Oregon soldiers who became sick while guarding a water treatment while on tour in Iraq have had an award of $85 million overturned by the 9th Circuit Court of appeals.

The military contractor Kellogg, Brown and Root successfully argued that Oregon was not the proper jurisdiction for the case.

'We are thrilled with the result; it is the right result and we look forward to a successful conclusion to this and all the legacy tort claims that relate to KBR's work supporting the U.S. military in Iraq,' KBR attorney Geoffrey Harrison said by phone Thursday.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in, sitting in Portland Oregon, overturned the the $85 million reward

Former Oregon Army National Guard Staff Sergeant Rocky Bixby cough's during a 2009 Senate hearing into the possible exposure of US army personnel in Iraq

Mike Doyle, the lead attorney for the soldiers, said he will take a few days before deciding the next step. He said KBR was fully able to defend itself in Oregon, so it was tough to lose on jurisdictional grounds.

'But that's the law,' he said. 'We'll follow the law; we'll follow the rules. That's what we do.'

A federal jury in Portland found KBR guilty of negligence after a three-week trial in late 2012. Each of the 12 soldiers was awarded $850,000 in noneconomic damages and $6.25 million in punitive damages.

KBR reconstructed the water treatment center shortly after the March 2003 invasion while National Guardsmen defended the area.

The soldiers said they had respiratory ailments after their exposure to sodium dichromate, a corrosive substance used to keep pipes at the water plant free of rust. Moreover, they feared a carcinogen found in sodium dichromate could cause cancer later in life.

KBR witnesses testified that the soldiers' maladies resulted from desert air and pre-existing conditions. And even if the soldiers were exposed to sodium dichromate, they weren't around enough of it, for long enough, to cause serious health problems.

Service personnel from Oregon and West Virginia speak on Capitol Hill during the 2009 Senate inquiry into their exposure to harmful chemicals while on tour in Iraq

KBR which has its headquarters in Texas (pictured) says the oldiers' maladies resulted from desert air and pre-existing conditions

Rocky Bixby, one of the Oregon soldiers, said his health hasn't improved since the 2012 verdict. He said he has coughing fits, lung problems, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

'We beat them in federal court on the merits of the case and now we have to retry it again,' he said. 'It's frustrating that the appellate court basically threw out our whole case.'