Trapped in Toxic Trailers by FEMA and Profiteering Industry. Katrina Survivors Victimized Once Again by Bush.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

"I think we have a good example of government and industry working together to hurt the consumers."

-Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)

Dr. Michael McGeehin, director in charge of studying environmental hazards and health effects for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) relocate Hurricane Katrina victims out of hazardous trailers before the weather heats up, starting with high-risk populations such as children and the elderly. McGeehin reiterated his agency's stance on the trailers before the House Oversight Committee. During Wednesday's testimony, New Orleans felt like 95 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Weather Channel.

The CDC recommendation was based on tests of formaldehyde levels performed on more than 500 trailers over a two-month period last winter. (For more on the CDC report released July 2, click here.)

Much of the testimony revolved around the lack of a governmental consensus on formaldehyde exposure standards. The Occupation Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a standard at which exposed workers must have medical monitoring (500 parts per billion or ppb) and recommends no person be subjected to 900 ppb for over 8 hours in a lifetime. The U.S. Department of Housing and Development's limit for residential dwellings is 370 ppb, but that number does not apply to mobile homes or trailers.

There were no other governmental standards for formaldehyde levels addressed at the hearing, but figures from the Environmental Protection Agency, the World Health Organization, and CDC were cited that sensitive people are significantly affected by formaldehyde exposure of 100 ppb. Levels around 100 ppb but up to more than 500 were found in many of the trailers tested by the CDC.

The lack of standards made the discussion difficult. All committee members seemed to agree the government should issue standards. And some argued that without standards, the makers of trailers cannot be held responsible for health risks caused by their products.

"This isn't a hearing about standards," Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-CA) responded. "I just don't accept that argument."

The CDC was the only government agency who accepted the committee's invitation to testify, issued last week.

"We invited FEMA. We invited all the government agencies requested [by other committee members]," said Waxman.

However, Waxman noted that when FEMA officials appeared before the committee earlier this year, the agency did not express much interest in dangers posed by the trailers:

"What we heard from FEMA is that they didn't want to know."

However, four companies (Gulf Stream Coach, Pilgrim International, Keystone RV, and Forest River) that make trailers issued by FEMA accepted invitations to testify. Each company representative that read an opening statement mentioned their "hard working," "American" employees.

All four companies are located in Indiana. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) welcomed his "fellow Hoosiers," and bemoaned the idea that companies should be held accountable for a lack of regulation from the federal government. According to FEC reports, Souder received donations from a Forest River Inc. manager on two separate occasions in the past year. Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) vouched for Gulf Stream Coach, saying he'd known the family that owns the company for 30 years.

Waxman responded to such remarks in his closing statement, questioning whether that meant taxpayers should pay for a faulty product:

"I'm pleased that you have employees working for you. I'm pleased that you have members of Congress that will vouch for you personally... What happened is a disgrace and now the taxpayers have to foot the bill."

The companies' representatives protested that the construction material they use is safe enough to be available in home improvement stores across the nation. They also said that many other things can cause elevated formaldehyde levels.

McGeehin was asked about other possible causes for elevated formaldehyde levels, such as cooking, smoking, and cleaners. He responded that the CDC kept such factors in consideration:

"We controlled for that, and did not find that to be a factor."

Republican committee members were quick to excuse the industries. They said companies should not be held to a "moving standard" and that Congressional actions based on the hearing may make companies less willing to do business with government agencies. They also lauded the companies for stepping in during a national emergency.

"Everyone here is appalled at what happened" to Katrina victims, said minority leader Tom Davis (R-VA). "But we had a crisis."

Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) dismissed such language as "an excuse." He said that if industry and government had "come clean" more promptly, emergency housing plans could have been developed sooner and health risks reduced.

Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) asked Jim Shea, the chairman of Gulf Stream Coach, about a 2006 CNN story. Shea's company provided a statement to CNN in April 2006 stating they had had no complaints about their trailers. However, Shea confirmed that one month earlier, the company had received a complaint in the interactive portion of their Web site from a man complaining of medical problems. A portion of the complaint was read at the hearing:

"There is an odor in my trailer that will not go away. It burns my eyes and I am getting headaches every day. Please, please help me!"

Democrats on the committee generally agreed the blame rests with both industry and government. Waxman said that in response to medical complaints, FEMA wrote to Gulf Stream, its largest trailer supplier. The letter asked if the company had "the capability to put this to bed," without informing the company that the agency had also received formal complaints.

Subsequently, Gulf Stream performed a private analysis on trailers they had in storage. All 11 trailers they tested had formaldehyde levels above 100 ppb, four had levels above 500 ppb, and one had levels over 4,000 ppb. They sent a letter to FEMA offering to disclose the results of their screening, an offer that FEMA did not accept. According to Shea, FEMA instructed the company not to tell residents about the results.

Dr. McGeehin testified that consumers should have been made aware of the health hazards of living in the trailers. He also denied "picking on" the companies:

"There is no industry bashing going on at the CDC."

In his closing statement, Waxman said the committee received a phone call during the hearing from a former staffer who said the committee had been here before. The caller said the committee investigated formaldehyde levels in FEMA trailers in 1981 and had, at that time, recommended the government produce a standard acceptable exposure level.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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