Documents Feed Debate on FEMA Trailers

Federal officials issued trailers to Hurricane Katrina victims even though some workplace safety tests detected high levels of formaldehyde at government staging areas for the structures just weeks after the storm, a lawyer for hundreds of occupants said Wednesday.

Documents from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration raise new questions about how much federal officials knew about the units, which were sent to tens of thousands of displaced residents, said attorney Anthony Buzbee. But they don't say whether the tests in the weeks after the August 2005 storm were conducted inside or outside the trailers.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which issued the trailers, has been moving residents out for several months because of health complaints.

Recent tests on hundreds of FEMA trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi found formaldehyde levels about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last month.

At its peak, more than 143,000 trailers were in use by Katrina victims across the Gulf Coast. About 34,000 are still occupied.

Buzbee said he reviewed a 10-page summary of test results from air sampling at FEMA staging facilities in Mississippi that found formaldehyde levels exceeding maximums set for federal workplace safety. Buzbee said the documents show some tests were performed as early as Oct. 11, 2005, and as late as Jan. 17, 2006.

''This is astonishing,'' Buzbee said Wednesday in an interview. ''How could they feign ignorance that this was an issue even before they sent these trailers to residents?''

It was unclear whether the tests were performed by OSHA or FEMA. Clyde Payne, OSHA area director, said he couldn't comment on the test results obtained by Buzbee.

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre wouldn't immediately comment on Buzbee's allegations, but he said formaldehyde tests at work sites are required under federal law.

''These are just safety tests for personnel,'' he said. ''They were never designed for the occupants.''

Formaldehyde, a preservative commonly used in construction materials, can cause respiratory problems and is believed to cause cancer.

FEMA lawyers had discouraged officials from investigating residents' health complaints because of liability concerns, according to documents released by a congressional panel in July 2007.

Buzbee wrote about the test results in a letter Wednesday to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and several members of Congress.

Adam Sharp, a spokesman for Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the information provided by Buzbee will be fodder for a congressional panel's review of FEMA's response to formaldehyde concerns.

''One of the essential questions this investigation will answer is, 'What was the timeline?''' Sharp said. ''How much of a lag existed between when FEMA became aware of the (formaldehyde) dangers ... and when did they first start notifying trailer occupants about the dangers?''

In testimony before a congressional panel last week, a CDC official said problems with formaldehyde in trailers date back to the 1980s.

Howard Frumkin, director of the CDC's National Center For Environmental Health, said the problem seemed to ''recede'' until FEMA used tens of thousands of travel trailers to shelter victims of the 2005 storm.

''FEMA has never denied that trailers have formaldehyde,'' McIntyre said. ''We haven't tried to hide anything.''

Scientists Closely Examine FEMA Trailers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- While the Federal Emergency Management Agency rushes to move thousands of Gulf Coast storm victims out of government-issued trailers, scientists are tearing the units apart to learn why many have exposed occupants to dangerous levels of formaldehyde fumes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is studying materials used by several companies that provided FEMA with tens of thousands of travel trailers after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Test results reported this week by the CDC showed formaldehyde levels in hundreds of FEMA trailers and mobile homes were, on average, about five times higher than what people are exposed to in most modern homes. Formaldehyde, a preservative commonly used in construction materials, can cause breathing problems and also is believed to cause cancer.

CDC director Dr. Julie Gerberding said scientists need time to determine how -- and why -- formaldehyde levels varied among different models of FEMA trailers. Scientists from the CDC and the University of California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory also are looking at ways to reduce formaldehyde emissions in the trailers.

The study was limited to materials in unoccupied government trailers. Gerberding said other studies indicate formaldehyde levels in manufactured homes are steadily decreasing ''in a fairly significant manner.''

''Mainly because the manufacturers don't want this problem,'' she said, ''so they're learning how to use new materials and changing their processing.''

Kevin Broom, spokesman for the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, said Friday the industry would adjust its manufacturing techniques if the government adopts stricter formaldehyde standards than those already set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

''We in the RV industry are committed to following the science and making sure our products are safe,'' Broom said in a statement.

FEMA said its New Orleans office received nearly 70 phone calls from concerned residents after Thursday's announcement.

Sherry Gremillion, 45, a waitress still living in a St. Bernard Parish trailer park, said she can't afford an apartment large enough to accommodate her family or close enough to her job. FEMA expects to close the trailer park by March 15.

''I fell asleep crying last night,'' she said Friday. ''I don't think I'm going to make it.''
Hundreds of Gulf Coast trailer dwellers are suing manufacturers in federal court, accusing the companies of furnishing FEMA with shoddily constructed units that jeopardized their health. By law, FEMA can't be named as a defendant in the consolidated litigation until next month at the earliest, according to plaintiffs lawyers.

Critics claim FEMA should have reacted sooner to concerns that formaldehyde is to blame for a host of ailments reported by trailer occupants.

''They knew full well something was wrong. They were just hoping nothing would happen,'' said attorney Daniel Becnel Jr., who says he represents about 5,000 trailer occupants.
Another plaintiffs lawyer said trailer makers are the ''real culprits.''

''Obviously FEMA made lots of mistakes, but FEMA didn't manufacture these trailers,'' said Tony Buzbee, a lawyer for hundreds of current and former trailer occupants.
A lawyer for the companies sued in U.S. District Court in New Orleans didn't return a telephone call for comment Friday.

FEMA administrator R. David Paulison said Thursday the agency hoped to move all of the roughly 35,000 families out of trailers by summer, when hot weather increases formaldehyde emissions.

Louisiana has 25,162 occupied FEMA trailers and mobile homes, while Mississippi has 10,362, according to FEMA. The number of occupied FEMA trailers and mobile homes peaked at 144,000 following the hurricanes.
Paulison called the relocations a ''stopgap measure.''

''We're not booting people out. What we're doing to putting them into hotels and motels until we can find an apartment for them,'' he said. ''It's just transition, to get them out of the travel trailer and into someplace where it's safer.''

Many residents still in FEMA trailer parks are elderly or have disabilities, meaning they are on fixed incomes and can't easily find affordable housing, said Tracie Washington, president of the Louisiana Justice Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group for the poor.

''These are people that rented $200, $300 apartments before Hurricane Katrina, and those aren't available anymore,'' Washington said. ''They're afraid that if they're moved into hotels they'll wind up homeless in a few months.''