FEMA To Step Up Toxic Trailer Relocations

U.S. Health Officials Say Possibly High Levels Of Formaldehyde Found In 35,000 Trailers

(CBS/AP)  The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday it will step up efforts to move Gulf Coast hurricane victims out of more than 35,000 trailers because tests indicate some of the temporary homes contain high levels of formaldehyde.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said fumes from 519 tested trailer and mobile homes in Louisiana and Mississippi were - on average - about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes.

CBS News national correspondent Byron Pitts reports that even before results were released today, two Congressional committees had already announced new investigations into FEMA and the trailer manufacturers.

CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian first reported the health risks from the trailers last May.

FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said at a news conference they hope to get people out of the trailers before the warm summer months, when heat and a lack of ventilation in the trailers could make formaldehyde accumulations worse.

"The real issue is not what it will cost but how fast we can move people out," Paulison said.

Gerberding said that although formaldehyde levels were low in some trailers, others were high enough to cause breathing problems for children, the elderly or people who already have respiratory problems.

About 5 percent had levels high enough to cause breathing problems even in people who do not ordinarily have respiratory trouble, Gerberding said.

Trailer occupants will be moved to apartments or hotels. If necessary sturdier mobile homes - pre-tested for formaldehyde - will be used, he said.

Even as it began a rush to move out thousands of victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, FEMA said it is sticking with plans to distribute mobile homes to victims of recent tornadoes. Thousands of FEMA trailers were intended for hurricane victims but have sat vacant at the Hope, Arkansas, airport.

Paulison said workers would air out mobile homes at Hope for up to two weeks and later test them. "We're not going to give somebody a mobile home that tested high for formaldehyde," he said.

In Louisiana, there are 25,162 occupied FEMA trailers. In Mississippi, there are 10,362, according to FEMA figures. Other states also have hundreds of trailers. At one time, FEMA had placed victims of the 2005 hurricanes in more than 144,000 trailers and mobile homes.

Paulison also said FEMA will never again use travel trailers to house disaster victims but may continue to use larger, better constructed mobile homes.

Commonly used in manufactured homes, formaldehyde can cause respiratory problems and has been classified as a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer and as a probable carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The CDC said the levels of formaldehyde varied widely, and that some trailers had low levels. Others, however, had levels high enough to cause burning eyes and breathing problems for people who have asthma or sensitivity to air pollutants, said Mike McGeehin, director of a CDC division that focuses on environmental hazards.

"Am I angry at FEMA? Of course I am," Lynette Hooks, 48, said as she sat in her trailer near her still-damaged house in New Orleans. "They should have started moving people out of these trailers once they first started finding problems."

A former nursing assistant now on disability, she has been living in a cramped FEMA trailer next to her flood-ravaged house since October 2006, sharing it with her teenage son, 21-year-old daughter and the daughter's 9-month-old son.

Her tiny trailer is falling apart. Bed frames have dislodged from the superstructure and the door barely opens. Roaches climbed up a nearby wall as she spoke.

Hooks said that since she began living in the trailer, she has experienced headaches and sinus problems, in addition to the asthma she had before.

Roger Sheldon, 60, said in a telephone interview from Pascagoula, Miss., that he has noticed some symptoms, including eye irritation, since moving into the FEMA trailer placed on his property in Pascagoula, one of several Mississippi coast cities slammed by Katrina.

"It seems like I have had more respiratory problems since I have been in the trailer," he said Thursday. But he was not ready to blame formaldehyde for his problems. "You know you can walk into any new trailer, or house for that matter, and things like new carpet can cause irritation."

Sheldon said he was concerned with findings of toxic levels of formaldehyde fumes in the trailers but not overly alarmed.

"To be honest, I'm thankful to the government. I don't like the trailer but it beats the alternative for now."

With housing still in short supply - 80 percent of New Orleans was flooded, the pace of rebuilding has been slow, and rents are out of reach for many - Ernest Penns said he was grateful for his trailer.

"I got nowhere else to go," said Penns, whose nearby home in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward was still a shambles.

[klingon69]

Klingon....you forgot to end your post with "SIEG HEIL BUSH" do it better next time!! I dont just want you to be liberal I want you to be Angry Liberal "SIEG HEIL BUSH"
Posted by jwind11 at 06:28 PM : Feb 15, 2008
Sieg Heil Bush...
I like Bush...oh wait, you''re talking about the president.
oh well sieg heil bush!!!

[klingon69]

thats a good little liberal klingon keep up the good work lol
Posted by jwind11 at 06:13 PM : Feb 15, 2008
LOL, what an insult...
Ach, I feel so dirty now.
I''ve been infected with the liberalism bug, just kill me now!!!

[cattlekate]

Anderson Cooper has portrayed some of the families which have this problem and I still do not see an explanation as to why they are still being housed on my dime.

A disabled vet - yes. A family with a non-disabled parent - uh, no.

[jwind11]

Klingon....you forgot to end your post with "SIEG HEIL BUSH" do it better next time!! I dont just want you to be liberal I want you to be Angry Liberal "SIEG HEIL BUSH"

[jwind11]

thats a good little liberal klingon keep up the good work lol

[klingon69]

Duh...It''s all Bush''s fault!!!

[jwind11]

now oldthought i need to reprogram you....repeat after me. "i am a victim, i have always been and always will be a victim, the government owes me, i cannot survive without the government, and even when i get free stuff from the government i will still *** and moan and say its not enough" there, now go get a lobotomy and then we can consider you a liberal and you can post here again.

[jwind11]

there there oldthought you are thinking logically that is not allowed on this liberal board!! you leave logic for foxnews.com there is no place for logic here....just anger....now if you cant say something bad about bush dont bother saying anything at all.... lol

[Netterz]

I find it IRONIC that the gov''t has provided these travel trailers to the people who lost there homes in the storms, but no one else can do this. Atleast not where we live, its LAW that you MUST have a house be over 900 sq ft. AGAINST THE LAW TO LIVE IN A TRAVEL TRAILER or PARK MODEL. I have a beautiful travel trailer, is plenty of space for me and my pet, and also room for guests. But the GOV"T says I can not live in it, on my OWN property. But they have handed out over 150,000 of them to all sized families because these ppl didnt have insurance, or the ability to rebuild or move. What a bunch of BS! New Free home, alot of cases better than the house they had before. I would be so grateful for being given a roof over my head, & crack a window. Or..MOVE, to a place where hurricanes don''t happen on a regular places since you cant afford insurance or buy an air sanitizer, don''t like your free home, at everyone else''s expense. Since we get tornadoes here often, if mine gets sucked up, I am calling FEMA for my free indefinite trailer.

[lucy-in-tx]

Some people take things out of context and twist them to suit their silly pathetic needs.
Seems like someone needs to use a little mental floss and adjust the ol'' attitude a bit.

[prinzowhales]

The only people "milking the system" are the contractors who have a cash cow in FEMA...They are willing to squander millions on travel trailors but nothing towards a permanent solution to the problem. This is the best solution that FEMA could come up with...meanwhile they have their nation wide system of concentration camps just waiting for inmates.

http://infowars.com/search/index.html?cx=007184093999670235891%3Aprgc0fux55g&cof=FORID%3A11&q=fema+prison camps&sa=Search

If you go to this link (or to infowars.com and google fema prison camps) you will have a host of articles on the FEMA Concentration Camp system.

[jwind11]

Let me ask the libs something here... i know i wont get straight answer but will ask anyway....would you let a person watch your kids that finishes every sentence with a very angry sounding "SIEG HEIL BUSH" ?

[jwind11]

these people are so misguided....i havent read article or posts about the shooting in illinois college yesterday, but i will bet you at least 2 libs have posted that it was Bush` fault. how do you deal with someone with that mentality?

[jwind11]

william , mbcsmith....mcvet is a vet, vietnam vet, from a few post last night i pegged him...i put my thoughts on who i thought he was, i nailed it and he quit posting....surprise there huh....i saw the anger in his post, i mean saying "sieg heil bush" after every post....doesnt take a genius to know that there is someone with an issue. i tried my best to help him....sad part is there are to many enabling libs on here that would rather bash bush than to help people...i dont know him but from his posts, i figured him to be vietnam vet alcoholic with ptsd (thus the anger issues) he is just misdirecting his anger at Bush. next year it will be someone else...thought i was getting thru to him last night until bombarded with all the enabling libs on here. i tried...deep down guys, i think mcvet is nice guy..he is just angry and needs help....what he doesnt need is the enabling that he gets on here....it gives him temporary soothing tho.

[klingon69]

Let me see if I understand you here??? FEMA buys defective Trailers, doesn''''t check them when they are bought, won''''t check them when people complain about them, refuse to recognize the problem UNTIL the media exposes them and it''''s NOT their fault? Now you fascist have been known to be a little sick in the mind when it comes to excuses for that pathetic piece of trash YOU call a President but come on. Then what''''s with this, "I''''ve decided it''''s been long enough so everyone should ignore them" garbage? Take your swastika off into a corner and suck on it... Sieg Heil Bush!!
Posted by MCVet at 02:49 PM : Feb 15, 2008
Hey, McVet
Trailers were made the same exact way. No different from before or after Katrina. Warning labels have been posted inside of trailer for years, they warn of the danger of formaldehyde. 2 1/2 years is TOO long for them to continue milking the system. However, a socialist like yourself wouldn''t understand why most people are tired of hearing them whine and moan. Each to their need, right comrade?
Das Verdonya

[mbcsmith]

"MCVET***you sure don''''''''''''''''t sound like a VET? Are you really a American Vet? hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Posted by william19491 at 12:28 PM : Feb 15, 2008"

He''s a WWII vet, just on the nazi side.

[mbcsmith]

Posted by MCVet at 02:53 PM : Feb 15, 2008

hey, it''s the fudgepacking nazi. Impart some nazi wisdom, tinkerbell.

[mcvet]

easeup***ha, very funny!!! I like that!


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Posted by william19491 at 02:00 PM : Feb 15, 2008
+ report abuse

You would! ROFLMAO Two members of the Toe Tappers Association enjoying each other''s company... nothing unusual about that! Sieg Heil Bush If you combined the intelligence of these two you wouldn''t have enough to read a book.

[mcvet]

"MCVET***you sure don''''''''t sound like a VET? Are you really a American Vet? hmmmmmmmmmmmm

Posted by william19491 at 12:28 PM : Feb 15, 2008"

Really? How''s a vet supposed to sound you pathetic Nazi? Oh! That''s right! You bootlickers won''t accept anyone as a vet UNLESS they march to the "Party''s" song! ROFLMAO Better watch out sparky because there are a lot of us out here MAD as HELLL about those 935 LIES told to start a War! Now go crawl back under your rock, the licking of boots is embarrassing even for you losers!! Sieg Heil Bush

[mcvet]

"The System."
IMHO it is past time to get off your lazy butt and GET A JOB! Not meaning folks who are truly needy, are ill, or handicapped, or elderly... just the lazies, the users, and the abusers. The taxpayers who support your lazy butts have been more than generous and you tossing that money into the wind should be a crime.
Charities have never given so much, people have never donated more, and still some folks expect/want even more, even after all this time. Again, UNBELIEVABLE!



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Posted by Lucy-in-TX at 02:34 PM : Feb 15, 2008
+ report abuse

Let me see if I understand you here??? FEMA buys defective Trailers, doesn''t check them when they are bought, won''t check them when people complain about them, refuse to recognize the problem UNTIL the media exposes them and it''s NOT their fault? Now you fascist have been known to be a little sick in the mind when it comes to excuses for that pathetic piece of trash YOU call a President but come on. Then what''s with this, "I''ve decided it''s been long enough so everyone should ignore them" garbage? Take your swastika off into a corner and suck on it... Sieg Heil Bush!!