High Levels of Formaldehyde in FEMA Trailers Force Agency to Seek Alternatives
By MedHeadlines • Feb 15th, 2008 • Category: Headlines, Lifestyle, PoisoningHigh levels of formaldehyde found in FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) trailers have forced the agency to intensify its efforts to find alternative shelter for Gulf coast hurricane victims.
Currently 38,000 families are still living in the trailers and mobile homes.
From the time the families began occupying the trailers, there were complaints about respiratory and other health problems associated with formaldehyde exposure. More than 7,000 families have asked to leave the trailers because of concerns of formaldehyde.
Children, the elderly and people with respiratory problems are the most vulnerable to problems from formaldehyde exposure, said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, director of the disease control centers. About a third of the 519 trailers and mobile homes tested by her agency had levels of formaldehyde that could be expected to cause symptoms in such people, Dr. Gerberding said.
With the hurricane season fast approaching, FEMA has vowed not to use these trailers again in the future but has not specified what alternative housing they will have to offer.
The agency also has not yet decided whether to force out people who have the trailers parked on their own property. Nor does the agency have a program to help families that have incurred medical bills because of formaldehyde exposure,
The reason for the high levels of formaldehyde is still being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control.
II would not blame FEMA on this issue. this problem goes back to the manufacture and the materials that have been allowed to go into making them. I for one will not use the particle board in any construction as I am aware that it is not good for me and that it takes at least 7 long years for the chemical that bothers Humans to break down. during that time it is very important to air the facility out as often as you can. I have walked into brand news trailers that have been closed up on a warm day and the chemical would actually take my breath away There is no way that I could live in one that is brand new. Just remember, CHEAP is not always better. Ask how it was me. Make sure that the less amount of chemicals in the building process makes for a safer home for Humans. I hope that this information will help.
Is FEMA going to sue the trailer MFGs who made these CONTAMINATED trailers or the the company a “Friend Of Bush”???
Has anyone asked the question; Why are people still living in these trailers? Why would any self respecting human being submit to living in a cave? Unless there is something physically wrong with the person such as developmental disorders or advanced age or handicap (if that is the case FEMA needs to get them out quick) they are simply abusing the system as usual.
Why are they still living there? Why is the government STILL providing housing for them?
FEMA is responsible since its investigators knew about the formaldehyde problem but didn’t alert the people living in the trailers. Its own people were told not to enter them because the risk of exposure was so high. The only reason they’re doing anything about it now is because the press exposed there cover-ups. No, they didn’t construct the trailers, but their job is to alert and protect the public. This wasn’t done.
During the many years I worked on government contracts, the level of inspection government purchasers employed was exemplary — in fact — it often seemed to be excessive. What happened to the concept of inspecting what we buy with the publics money? FEMA is supposed to be in the business of ameliorating disasters — not creating them!
“Good job Brownie”
Typical Job Bush
They should sue the rest of Americans, afterall it is us who are still paying for their housing… and how many years has it been since Katrina? WHAT ARE THEY STILL DOING THERE?? Shouldn’t they be living on their own by now? oh, but that would cost them, so it’s better to sit, do nothing and live for free, than it is to move out and start paying for housing… makes me sick
Open the windows.
Open the windows - I like that!!! lol
RE: Number 3 post
Witzy the answer is rather simple. These are people who depend on the government giveaways and who pathetically sit with outstretched arm begging for handouts. These are not “self-respecting” human beings, but rather the lowest strata of society. Just as Africa could conceivably become the bread basket of the planet if (big if) the citizens would WORK for their sustenance.
Three years ago the area in Pittburgh where I live was subjected to incredible floods. Immediately all went to work in rebuilding, neighbor with neighbor, and six months later you could not tell there had been a flood. Not one sat pathetically expecting the government to help.
The name Katrina to me is repulsive, reminiscent of looting, fraud, and gimme-gimme-gimme “I am a poor down-trodden black,,, alms to the poor”
How far can you walk without food or clean water? What can you earn when there are no jobs? Where do you live when there is no housing?
Before you put down the people living in government supplied trailers, consider how they got their. Only a few businesses have opened and only a few expensive housing projects have been built in New Orleans, a place where people lost everything in a few days. Ask yourself, where would you be if…
It’s true, these people need a hand up not a hand out, but that’s not what our government is doing for them. Instead our government is doing to them, because it presently supports the business interest over the people’s interest. And by the way, those trailers that are now leaving New Orleans, are being transported to Native Indian Reservations to infect more children and elderly, so the trailer manufacturers won’t loose their shirts.
what to do when there’s no job around?? it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if there’s no jobs in the area… MOVE some place else!
For those of you who blame people who are living in trailers (Jaymar and Witzy) - get a clue. The situation is much more complicated than your simple and blaming minds can fathom. Have you ever lived in a place that was plagued by poverty and corruption? There are no jobs for the uneducated, and there are no schools for the poor. Have you ever been to Louisisana? There is a reason they have the highest infant mortality inthe US and the worst schools. Before you go judging your fellow human beings, why not try looking deeper into the isues at hand. The world isn’t so simple as to be “everyone who is experiences misfortune deserves it.” May you always live where you can so conveniently judge others and never have any misfortune befall you. We should all be so lucky. - signed - former New Orleanian who was lucky enough to have the resources and education to leave.
You say to, “ask yourself”. OK, I did and self said WHEN I HIT BOTTOM fifteen years ago, I got a job in a different city that would allow me to care for my family. You do what you need to do and quit waiting for the government (that is me and you) to pay your bills and support your family.
Yes, the city was devistated. I actually led a team to help clean up the mess and get people back into their homes. THese were people willing to get themselves back on their feet and not wait for the government to do it. By the way, the help came from the churches in the area and our team was sent by the church here. The government is not the answer. When one sues the government they sue me and you who are working and paying taxes to make a government possible.
Let’s get to the facts… FEMA did not buy the trailers. Purchasing is done through a purchasing agency. FEMA only Authorized purchase of trailers. The purchasing agency determined which to acquire. RATINGS ON COMMENTS: Doug, Great; Aldo, you’re suggesting Bush is to fault shows you are a sad case; Witzy, on target; GUI, because the government is a disabler (when you use the word enabler it does not correctly indicate the result of your behavior); Clew, you only surmise they knew and then accuse on speculation; Olson, ask yourself, why do you lay this on George Bush - is it because you simply follow the examples of other political idiots who walk off and not tend to the security of our country before their own political agendas; Jason, Amen and Amen; Mark, Oh! that wasn’t so hard now was it; Amy, You did great and I appreciate people like you; Jay, bit harsh but many people are tired of the accusations (during the civil war my ancestors gave their lives fighting to liberate blacks) about reparation - do the descendants of my dead ancestors get any? Bill Crosby is a GREAT man for calling them to task. Isn’t this fun! Call your Senator and Congressman and tell them not to make “Home Security” a political issue or face the next vote… WE have the power, they don’t
MORE RATINGS: Elaine, don’t ask how they got there, ask when they got there… then you begin to get what the problem really is; Josh, now where did you get such wisdom - do you know Mark and Amy; Rebecca, not bad, not bad - great condemnation, but why would anyone continue to live indefinitely in a place where there is poverty and corruption; Jimbeau, it’s either Boompa or Jimbo to your 26 grandchildren and not jimbeau - remember that’s reserved only for your wife. Me, you are a good man Charlie Brown!
Oh!
Reading the posts on this site saddens me. This site is dedicated to medical stories and hopes to attract doctors, and doctors are supposed to care about human suffering. Our society has lost it capacity to care, where will the villianization end?
In a way I feel sorry for the people who have posted here, your posts sound desperate, a need single out the vulnerable and weak in a shallow attempt to self-validate. Kick the homeless, laugh at the blind, scream at the deaf, anyone who suffers or lacks the fortune of others is fodder for you venom.
Any of you who are callous enough to criticize the people of the Gulf Coast for still living in FEMA campers should take a trip down there and see first hand what the conditions are like. You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
Why don’t you turn your attention to the tax dollars we are going to waste paying the mortgages for “deadbeats” across this country? Or, is that a little to close to home?
At least the people of the Gulf Coast paid their mortgage payments on time and some of them, who never got their insurance payments, are still making mortgage payments on nothing but slabs.
I pray that those who have posted their toxic rhetoric here never care for another patient.
To JayMar (#10) , Witzy (#3) and Jason K (#7), and anyone else who wants to know, the answer in a small way the question of “why are they still in the trailers?” I offer the following. Teams from my small church in New England have made over 10 trips to the Gulf Coast to help clean, repair & rebuild destroyed homes, both in New Orleans and in the Waveland/Bay St Louis area of MS. I have been on two of those trips. One five weeks after and one 8 months after the storm. What exists in the region is a 300 mile wide swath of destruction that extends 50 to 80 miles inland that is impossible to comprehend even when you are in the midst of it. This country has never experience such total devastation on such a large scale. The picture that the major media has painted of Katrina and its aftermath has been grotesquely distorted. It has been sensationally over-hyped in a few small respects and staggeringly under reported in most ways. Despite the media’s excessive focus on New Orleans this was much more a Gulf Coast event. Some TV commentators who experienced the bombed out cities of WW2 compared the scale of devastation to that and I would agree.
Unlike “local” catastrophies such as JayMar mentioned in Pittsburgh, there was practically no ability of neighbors to help other neighbors rebuild. NO ONE had ANYTHING left. I drove S. Beach Blvd and Rt 90 in Waveland/Bay St Louis and there was not a single house or building still standing for 4-5 blocks deep from the shore for over 15 miles, and that is just one very small stretch of Katrina’s path. I drove through mile after mile after mile after mile of middle to upper class neighborhoods in New Orleans where the entire contents of every home was in a huge pile in the front yard waiting to be picked up over a month after the storm. I helped remove trees from the yard of a retired couple with a Lexus and a Jaguar in the driveway 5 weeks after the storm. They had JUST gotten an insurance adjuster to look at their house (3 feet of water in it & mold growing on the ceilings) and it would be another several weeks before a roofer could come and repair the wind damage on their roof. Another couple in Waveland had their nice ranch home picked up, turned around and deposited 150 yards down the road by the 30 foot storm surge. Amazingly their open air carport was left unscathed. We framed it out, installed wiring and plumbing, sheetrocked it and it is now where they live while they save enough to rebuild their house. This was done with volunteer labor and materials. They had no money to do this. The wife was chronically depressed, had not bathed or changed clothes for many, many days and the husband was not in much better shape. They had been hardworking, independent, patriotic people all their lives. All their neighbors homes were destroyed as well. They were white.
The population of New Orleans has dropped from 500,000 to around 250,000. Similar drops were experienced in other Gulf Coast communities. Unlike JayMar’s situation in Pittsburgh where you had localized flooding but a city that was 99.9% (I have relatives in the Butler area of Pittsburgh and visited there right after the floods) still functioning, whole communities were destroyed in Katrina. In Waveland over 90% of the buildings were destroyed or had to be condemned. There were over 100,000 dead fish in the streets of Waveland’s town center. People did not have homes to return to, jobs to go back to and local medical, rescue, relief services were wiped out as well. The situation was very similar along the entire 300 mile stretch of Katrina’s impact. - Compounding this lack of localized help has been the slowness in the processing of insurance claims and in many cases the denial of claims. With no job to go back to, no “community” to rally to help you, limited cash reserves and no insurance payout, many able, willing, hard working people were just COMPLETELY wiped out, and JayMar, many, more than half, are white. So they stay in their FEMA trailers, work and try to save up to rebuild. And trying to save up is a daunting task. Prior to Katrina 5/8 plywood, a staple product in home construction was about $12 for a 4×8 sheet. By the time I made my first trip down it was $23 a sheet and it has not dropped much since. Copper wiring (Romex) has risen over 200%. Copper pipe more than that. Even if your insurance company paid your claim in full, its not going to cover reconstruction costs by more than 50-60%.
There are certainly those who want someone else to do it all for them. I encountered them. But I also encounter them in lily white New England where I do volunteer carpentry to help make the homes of seniors safe and warm. I also encountered those who we worked for who wanted us to do extravagant things, making their homes much nicer than they were before Katrina. There were no racial boundries with either type. But the reality is that most are doing all they can to rebuild on their own, help out others wherever possible (very limited) and are earnestly humble and grateful at whatever small help I was able to offer, and believe me, in the total scope of destruction the work I have done and will do on future trips seems infinitesimally small.
So JayMar, Witzy and Jason K, I challenge you, even dare you to saddle up and go down there and do some work. There are many teams still going down from local churches all over the country on a weekly basis. Samaritan’s Purse is still organizing teams to go down or you can contact Calvary Chapel Bay St. Louis at http://www.calvarybsl.org/ and they will gladly help you find a way to come down. I have no doubt it will change your pespective and it will likely change your life. Until you do this it is probably wise not to pontificate on what you believe is going on down there.
Simon A . … that is a hellava post my man … what in the world did this manufacturer use out of the ordinary from building their regular products … we all know that that these construction products release chemicals .. sue the bastards .. why not …
No folks, we have known that formaldehyde is a hazard for decades. Do we blame the manufactures? Perhaps it is the lack of regulations for products that serve the underclass, we even have a ‘fun’ dehumanizing term for this specific underclass, ‘trailer trash.’ Doesn’t this make it easier to look the other way when it only affects ‘trailer trash?’
Regarding formaldehyde in trailer construction, The LEGAL limit is much higher for recreational trailer homes than it is for “permanent” mobile homes.
That said the manufactures shouldn’t be held liable.
FEMA on the other hand, when they found out about the high levels of formaldehyde, decided the solution was to stop testing!
As far as Mortgage payments go Our government was quick to bail out the Insurance industry.
Why can’t we have something like Roosevelt’s “New Deal” ,give people a chance to work and earn money, and not only will the rebuild there homes,Communities, and Towns but also there pride!
If given the need AND chance Don’t you think most of us would want to help rebuild our own homes?
All they can look forward to is outside contractors and Spec builders coming in to clean up and rebuild (taking all that money OUT of town)!
Simon B… thanks for your well-written, sincere, and knowledgable post.
Like you, I was there. I was in the same area you were — and we may even have met. Who can remember? We encountered literally THOUSANDS of displaced Americans, from all walks and social strata. I was not a volunteer; I was worked for and wore the brand of “big bad FEMA” — and my cohorts & I stayed on the Alabama/Mississippi line at a Disaster Recovery Center from August 30 through Thanksgiving ‘05. We worked nonstop, 7 days a week, 14 hours a day… and we took a lot of s*** from a lot of people throughout our days.
FEMA helped THOUSANDS of people get CASH and HUNDREDS of people into travel trailers — all that JUST in our little area of destruction. We pushed and pushed and pushed to get MONEY into the hands of the victims. At the time, the trailers were a VERY BIG DEAL and true SALVATION to these people — many of whom were sleeping in their cars, tents, or on the dirt under the stars. It was absolutely horrible for them, and, as you say, so many of them lost EVERYTHING.
And most of those trailers were brand-spankin’-new, still had the plastic on the furnishings (though there were some re-treads & recycles that were just barely up to par). No matter the condition, the people that got the trailers absolutely needed them and were glad to have them.
And I returned to the same area in February ‘06 for another 2 months and continued to work with these folks, helping those who could to GET OUT of the trailer. Very, very few (if any) actually WANTED to stay in the trailer at all — but it was all we could offer, and all they could get. Of course… time just ticked by. And now here we are in February 2008.
A TRAVEL TRAILER is exactly what the name implies: it’s for travel, for campers, for cross-country adventures. They are by no stretch of the imagination a HOME. They are temporary shelters; they are not designed nor were they intended to be a long-term solution. The inital trailers fielded were existing stock, then thousands more were assembled & fielded as quickly as possible. The building products and processes were not in FEMA’s control.
FEMA is now tasked with moving these folks OUT of those trailers and into some other type of housing as quickly as possible. Easier said than done. I’ll return again to do what I can. However, just as the day after disaster, there simply IS NOT ENOUGH HOUSING FOR EVERYONE IN THE AREA. Plain & simple, supply & demand.
No one likes to move. And believe me… just because those trailers are “rent free” doesn’t make them worth the “cost” of living in them. And no self-respecting & capable person really wants to be unemployed. But sometimes hope is a hard thing to loosen your grip on; hope for a new job, hope for a better community, hope for things to return to “the way they were”.
The realities of today mean that those folks MUST MOVE and try something else, somewhere else; a new life is just a moving van away. And FEMA will help (that’s all of us, by the way; if you’re online now, odds are you pay taxes… and that’s where FEMA gets the $$). Like it or not, the people in those trailers are AMERICANS (FEMA makes sure of that).
As for those who are sick because of the formaldehyde fumes … they WILL get medical attention and be treated with care and respect. I’ll do my part. I’ll encourage everyone else to do what they’re able, too.
these are the same people who took their assistance checks aftetr the levee breaks and headed straight to the strip clubs. Remember that? How about you GET OFF YOUR A**es and get a job and an apartment?
I live in one of those FEMA traliers, and for anyone who wants to know why I am still there. I have been trying to get out since almost a year and a half ago. Everytime I make one step forward something comes along and makes me take two back. I will say that some things that have happen are because of me not being fully prepared in my finances, but I work two jobs and I provide good for my family. I pay my bills and try to do what is right. It ticks me off when I see people who do not work and don’t want to work be able to get a new house and have the goverment pay half of the morgage. On the other hand I work and I can not get any help. My wife and I have been trying hard to get out of the FEMA tralier. It is not that we want to be in it and live off the goverment. That is not me. I want my own and I am willing to pay for it. I was told when we first wanted to build a house no I can give you a loan to buy a house but not to build. My credit was not what they wanted it to be. Well I worked on that and fixed it. Took a while but it is fixed. Come to fine out the house I had that was destroyed the morgage company was playing games with us. They were holding our house payments so that it would look like we were late so they would be justifyed when they went up on the intrest rates. Well we had to jump through hoops to prove that we were paying our note on time. We payed the bank to make copies of all our payments and when we sent them off, and that is the only way we were able to fix that, not to mention that the insurance payed the home off in full. We did not receve any money back from that. Well we got all that straight and secured a loan som 10 months later. Now the problem that we are having is the bank will not approve the contractor that we chose. We have been working with them since Feb of last year. They are good conttractors that do good work. They are on several projects around my area and they came highly recemended but the bank will not approve them. Now I am faced with trying to find another contractor the I can trust and will not try and take me for my money . So for all of those who want to know, there it is. It is not always the case that people are trying to live off the goverment. I want to get out and have my own. I have a 3 year old daughter and I know the that place is not good for her to be in that trailer. I want to get out and have been trying to get out for the past year and a half. If there is someone out there that knows somthing that I don’t the let me know cause I am ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I forgot a few things. My wife and I are vetrians with VA credits and we are still having problems. You tell me what is going on. Like I said I work two jobs and still can not get it done. What is this country coming to when a working man that tries to do what is right can not make it because of the system.
Some will be a burden forever. I like the “open the window” comment best. It says, use a little initative. I admire those who help others. I don’t admire those who won’t help themselves. Where are their familes? Sue the trailer manufacturer. Sue the purchasing agency. On the other hand, those who moved into many other areas destroyed their helpers. Example, the Rock Eagle Center in GA. Trashed the place. Will we ever be free of the Katrina “victims??
PS: Parker, you’re a good guy. Best wishes.
Hard decisions all. I got stuck at the 1st post whith the comment ‘buy cheep; get cheep’. Maybe we have really inexpensive trailers in our neck of the woods but I’m not remembering thinking ‘cheep’ or ‘good deal’ when I heard the prices we paid for these trailers. Thanks for getting down there and helping out guys; that’s what is’s all about.
Michael Parker… indeed, I, too, believe you are a good, honest, hardworking & courageous person. My bet is that your wife is, too.
Perhaps I can help; I think I can; please let me try. Of course, as you well know by now, there is no “instant” remedy — but you ARE a Veteran with a DD-214 & Certificate of Eligibility & TWO jobs (I’m a Vet, too: Army Intel MOS 98G 1984-1992). I believe that I CAN help you to get a REAL APPROVAL for a mortgage loan to purchase a home. When that’s done, I can help direct you to a solid purchase (I’m a licensed real estate broker, too).
I don’t know where you are …. but tomorrow morning I am going to lookup your name (Michael Parker) & FEMA registration #. I will call any and all telephone #s that I can find for you. Please keep your phone handy.
Of course, MY name is not really John Doe — this is a public forum. I’m interested in POSITIVE RESULTS, regardless of the method. But I do hope that your name is really MICHAEL PARKER — because that’s who I’ll be looking for first thing in the morning on 2/17/2008, Sunday. You can send an email to imabeyer@gmail.com with your FEMA registration # in the subject line — it will route itself directly to me.
I hope to speak with you, MICHAEL PARKER.
Mr. Parker,
There is something very wrong with our country indeed. I am sorry to hear about your situation and hope you are able to get into your own permanent housing soon.
I am ashamed at what this country has done…or failed to do… for the City of New Orleans.
I know it is hardly consolation, but my thoughts and prayers are with you.
Michael Parker… you can call my current disaster location hardline 1-770-216-3000
Many well written posts and many ill conceived. Simon A, I applaud you. I also encourage everyone on this post to accept the challenge.
Our mission in providing trailers (and anything else we could get) in the impact area was simple. “Provide resources to retain as much of the original population of the local jurisdiction in a timely manner”
In MS, we placed well over 30k in the first 90days after landfall.
This was the largest mission in US history.
For the smart economists on this post, ask yourself, where would all of those families go if the trailers had not been provided? And if you understand that keeping impacted communities populated is the right strategy for recovery, then ask yourself, should we put them in tents or trailers?
Sometimes the answers aren’t that easy. Don’t criticize if you’re not ready to go and help other Americans in need.
Oh by the way… my challenge to all: Find another building unit that can be manufactured in the scale (thousands in weeks) with the amenities (built in bathroom and kitchen) and deployed across the US quickly and we will look at using them in the next major displacement of US citizens.
Lastly, Get your plan ready for your next disaster.
Yes this can be blamed on Bush.
He hired those who were not qualified for their positions.
The owner of the company who manufactured the trailers is a Bush friend and donor. Instead of doing the right thing and making the trailers safe and livable they got rich like all of the other Bush friends who have profited off of his policies.
Bush will not enforce the immigration laws. Instead of paying those American citizens who have lived all of their lives in Louisiana a decent wage the government sanctioned reconstruction companies are hiring illegals at a fraction of a living wage.
The lies and deceit of the Bush administration just goes on and on …..
So if blaming the victims makes you feel better I hope you can carry that burden if some tragedy happens to you.
I don’t know why FEMA doesn’t pick up the phone and call Austin Air Systems in Buffalo. This is the company FEMA used for 9/11 and the Anniston burn off of chemical weapons. They already have a unit that has been tested to remove the formaldehyde in trailers. FEMA must know this because these Austin units are in a bunchof their trailers purchased by the occupants.
If fema would have put an engine and a steering wheel in the campers these people could drive away to a location to get a job and a future. If you don’t better yourself and pull yourself up the government shouldn’t do it for you or pay your way.Also there should have been a timeline like 6 months plenty of time to get a job and housing or relocate.
There are 40 MICHAEL PARKERS registered in LA, MS, & AL. That’s quite a few. Don’t know which you you might be. Your ball, Michael Parker.
Having been in NOLA before and after Katrina & Rita I’ve seen firsthand that the areas worst hit were slums before the flood walls broke, some areas were really nice and rebuilding is occurring but until the core problem is addressed no one is going to invest in a new home if the risk of getting killed during the next storm is real. these people live below sea level. the whole 9th should be condemned as unlivable space.
Make a theme park where no human lives or better yet, let this land return to nature. the whole area was swamp just a few feet below sea level, now after drying out the last 100 years it is 15 - 20′ below MLL. Unless the USA corp of engineers can protect against a cat 5 storm, don’t invest or live there… the risk is too huge. spend the money to expand the highways to get people in and out and let them live inland. Improve the mass transit system.
The trailer people are just mooching off the rest of America. sure, many have now have a Cadillac & big flat screen TV in their FEMA trailer thanks to you and I. The old or handicapped should have improved housing but consider that they lived in squalor before the storm any safe homes are better than none. Thank you Houston!
Make this a lesson learned… probably not with this Gov’t
Yes,
Frank B. #34 your post is at the wrong site, I think you meant to post it at the Daily Kos or moveon.org. I don’t recall seeing any photo ops of Bush building travel trailers but I do remember John Edwards at his photo ops. What no one seems to realize is this was not just New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast but another hurricane just a month after Katrina by the name of Rita hit s/w Louisiana and east Texas. If you haven’t heard of Cameron Parish, Google it and you can see it also was wiped off the map. This destruction was over 600 miles across not just the 300 or so miles of Katrina. Some of these towns as far north as 20 miles from the coast had 4-6 ft or more of water standing in the streets. I worked in a fema park with 500 units (196 travel trailers, 304 mobile homes) doing security work. Any statement saying fema employees were not allowed to go in any unit is totally false… We cleared these units on a daily bases sometime going in as many as 10-12 a day, in no unit that was occupied did I smell formaldehyde. The smell was originally stronger in TT than in park models but it did seem to dissipate fairly quickly. (Just as quickly a my new double wide home that I bought to replace my home). Those that are still living in this park will only leave when the park is closed. I don’t think a one of them has the initiative to move on there own and have to pay to live. These people live here completely free, free water, electricity, sewage, garbage pick up and they even have their grass cut for them. What incentive do they have to leave other than being kicked out?
MORE RATINGS……… SHAMEFUL Appreciate the condemnation from someone so mighty. SIMON A, SUPER GREAT piece of writing and information - especially when compared to Shameful. SLICK, ?. MARK, Who said only trailer trash were glad to get a trailer? RAY B, once FEMA learned the level was high, why should they keep on testing? JOHN DOE, GREAT ARTICLE, very informative and who would ever have thought a FEMA person was actually human - after all the critics had their say. BLACKAVENGER, now what does a name like that tell us “el sicko” - get a life. PARKER, Keep at ti until it happens - and it will happen. VRAcer, It was beyond sad they trashed those who helped them. eric, OK? JJOHN DOE. can’t believe you got out with 8 years in - just think, you could be on the job you are now on and retired too. jJEUDI, Prayers are always appreciated.HOUSING OFFICER, GOOD POINT. FRANK….B, You are a very sick man who lives constantly in hatred and disgust of anything and everything - which condition has nothing whatsoever to do with President Bush! Get help.. , TAYLOR, Open windows, Austin Air, Absolutely great simple suggestions. RUSS, read Simon.. YANKEE,.. duh! Great comment.
ONE LAST RATING….. MIKE, FACTS speak louder than words… They are still getting free everything. You forgot to include food stamps and cash subsidies. We can well consider some programs as DISABLERS rather than enablers (see, a correct use of the word enablers)….
The FEMA trailers’s formeldyhide matters are endemic to an entire American building industry that has covered up efforts to match improvements mandated in all other western indistrialized nations.
Formeldyhide is just one of the problems facing trailer inmates– you cannot put 2.5 people into a cabin pandamonium of dust must allergens, volatile organic chemicals, dust particles, human dander, a high percentage of smokers and their children, 24-7 cooking rites sending food molecules into a bacteria infesting substrate encasement, humidity-borne mold spores and trapped ozone, among many other environmental hazards.
The trailers are the same trailers sold to Americans for their vacations. In fact, they’re decently made for that given purpose. But the fact remains that the air is bad– really trappingly, chokingly bad– in these trailers and generally in ALL American homes. The EPA states that Indoor Environmental Air is one of the Top Five serious environmental health problems in the United States.
The only true immediate answer is a good– no, a “great” air cleaner. Call this a commercial, but I’ll mention it once here: Austin Air. An Austin Air cleaner remediates the indoor pollution problem in these trailers. Austin Air has been struggling to gain FEMA’s attention, and has succeeded in gaining trailer inhabitant’s attention so far. You can check them out online at http://www.austinair.com.
Now back to the larger and getting larger issue— the FEMA trailers are only the tip of a fast melting iceberg.
The following article really sums up a significant picture of the direction this issue could likely take with regard to public awareness and opinion regards the formeldyhide-at-large issue in America. It serves as a lithmus test that a new intelligence is gathering toward a major predicament of resolve; i.e., the much larger national issue of formeldyhide.
My opinion is that when the U.S. wakes up to the reality about formeldyhide as shared by all other western industrialized developed countries, that the Pandora’s Box that’s inclined to be opened will make the “asbestos revolution” of years ago look as tame as a change of seasons.
“Barb Rubin” writes the following article in the IE Quality subscriber blog. I’ve highlighted some significant points.
–Bill Zimmermann
Re: CDC/FEMA
Sat Feb 16, 2008 7:14 am (PST)
Current ‘information’ releases appear quite misleading:
http://www.cdc. gov/Features/ FEMAtrailersFind ings/
The range of formaldehyde levels reported, falling below 600 ppb, is
far below the levels noted by independent assessments conducted and
reported in the media. I myself lived in an apartment with levels
measuing .058 ppm, which is approximately the levels reported for
trailers in some media stories. It caused me (an asthmatic) serious
pain and suffering until I got smart enough to test for it and get
out of that three year old apartment with it’s heavy duty layers of
insulation. WHO regards .05 ppm as the allowable maximum in a place
of residence for a healthy individual. That itself would appear to
be far higher than a healthy home or workplace ought to offer its
occupants and also indicates how commonly high levels are
encountered. The CDC findings simply aren’t particularly believable
and I would like to know what sampling measures they utilized. Lab
experts informed me that it is necessary to test an area that has
been closed up for at least a few days with interior air circulating
mildly around a collection tube (via fan). I hardly think they had
this option with occupied residences. Does anyone know how the
collections were done?
It is a waste of time to argue over accountability or who is at
fault with the trailer issue. Anyone who supplies such trailers,
with their very well-known, elevated levels of formaldehyde
emissions (really folks, this isn’t novel data here), is responsible
for illnesses resulting from prolonged exposure.
We aren’t talking about emergency conditions with people placed in
these things for only a few months. Right now, we are talking about
residences, not unlike those voluntarily purchased by people who
similarly lack the understanding that they live in an unhealthy
environment. Public ignorance allows the government to continue
allowing the manufacture of ‘forest products’ (even the industry has
stopped calling it ‘wood’), for use in construction. They are
therefore accountable, until vendors are required to put this
information on the label and measure quantities in manufactured
homes/trailers for customers.
The fact that levels are present means harm has been done to the
residents simply by imposing a toxicant upon their systems. Stating
that most people haven’t had any adverse reactions isn’t correct.
The depletion of detoxification and immunological resources in men,
women and children, which are supposed to be devoted to homeostasis
and dealing with incidental exposures, is still imposing harm.
Additionally, formaldehyde is on the list of known carcinogens for
every country outside of the USA. Saying that no one can prove it
has harmed people is to ignore the definition of the term ‘poison’.
http://www.nlm. nih.gov/medlinep lus/mplusdiction ary.html defines
poison as
1 : a substance that through its chemical action usually kills,
injures, or impairs an organism
2 : a substance that inhibits the activity of another substance or
the course of a reaction or process
Formaldehyde is a toxicant and a sensitizer, therefore should be
regarded as qualifying under both categories of the above
definition. Since ozone is discouraged by the EPA for use in
households due to it’s oxidation capacities, why should the
corrosive effects that formaldehyde can have on the sinuses and
lungs be acceptable? Formaldehyde levels should be measured
automatically instead of merely relying upon CO2 measures
in ’sickbuilding’ inquiries. I thought you might find the abstract
below of interest.
Barb Rubin
============ ========= ========= ========= ======
TITLE: Exposure to gaseous formaldehyde induces IgE-mediated
sensitization to formaldehyde in school-children.
AUTHORS: Wantke F; Demmer CM; Tappler P; Gotz M; Jarisch R
AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Dermatological and Paediatric Allergy Clinic,
Vienna, Austria.
SOURCE: Clin Exp Allergy 1996 Mar;26(3):276- 80
CITATION IDS: PMID: 8729664 UI: 96362858
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND: Children attending a primary school showed symptoms such
as headache, cough, rhinitis and epistaxis. Assessment of specific
IgE to formaldehyde gave positive results in some children.
OBJECTIVE: Was IgE- mediated sensitization as well as symptoms in
children associated with formaldehyde exposure at school?
METHODS: Sixty-two 8-year-old children attending three forms at a
primary school were investigated. Indoor formaldehyde concentrations
were measured in classrooms of both schools (one frame construction
with particleboard used extensively as panelling vs a brick
building) which were consecutively attended. Assessment of specific
IgE to formaldehyde was done in all children. Children were
transferred to a brick building and 3 months later specific IgE to
formaldehyde in pupils showing initially elevated
radioallergosorbent test (RAST) values reassessed. In all children
symptoms were evaluated by questionnaire before and 3 months after
changing school.
RESULTS: In the school panelled with particleboard the World Health
Organization (WHO) threshold for formaldehyde of 0.050 ppm was
crossed in two classrooms (0.075 ppm and 0.069 ppm) whereas in one
classroom 0.043 ppm was found. RAST classes of > or = 2 were found
in three children, two of them attending the classroom with 0.075
ppm formaldehyde. Elevated RAST classes of > or = 1.3 were found in
another 21 pupils. Thirty-eight pupils as well as 19 control
children showed RAST classes in the normal range of < or = 1.2.
Headache, nose bleeding, rhinitis, fatigue, cough, dry nasal mucosa
and burning eyes were found in the affected children. There was a
good correlation between symptoms and the formaldehyde
concentrations in the classrooms. However, elevated IgE levels to
formaldehyde did not correlate with symptoms. Formaldehyde
concentrations in the classrooms of the brick built school were
0.029 ppm, 0.023 ppm and 0.026 ppm. After transferral specific IgE
to formaldehyde decreased significantly from 1.7 +/- 0.5 to 1.2 +/-
0.2 (P < 0.002) as did the incidence of symptoms.
CONCLUSION: Gaseous formaldehyde, besides its irritant action, leads
to IgE-mediated sensitization. As children are more sensitive to
toxic substances than adults, threshold levels for indoor
formaldehyde should be reduced for children.
Dear John Doe, yes my name is really Michael Parker. I live in Hatttiesburg Ms. My wife and I at the moment have secured a loan to build a house. We are not interested in buying a house,because we own land and would like to build a hoouse on that land. I do not feel too confortable in giving out toomuch information just yet. The problem that we are running into now is the bank that we have a loan through would not approve the builder that we chose. I do not know the reason why because they would not disclose it to us. We researched as much as we could and the builder came highly recemended to us. We looked at some of their work and we were satisafied with it. Now all the other builders that we talk to want to charge 30K to 40K more to build the house that the contractor that we chose. I just don’k know. We have been doing all that we know how to get out of this FEMA trailer. I was so happy when they brought it to us, and I am still greatful,but it is time for me to do better and I am trying. We have 3yr old little girl and when I wake up in the morning and she wants to play there is no where for to play. She then says I want to go to Grandmas house. That just breaks my heart because I want here to be able to play in her oun house. I am at work right now . I work offshore. I am due to get off Wed the 20th.. I have your number from your posted comment ealier and I will be contacting you when I get off. As I said before my wife and I are veterians and we both have VA certifictes. We are most likely registered in my wifes name. Since I work offshore she handles most of the paper work such as that. Her name is Yakima Parker. I may just give your # to my wife and have her contact you.
Thanks for your consern
P.S. I sure hope that you are true to your cause and not trying to stick it to me. The last thing that we need is to be given the shaft at this point.
Michael — you gave me all the information I needed. This is for real; I’m really trying to help. I have nothing to sell to you. So, that said…
I just finished speaking with your wife on the phone (and she gave me your mobile#). I’ll call your mortgage broker on Tuesday morning & we’ll try to kick this loan into gear. Based on what she tells me & what you’ve written, I see no reason why your construction plans & loan can’t go forward. I’m on it & I’ll stay on it.
I’ll talk with you when you get back on land. Your wife has my real name & personal telephone number.
John Doe, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You just don’t know how much it means to me to have someone that I have never met to take up the time to try and help. I realy hope that you can help us to get this thing going and if it does not work out at least I know that someone out there has a good heart to try and help those in need. Like I said before I try to do what is right and I just want my family out of that FEMA trailer. I am greatful that I have it now but it is past time for me to move on. I will be talking to you when I get back on land. Thanks again
Blackavenger, sounds like you should pull your head out of your a__. How many people? And for those of you that say sue!! Thats all we here anymore,lawyers on tv sue sue sue!!! why not work for what you need.I admit jobs are hard to find in some states,but there are jobs. just have to look a little harder. Help your fellow neighbor,people stop being so cruel.
In reply to Witzy 3, I may say that actually, caves are superior to trailers because a cave is warmer in the winter and so costs less to heat and is cooler in the summer and would cost nothing to cool. Of course you might have to fight with a bear who liked your cave.
In reply to JayMar 10, most of the people in trailers are retired or disabled by crime or disease and can do nothing to help themselves or others. They are just living out their lives in the poverty of a trailer. Raising Africa is a non sequitur since the polico-economic situation is entirely different there.
In regard to John 23 see Wheel Estate: the Rise and Decline of Mobile Homes in America by Allan D Wallis.
Three cheers for Rebecca 13, Shameful 18, Simon 19.