to a toxic chemical while serving in Iraq, it raised a lot of questions.

Now, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh is hoping to get some answers.

At his request this week, Bayh announced that Secretary of the Army Pete Geren had agreed to conduct an in-depth review of the 2003 incident at Qarmat Ali, in which soldiers guarding a water treatment plant may have been exposed to sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen.

The announcement comes hard on the heels of a bill recently introduced by Bayh, which would create a registry to track the health of soldiers believed to have been exposed to toxins while serving, and ensure that they receive priority medical care. The bill has Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as co-sponsors.

To South Bend resident Dave Rancourt, a veteran who served at Qarmat Ali with his Indiana National Guard unit, the news is welcome."It's nice when the politicians do something and it's not just because it's getting close to election time," he laughed. "Really, though, it sounds like a good thing."

Witnesses at a Senate committee hearing into the incident reported that sodium dichromate had been spilled in the facility before it was captured in 2003, and could have been breathed in by soldiers and workers. Some workers allege that officials with contractor KBR knew of the problem, but downplayed its significance to workers.

Many of the soldiers were tested for the presence of the chemical in their bodies before they shipped out for home, but some officials are concerned that the tests were taken too late and with poor testing methods, allowing high levels of sodium dichromate in the soldiers to go undiagnosed.

Eric Kleiman, a spokesman for Bayh's office, said these were some of the concerns that prompted the senator to study the issue in depth after the committee hearings in June.

"We have Hoosier soldiers who were placed at risk, the question is: Could that risk have been avoided?" Kleiman said.Bayh also is concerned with the quality of the testing the soldiers underwent before coming home, and ensuring that they have access to quality medical care, Kleiman said. But he said that the senator is encouraged by the Army's investigation into the response to the incident, as well as the support his bill has garnered.

"What we are hoping to find out from this hearing is whether or not the proper procedures were followed, and whether or not those procedures are the right ones," Kleiman said.

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