House Panel Probes Toxic FEMA Trailers
Documents Show Agency's Lawyers Discouraged Tests Of Contaminated Trailers Used By Hurricane Victims
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House Probes FEMA Cover-up
Following a CBS News investigation in May, Congress is accusing FEMA of a cover-up - putting thousands of Katrina victims in trailers the agency knew were unhealthy. Armen Keteyian reports.
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Are FEMA Trailers Toxic?
CBS News RAW: A pediatrician and a FEMA trailer resident tell a House committee about ailments they believe were caused by formaldehyde contamination. FEMA is accused of ignoring complaints.
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Trailer Resident's Tragic Loss
Only On The Web: Earl Shorty describes his wife's last months of life following their move into a trailer provided to them by FEMA.
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(CBS/AP)
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A House panel hears testimony on July 19, 2007, about health problems related to formaldehyde fumes in FEMA trailers provided to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. (CBS)
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Lawmakers called the actions sickening and infuriating at a hearing that included dramatic testimony from three trailer occupants whose families suspect formaldehyde is to blame for their various illnesses.
In May, CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian broke the story of the nearly 86,000 families with rising health problems still living in FEMA trailers across the Gulf.
Both Democrats and Republicans bitterly criticized FEMA's decisions to conduct limited inspections or tests of trailers whose occupants reported various respiratory problems. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform subpoenaed FEMA records showing that agency lawyers warned officials there could be liability problems if formaldehyde tests suggested negligence on the government's part.
The committee's outrage was widespread, backed by internal FEMA emails and memos that only came to light within the last few days. Documents revealed that FEMA officials and attorneys "consistently rejected" repeated calls for testing from its own field staff because they would "imply FEMA's ownership of the issue," reported Keteyian.
"It's sickening and the exact opposite of what government should be," said committee chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. "It is impossible to read the FEMA documents and not be infuriated."
FEMA administrator R. David Paulson apologized to the trailer occupants.
"This agency made the best decisions it could with the information it had," Paulson testified. "Now we know we have to do something different than we've done in the past."
CBS News has learned that health concerns in FEMA trailers could reach well beyond serious respiratory problems; several deaths may linked to toxic levels of formaldehyde gas, reports Keteyian.
Earl Shorty, a resident of Louisiana, moved into a FEMA travel trailer in one compound with his wife, Desiree, about a year ago.
"Within four months after we moved in here, she just started coughing and she would get weak," Shorty told Keteyian.
Earl says his wife didn't smoke and that every time she left the trailer the coughing would stop. Eventually, she became too weak to go out. On July 2, she took her last breath at a local hospital.
"She was just looking at me and she said, 'Babe, I'm scared,'" said Shorty. "That's the last thing I remember her telling me, that she was scared."
Formaldehyde, sometimes found in building materials used in manufactured homes, can cause respiratory problems and possibly cancer in high doses. FEMA provided more than 120,000 trailers to victims of the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and many thousands of people still occupy them, especially in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Formaldehyde is used in a number of materials in the trailers, including the particleboard used to make walls and cabinets.
When complaints of possible formaldehyde poisoning surfaced in early 2006, FEMA officials tested one occupied trailer and announced "there is no ongoing risk" for trailer users. But documents show the levels of formaldehyde found were higher than those considered safe by several government health and environment agencies.
The committee unearthed documents in which one FEMA lawyer advised: "Do not initiate any testing until we give the OK. ... Once you get results ... the clock is running on our duty to respond to them."
When they finally, under pressure, tested some trailers for formaldehyde levels, they instructed the owners to keep all doors and windows open and keep air conditioners running around the clock for several days before the tests — which still came out high, reports Fuss.
Formaldehyde is a carcinogen, and the fumes can irritate the eyes, nose, throat and skin.
Lindsay Huckabee of Kiln, Miss., said she, her five children and her husband all have experienced symptoms of formaldehyde exposure.FEMA Trailers And Formaldehyde Residents Getting Sick?
Documents Found
Fumes Felt In Indiana
"I began to having migraine headaches and pre-term labor," Huckabee told the panel. "My daughter, who had been asthma-free for about a year, began having asthma attacks. Three of my children began having nosebleeds several times a week."
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Residents Getting Sick?


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See all 64 CommentsThe manufacturer must declare bankruptcy and divest then reinvest diversely into the burgeoning global markets. This is something the public sector cannot do.
Big government looks stupid here as it should. If this had been a private sector endeavor there would be no one to blame but a company that no longer exists that would then have divested and reinvested it's assets under new global corporations. A much more efficient method of preserving capital.
What needs to happen is a world court and world system of laws protecting large concentrations private capital to create a new world order.
Millions of children have been sickened and no one has cared. But some 80,000 illegal aliens in FEMA trailers along the Gulf Coast complain and all of a sudden Congress gets involved?!!! Where has "our" Congress been?
Posted by mudrose
Stupid government takes the hit every time...foolish public endeavors.
The companies declare bankruptcy, divest and reinvest into new global markets...ingenious. Like Jack Abramhoff said, stupid people deserve to lose. The people of this country who think they can maintain a representative government are fools. Private capital in a free market society is the smart way to go plus it sounds much better. The word free always sounds good. It's the best word to use in marketing any product.
This is entirely too sad for it's own good.....
It is ingenious. Chertoff will hold a position in the global private sector and the private manufacturere might declare bankruptcy or change it's name, divest and reinvest in the new global enconomy. A delightful way to preserve capital. The isolationists can sit around and whine about their government all they want but the capital it generates from taxation for the private global ecnomy is grand. Dubai is where it's at, it's a new infrastructure. It's time for a new world order and rid private capital of the burdens of individual nationalist governments.
On Charlie Rose, Henry Kissinger recently said that a problem for western nations is getting the people to sacrifice. Sacrifice must be done, get over the silly nationalism. It's the new world order.
It is ingenious. Chertoff will hold a position in the global private sector and the private manufacturere might declare bankruptcy or change it's name, divest and reinvest in the new global enconomy. A delightful way to preserve capital. The isolationists can sit around and whine about their government all they want but the capital it generates from taxation for the private global ecnomy is grand. Dubai is where it's at, it's a new infrastructure. It's time for a new world order and rid private capital of the burdens of individual nationalist governments.
On Charlie Rose, Henry Kissinger recently said that a problem for western nations is getting the people to sacrifice. Sacrifice must be done, get over the silly nationalism. It's the new world order.
Does it ever end?
And If YOU think they "deserve it".. Then YOU pay for them.. I'm tired of it!
I call on congress to pass a law disbanding FEMA and just let these idiots drown. When you try to help them, they sue you. These trailers have been manufactured the same way for decades. FEMA did not set you to make you sick, you were that way before you moved in....get over it.
Posted by vet999999
Yeah death to FEMA and any government program. People should be successful enough to afford to get themselves out of a pickle. If not, then evolution/natural selection will take care of the poor trash. Hell, those trailers are no doubt better than the trailers they were living in before. I'm sure it's working out better for most of them.
Big government and FEMA are to blame. The company that manufractured them needs to declare bankruptcy, divest and reinvest in the private global economy of the new world order.
And If YOU think they "deserve it".. Then YOU pay for them.. I'm tired of it!
Posted by justcryssy
Me too, I agree, patching the infrastructure of New Orleans and New York are a waste of tax payer money although the money is helping fund the private sector contractors of globalization which is good. Still it wouldn't be good business practice to patch around on an antiquated manufacturing facility nor is it good business practice to invest in the people of this country nor it's aging infrastructure. Good business practice would recognize the new infrastructures of Dubai and much of China make much better business since for the global community of private capital to invest in.
Posted by whatever29
I agree absolutely, if people have been stupid enough not to recognize that the cost of their real estate values have far exceeded the wages the free market determines they should earn then Jack Abramhoff was right, stupid people deserve to lose. For those that have been keeping up on their insurance policies for years on end, how dam*n dumb are these morons anyway. They should have been smart enough to have funded their own private insurance plan. Any savvy business person knows you cannot put your trust in the government or anyone else for that matter. It's a dog eat dog world. Human beings are out to get each other. Just watch the news. Everyone is killing each other.
Posted by l8c6 at 07:03 PM : Jul 19, 2007
Dear 18c6,
You are either not up on the economics of our country, a member of the FEMA Trailer Community, or in need of medication.. that by the way you can't get because the government spent all the money on a broken down welfare system and created such disasterous programs as FEMA.
Either way.. you seem to REALLY like attention. So I REPOSTED your response so more people might notice your "wonderful" outview that I think MIGHT be suppose to be humorous...
OHHH.. and because it will give you something else to RESpond to!!! :D
RUN WITH IT..RUN LIKE THE WIND...
Of course, this is the SAME party who trotted out 'good job Brownie' for his handling of Katrina.
Yet another wakeup call- your Govt does NOT care one iota about YOU.
Of course they didn't want to test, testing and finding problems then makes FEMA legally liable for damages and fixing this.
I agree, it's been TWO YEARS with these people on the public dole sitting on their azzes, many had long ago moved on to other states and cities, found work and moved on, it's time for the deadbeats to do the same- it simply cannot take over 2 YEARS to find a job SOMEWHERE. N.O. will never be built the way it was, low/no income housing is out due to construction costs, no more $15,000 houses. You can't build a $350,000 2 or 3 B.R house and rent it to a low income family for $175 a month! the property taxes alone will be more than that.
Rebuilding N.O is a waste of money, the sea is rising while the land there is subsiding down a measureable amount annually, it WILL flood again.
Why would you still be hanging around New Orleans? Move. Unless you're old.
Posted by brushfinch1
Enough of the bleeding heart liberal tripe. The private company manufacturing the trailers should declare bankruptcy if need be, divest and reinvest in a horse of a different color. The government stupid enough to contract out should take the hit and look like the stupid big government it is. Private capital should be shielded from all injury and accoutability. In time when the government is privatized then there won't be anything to blame which will be a good thing. Sick of listening the whining liberal c*rap.
Why would you still be hanging around New Orleans? Move. Unless you're old.
Posted by Keithle1
Agreed, this thing of investing in an antiquated infrastructure is stupid from a business standpoint. The law of diminishing returns...let it go by the wayside reap what profit may come but do not invest further other than Dubai, it's a new infrastructure and worth the investment.
Our US government under Bush has become a useless function to taxpayers while it is a political tool for the administration and a profit center for his cronies.
http://blog.gleeson.us/avm/a
vm_live_chat
It mimmicks the ridiculous rantings of liberals EXACTLY!
Just type in a perfectly logical question, and the Autorantic Virtual Moonbat comes back with an insane monologue!
But it is actually smarter than the liberals that post here...
Good for a hearty laugh!
There is simply no excuse for allowing Bush Admin to continue unchecked from this point forward. Every decision Bush or his adminsitration or his cabinet takes must be examined, checked, double-checked and then vetted by committee with knowledge on each particular issue. Bush Adminsitration has shown to reason for any American to trust them any longer.
a) "bleeding heart liberal tripe," b) "whining liberal c*rap," c) "Private capital should be shielded from all accountability," d) "stupid big government."
Responses:
a) Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
b) Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
c) And now at what point did paying a $120 incorporation fee and filling out some paperwork make it so a group of people could do whatever they want without moral responsibility or financial repercussions? How is it "private capital" when the owners of the capital are saved by the government (which delegates the losses to the public) if they make a mistake?
In this system of "private capital," if the residents of the trailers rack up huge medical bills trying to treat their children's health problems, they will likely be stuck with that debt, and may spend the rest of their miserable janitorial or burger-flipping lives paying it off. But the manufacturers of the trailers, having filled out the proper paperwork in advance, can declare bankruptcy and rest easy on the savings from their government contract while they await employment at FEMA.
d) This "big government" you speak of has been married to "private capital" nearly as long as the country has existed. Perhaps the trouble is that the profit motive of external companies is setting policy for the government?
It's not good enough, and now they (us the taxpayers) will be sued.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/071907J.shtml
The vp must be impeached, now.
Ha - that was FUNNY!!! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Bush Admin purposefully allowed these people to end up sick and dead int hese trailers - while they waited for insurance funds, etc. to come through so they could re-build.
Will these people sue? You bet you life they will - I just wish there was a way to find all you fing Bushie Moron Supporters ahve them sue you personally.
WOW, you call me stupid and you think this.
Bet you are under 30, don't know jack about history 101 and call yourself "Progressive"
Millions of children have been sickened and no one has cared. But some 80,000 illegal aliens in FEMA trailers along the Gulf Coast complain and all of a sudden Congress gets involved?!!! Where has "our" Congress been?
...oh wait a minute, I work for a living
nevermind
...oh wait a minute, I work for a living
nevermind
Posted by billpl at 03:38 AM : Jul 20, 2007
LMAO I hope people like you are visited by something like this... Have everything you have on earth wiped out in a heartbeat and you are left with no place to stay. God but you Nazi's are the trash of this planet, with you hate and bigotry. These people didn't ask for their homes to be distroyed and they sure as H-E-LL didn't ask for their Government that was supposed to protect them, to give them posioned places to sleep. Garbage like you do not deserve to live in this nation. Sieg Heil Bush!!
But it is actually smarter than the liberals that post here...
Good for a hearty laugh!
Posted by One_American at 09:43 PM : Jul 19, 2007
Of all the Liberals in our history One_America which one do you hate the most? Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, or John Kennedy? You CONSTANTLY spew hatred at Liberals, blaming the fact that ALL the failures of the Reich is brought out on them. I just wondered which of the three Liberals I honor the most do you hate more.
Bet you are under 30, don't know jack about history 101 and call yourself "Progressive"
Posted by Republic1776 at 01:11 AM : Jul 20, 2007
+ report abuse
Well how would YOU explain it Swastika Breath? The evidence is there and can't be denied, the Bush Administration KNEW about it for over a year. Their OWN Attorneys advised to IGNORE it so they wouldn't have to assume "Ownership" of it... so exactly who, if not the Bush Administration is responsible? You pathetic MORONS love to bash anyone who doesn't march to the parties beat, that's obvious. But just as obvious is you care none at all for the people being harmed and distroyed by the Incompetence and complete failure of the Fuhrer. Anything for the Party huh? Sieg Heil Y'all.
[Posted by paulyn44 at 02:58 AM : Jul 20, 2007]
that was a nice story ... do you have any others you can share?
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