FEMA Blames Residents For Trailer Toxins

(CBS/ AP)  The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday questioned a CBS affiliate TV station's findings of high formaldehyde levels in agency-issued trailers and said the lifestyles and habits of the flood victims living in the trailers may be to blame.

Government tests have shown high formaldehyde levels in FEMA trailers and mobile homes sent to Gulf Coast hurricane victims starting in 2005, and a judge recently cited evidence that FEMA delayed an investigation into complaints about the homes there.

CBS affiliate KGAN-TV contracted with a chemical testing company to test 20 trailers in Cedar Rapids occupied by people displaced by June flooding. In a report that aired Monday, the station said all 20 trailers exceeded FEMA's standard for the preservative, which can cause breathing problems and is classified as a carcinogen.

In a conference call with reporters, three FEMA officials questioned KGAN's testing methods and the validity of the findings.

"Only mobile homes and only park models that fell below (the state's formaldehyde threshold) and validated through that testing were provided to the state of Iowa," said FEMA Assistant Administrator David Garratt. "FEMA stands behind those tests."

Gov. Chet Culver has asked FEMA Administrator David Paulison for retesting of the trailers, and Garratt said the agency was discussing it. Phone calls to FEMA later Tuesday were not returned.

Garratt said FEMA tests trailers before people move in so the air sample is consistent. He said cooking, smoking and storing dry-cleaning products can elevate levels of formaldehyde.

"It's not unusual that the levels in a mobile home will rise and fall as different variables are introduced into that," Garratt said. "From FEMA's perspective, the mobile homes and park models that we have deployed into Iowa are probably the most safe in terms of formaldehyde levels in the state of Iowa."

One of the residents, Don Ellickson, told KGAN he knew something was wrong soon after moving into his FEMA trailer. He said he woke up often in the middle of the night with a "screaming asthma attack."

Ellickson, who suffers from a rare form of asthma, said he tried to get reassurance from officials before he moved in that the trailers were safe. "I went around in circles with people on the phone about it," he told KGAN.

"I'm tired of it, I've been mislead again," Ellickson said. "There are some people out there that really don't have much choice about where it is they're at."

Capt. Merritt Lake, the director of forest health protection and wellness with the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Health Affairs, said the survey didn't fit government-approved methods for testing for formaldehyde.

"From what I hear, the samples that were taken here in Iowa by the TV station did not use (the nationally recognized methodology), and that leaves some concern," Lake said. "Any decent research study, you must account for the variables that could influence your results."

The KGAN test found that six of the trailers had levels of formaldehyde that exceeded Environmental Protection Agency and American Lung Association limits, which are more stringent than FEMA's or Iowa's standards.

Lake said the tests recorded the peak levels of formaldehyde in a 24-hour period, not a daily average. "It's basically a worst-case test as opposed to an average," Lake said.

The levels in the trailers ranged from 0.023 parts per million to 0.111 parts per million. The FEMA threshold is 0.016 parts per million, and the state accepts 0.04 parts per million.

April Samp, KGAN-TV's news director, said the station contracted with Florida-based Advanced Chemical Sensors Inc. to test the samples, and they tested only trailers in which no one was a smoker.

Samp said the testing company issued receptor "badges" that were left in the trailers for 24 hours, sealed and mailed to the company to be tested.

The conference call between reporters and FEMA officials turned testy when Samp said an infant living in a tested trailer had been taken to the hospital with a nosebleed.

"Some of these people are moms with babies, OK?" Samp said. "What responsibility does FEMA have to make sure that the air quality is safe enough to continue living there, even if (the reading) wasn't the baseline number?"

FEMA spokesman Michael Lapinski replied that residents unhappy with their trailers could move out.

"You can have a health concern regardless of what the formaldehyde reading is," Lapinski said. "If you have a health concern and you want to move out of that housing, you're free to move out of that housing." But moving out of that housing could cost the residents, said Bill Vogel, FEMA's coordinating officer for disaster recovery in Iowa. If they've already received the maximum of $28,800 in a housing-assistance grant from FEMA, then they'll be moving out on their own dime.

Culver has requested that FEMA offer free tests to Iowans using 542 other FEMA trailers in Iowa and that the agency help residents if the tests show unsafe levels of formaldehyde.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in New Orleans ruled the government is not immune from lawsuits claiming Gulf Coast hurricane victims were exposed to high formaldehyde levels in FEMA-provided trailers. The judge said there was evidence FEMA delayed investigating complaints about the trailers because it might be held legally responsible.

Roughly 800 people are plaintiffs in the Gulf Coast cases, and attorneys are seeking certification as a class-action on behalf of thousands of people who lived in FEMA trailers after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Government tests of the air quality in hundreds of those trailers and mobile homes showed formaldehyde levels that were, on average, about five times higher than what people are exposed to in most modern homes.

[petro49l]

Why did FEMA issue those trailers to Victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita? They knew about the chemicals in the trailers. Formaldehyde is cheap and available. FEMA reduces cost by allowing people to die. They accepted no responsibility for those lives lost in the New Orleans flooding. The Commonwealth of PA terminated its EMA Director Adrian King for failing to assist in the disaster recovery. David Garratt is doing the same thing. He denies that a problem exists to save money.

[petro49l]

FEMA is guilty of poor planning and political corruption. Trailers purchased by FEMA are illicit and potentially-deadly. What if the Victims of disasters who were issued those homes sue FEMA? Preparedness for a weather emergency is a top priority. PA Emergency Management Director James Joseph was terminated for failure to respond when a severe winter storm occurred in the region. State Crews did not anticipate freezing temperatures and ice. Motorists were stranded on the highways and could had perished. Local EMAs came to the rescue. FEMA must plan for weather storms that might lead to a serious loss of life like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Buying homes that are safe and secure for after a disaster is part of the effort for recovery.

[tnz650-2009]

If you think you owe no one, think again. Do you think you fully pay for your police protection? Yes, you might pay towards security from the taxes you pay, but no where near the amount to cover yourself and the community which you reside. The taxes you pay towards security are more like an insurance premium where the expense is spread out. And speaking of insurance premiums, if you''ve ever made a claim on an insurance policy, then you owe the company and all it''s policy holders for the expense you saved. And let''s not forget the extreme debt that you owe to our governments military for the freedom to spout stupid nonsense, that you enjoy. You are the problem with America today. Thinking that you owe no one, when in fact, you owe it to your fellow man to provide the same kind of support and comfort that you enjoy every day. Your "I owe no one" statement is nothing more than the argument a 12 year old makes that they don''t have to do anything they don''t want to. If you''re not living in a remote area, in a shack, like Ted Kasinski, then you owe. Quit being a stupid, selfish Republican. God will surely have something to say about this when your time comes. Maybe he''ll tell you that he owes you nothing.

[FEMMEONE]

I''m so fed up with hearing the whining of people that are too lazy to get a job and want a free handout.

I WORK for a living. Yes, you heard me right. WORK.
I had a stroke from shoulder surgery (that I paid for myself because I HAD (past tense) $1000 deductible health insurance. The blood clot caused a stroke. During the stroke, I fell and broke my knee. I couldn''t afford to go to therapy so it was a long recuperation. Finally got back on my feet again only to fall and break that knee a second time.

I am a legal secretary. There are no jobs here in Michigan other than in the health care and took the one job opening I saw. I get paid minimum wage for part-time job (working 40 hours, but I''m part-time so I don''t get benefits).

I am a fifty-four year old woman with lots of health problems. I do NOT get handouts. No food stamps, no welfare, and LOTS of bills.

Guess what I do? I PAY THEM MYSELF! I have the rotten credit to prove my lack of income to adequately cover them myself.

So what did you do? You lost your stuff through a storm. What did you do? You accept handouts - Katrina was how many years ago? And what are you doing to help yourself? Oh yeah, you''re crying that the FREE HOME and the money handout is gone and poor you are sitting on your *** smoking cigarettes and waiting for another handout.

Yes, I''m mad.

[carlylaine]

I am owed nothing...by the same I own no one..give me a gift...it''s mine. I may not be able to help someone...but I owe no one.

[swingset4u]

u r all letting the wind blow it all by u. This is no longer the land of the free and there ain''''t no one i repeat NO ONE willing to stand up and speak the truth u r all media ******

Posted by f091964

You da'' biggest PIMP of them all aren''t you Mac-Daddy???!!

[elpaulito]

I hate to tell ya, but I pay taxes, and want something foe them. Cut it with your socialist this and commie that BS. Fact of the matter is, those European countries you speak of, and have probably not been to, except maybe via epcot center, have a higher quality of living than we do here in the states, higher infant mortality rate (we are in there, just behind slovakia), more vacation, better education (obviously) and better regulation of corporations and financial institutions. But, alas, your saviour, W, has already started taking us down that riad.

[lastdance128]

FEMA : A Perfect Example of :
Federal Employees always running amock
No Real Management
No Real Supervision

The Federal Employee, Who has Never been in Competition for their Jobs
The Federal Employee, Who has never learned how to Work
The Federal Employee, Who Has NEVER Had to Make Production
The Federal Employee, Who works at a LEISURELY PACE
Making Little or no Production ! !

The Federal Civil Service is made up of Nothing but - POLITICAL
Moviated Patronization and Nepotism
NOT - Professional Attributes or Professional Skills
The Federal Civil Service Needs a Complete - NEW OVERHAUL
____
Hurricane Katrina
The Real Job Description of FEMA is to :
Patronize and Fraternize - The Bush Nazi Fascist CRIME Regime and
Criminal Corporate Nazi Fascist America

FEMA and Criminal Corporate NAZI Fascist America
With Arrogance and Contempt Will
Ridicule, Belittle and Mock :
The American Worker - The American Labor Unions
The Civil Liberties Union and The American Taxpayer

FEMA - Will Issue False and Fraudulent Reports
Simply To Cover-up Their own :
GROSS INCOMPETENCE and Gross INADEQUACIES

As and Effort to Continue With the Political Criminal Act of :
NEPOTISM and PATRONIZATION to :
The NAZI Fascist Bush Crime Regime and The Republican NAZI Fascist Party

[lawyertom1]

The claim, as quoted, by FEMA that "He said cooking, smoking and storing dry-cleaning products can elevate levels of formaldehyde" is a little bizarre. Cooking does not release or cause the release of formaldehyde, though it does cause the formation of PAH''s. Dry cleaning fluids do not contain formaldehyde. Smoking tobacco does expose the smoker to formaldehyde, among a multitude of other chemicals, but given how much air leaks in and out of any home or trailer, it is unlikely to change the airborne levels. One needs a steady release to impact ambient air continuously, and thus the most likely source is formaldehyde from products in the trailer (e.g., glues, binders in synthetic wood etc.). The FEMA statement is about as accurate as saying Brownie did one hell of a job in New Orleans following Katrina.

[f091964]

u r all letting the wind blow it all by u. This is no longer the land of the free and there ain''t no one i repeat NO ONE willing to stand up and speak the truth u r all media ******