FEMA TRAILERS TOXIC...
FEMA to step up trailer relocations
Enlarge By Alex Brandon, AP
TOXIC TRAILERS
testing begins: Feds start air quality tests
FEMA flunks: tests find high levels of formaldehyde fumes
USA TODAY
More than 38,000 families living in trailers after the 2005 Gulf hurricanes will be moved out as soon as possible because tests show dangerous levels of formaldehyde in many homes, federal officials said Thursday.
In a news conference in New Orleans, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Paulison said officials were "moving as fast as we can" to move the most vulnerable trailer residents to alternative housing, including hotels and motels.
Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a test of 519 trailer and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi revealed that a third had unacceptably high levels of formaldehyde for children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems. She said 5% of trailers registered fumes so toxic that even healthy adults would suffer respiratory symptoms if exposed for long periods of time.
Fumes from the homes in Louisiana and Mississippi were an average of about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes, according to the CDC study. In some trailers, the levels were nearly 40 times customary exposure levels.
Time is of the essence in moving the families, Gerberding said.
"We know that if we took the same (testing) snapshot in the summer, when the weather's warmer, that we should see even higher levels in some of these trailers," Gerberding said.
Paulison turned aside questions about whether FEMA was being disingenuous in announcing swift action now when reports of problems go back nearly two years. He said FEMA had "been very aggressively moving people out of travel trailers" and noted that 15,000 families had been moved since November and that 800 to 1,000 are moved out every week.
"We do care about the people. We are moving as fast as we can," he said.
Pressed to explain why it had taken FEMA so long to admit to problems, Paulison said, "Hindsight is 20/20. ... With the information we had, we thought we moved very quickly." He also said FEMA "would not ever use trailers again" to house hurricane and other natural disaster victims. He said mobile homes, which are designed for long-term use, would be used instead.
Last May, FEMA officials dismissed findings by environmentalists that the trailers posed serious health risks. They said the trailers conformed to industry standards.
By August, about 1,000 families in Louisiana asked FEMA to move them to other quarters. In November, lawyers for a group of hurricane victims asked a federal judge to order FEMA to test for hazardous fumes.
The CDC, working with FEMA, hired a contractor. The firm - Bureau Veritas North America - tested air samples from 358 travel trailers, 82 park model trailers and 79 mobile homes.
Analysis of the samples, taken from Dec. 21 through Jan. 23, came back last week, said Mike McGeehin, director of a CDC division that focuses on environmental hazards.
They found average levels of 77 parts formaldehyde per billion parts of air, significantly higher than the 10 to 17 parts per billion concentration seen in newer homes. Levels were as high as 590 parts per billion.
The highest concentrations were in travel trailers, which are smaller and more poorly ventilated, McGeehin said.
Last week, congressional Democrats accused FEMA of manipulating scientific research in order to play down the danger posed by formaldehyde in the trailers.
Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and a longtime critic of FEMA, issued a statement Thursday saying, "It is inexcusable that it has taken so long for FEMA to address this serious formaldehyde risk. The committee is continuing its investigation and will be seeking documents from the trailer manufacturers."
Waxman sent letters to three trailer manufacturers who have supplied temporary housing to Katrina and Rita victims: Pilgrim International, Gulf Stream Coach and Coachman Industries.
Contributing: Associated Press
Enlarge By Alex Brandon, AP
TOXIC TRAILERS
testing begins: Feds start air quality tests
FEMA flunks: tests find high levels of formaldehyde fumes
USA TODAY
More than 38,000 families living in trailers after the 2005 Gulf hurricanes will be moved out as soon as possible because tests show dangerous levels of formaldehyde in many homes, federal officials said Thursday.
In a news conference in New Orleans, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Paulison said officials were "moving as fast as we can" to move the most vulnerable trailer residents to alternative housing, including hotels and motels.
Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said a test of 519 trailer and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi revealed that a third had unacceptably high levels of formaldehyde for children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems. She said 5% of trailers registered fumes so toxic that even healthy adults would suffer respiratory symptoms if exposed for long periods of time.
Fumes from the homes in Louisiana and Mississippi were an average of about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes, according to the CDC study. In some trailers, the levels were nearly 40 times customary exposure levels.
Time is of the essence in moving the families, Gerberding said.
"We know that if we took the same (testing) snapshot in the summer, when the weather's warmer, that we should see even higher levels in some of these trailers," Gerberding said.
Paulison turned aside questions about whether FEMA was being disingenuous in announcing swift action now when reports of problems go back nearly two years. He said FEMA had "been very aggressively moving people out of travel trailers" and noted that 15,000 families had been moved since November and that 800 to 1,000 are moved out every week.
"We do care about the people. We are moving as fast as we can," he said.
Pressed to explain why it had taken FEMA so long to admit to problems, Paulison said, "Hindsight is 20/20. ... With the information we had, we thought we moved very quickly." He also said FEMA "would not ever use trailers again" to house hurricane and other natural disaster victims. He said mobile homes, which are designed for long-term use, would be used instead.
Last May, FEMA officials dismissed findings by environmentalists that the trailers posed serious health risks. They said the trailers conformed to industry standards.
By August, about 1,000 families in Louisiana asked FEMA to move them to other quarters. In November, lawyers for a group of hurricane victims asked a federal judge to order FEMA to test for hazardous fumes.
The CDC, working with FEMA, hired a contractor. The firm - Bureau Veritas North America - tested air samples from 358 travel trailers, 82 park model trailers and 79 mobile homes.
Analysis of the samples, taken from Dec. 21 through Jan. 23, came back last week, said Mike McGeehin, director of a CDC division that focuses on environmental hazards.
They found average levels of 77 parts formaldehyde per billion parts of air, significantly higher than the 10 to 17 parts per billion concentration seen in newer homes. Levels were as high as 590 parts per billion.
The highest concentrations were in travel trailers, which are smaller and more poorly ventilated, McGeehin said.
Last week, congressional Democrats accused FEMA of manipulating scientific research in order to play down the danger posed by formaldehyde in the trailers.
Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and a longtime critic of FEMA, issued a statement Thursday saying, "It is inexcusable that it has taken so long for FEMA to address this serious formaldehyde risk. The committee is continuing its investigation and will be seeking documents from the trailer manufacturers."
Waxman sent letters to three trailer manufacturers who have supplied temporary housing to Katrina and Rita victims: Pilgrim International, Gulf Stream Coach and Coachman Industries.
Contributing: Associated Press
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Let the lawsuits begin.[V][:(!][xx(] 0 -
When they selling them at one big auction? I want to buy one. 0 -
How did this happen?
Were the trailers made that way and this happens to all of them?
Was it something that FEMA "did"?
Is it what the people did with the trailers once they got them?0 -
My guess would be that while these trailers may contain formeldahyde (probably in the insulation)they are probably perfectly safe until that insulation is disturbed. Given the class of people that are probably occupying them my guess would be that they are getting trashed thus exposing the formeldahyde. 0 -
Why are 38000 families still living one yours and my dime?
Wasn't this to be a temporary solution. They lost there houses, we had to pay to house them. Why do they not have there own house now?
Just label me the heartless SOB. I'm sick and tired of paying for ANYBODY else.0 -
quote:Originally posted by RUGERGUNZ
Why are 38000 families still living one yours and my dime?
Wasn't this to be a temporary solution. They lost there houses, we had to pay to house them. Why do they not have there own house now?
Just label me the heartless SOB. I'm sick and tired of paying for ANYBODY else.
+ 1000 on top of my other post.0 -
If anyone wants to get rid of a toxic fema trailer, I will come and pick them up for free. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by RUGERGUNZ
Why are 38000 families still living one yours and my dime?
Wasn't this to be a temporary solution. They lost there houses, we had to pay to house them. Why do they not have there own house now?
Just label me the heartless SOB. I'm sick and tired of paying for ANYBODY else.
+1
It has been over 2 1/2 years,......how long do we pay.
I guess the same terms as welfare carries, which is never ending.
Why did this only happen in New Orleans?
I won't answer that question.
WTH is insurance for?
I have thought about cancelling my insurance since it seems to be not needed.
Think I would get the same treatment,.........right![}:)]0 -
I guess they've never heard about opening windows and turning on fans. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Marc1301
quote:Originally posted by RUGERGUNZ
Why are 38000 families still living one yours and my dime?
Wasn't this to be a temporary solution. They lost there houses, we had to pay to house them. Why do they not have there own house now?
Just label me the heartless SOB. I'm sick and tired of paying for ANYBODY else.
+1
It has been over 2 1/2 years,......how long do we pay.
I guess the same terms as welfare carries, which is never ending.
Why did this only happen in New Orleans?
I won't answer that question.
WTH is insurance for?
I have thought about cancelling my insurance since it seems to be not needed.
Think I would get the same treatment,.........right![}:)]
+2000 They will get some nice new shiny ones on our dime0 -
formaldehyde is good; it keeps germs under control. 0 -
I will take a dozen to go. Has to be some chemical to neutralize IF there is really a danger. Think about this... How many retired people pulling new campers around the country have complained of this nonsense? 0 -
It's in the glue 0 -
So I guess Alex Jones was right when he compared them to a concentration camp. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Zulu7
I guess they've never heard about opening windows and turning on fans.
That's what the FEMA people said for the last year[:D]0 -
Paneling in a lot of trailers is treated with formaldehyde to make it last longer and dry out slower.. These trailers must have been made a while back as I thought the use of formaldehyde had been banned.. 0 -
I'll bid $100.
Haven't people walked through those campers at the county fair?
Those new camper smell would make our eyes water.0 -
There was a news programme on it and they stated there are only 300 apts for rent in the city,...not nearly enough...
And those apts are charging way too much for rent...a0 -
Now how can we make welfare checks turn to formaldehyde after 2 years?? 0 -
They beat the hell of sleeping on the ground, 0 -
Freakin nasty flea ridden, filthy dirty trailers. Who cares? I wouldn't buy one of those trailers used for any amount of money. The previous nasty tenants have made sure that they are unusable/uninhabitable.
Perhaps they can live in one of their 2 Escalades that most of them got for their worthless craphole of a house.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Marc1301
quote:Originally posted by RUGERGUNZ
Why are 38000 families still living one yours and my dime?
Wasn't this to be a temporary solution. They lost there houses, we had to pay to house them. Why do they not have there own house now?
Just label me the heartless SOB. I'm sick and tired of paying for ANYBODY else.
+1
It has been over 2 1/2 years,......how long do we pay.
I guess the same terms as welfare carries, which is never ending.
Why did this only happen in New Orleans?
I won't answer that question.
WTH is insurance for?
I have thought about cancelling my insurance since it seems to be not needed.
Think I would get the same treatment,.........right![}:)]
Couldn't agree with you guys more. These people are long overdue to get their crap together and stand on their own. This kind of thing makes me enraged.
If there are no apartments for rent in the city bleenING MOVE. That's what normal upstanding decent people would do.0
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