U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials are urging FEMA to move Gulf Coast hurricane victims out of their government-issued trailers as quickly as possible after test results from a recent study showed toxic levels of formaldehyde fumes.

The study showed that fumes from the 519 trailer and mobile homes sampled in Louisiana and Mississippi were  about five times higher than normal levels.  In some trailers, formaldehyde levels were nearly 40 times customary exposure levels, prompting fears of imminent health danger. 

As of January 2008, an estimated 46,700 households still live in travel trailers.

History 

Serious concern over the presence of formaldehyde — a toxic chemical known to cause cancer that is used to treat wood products and insulating materials — began to emerge in the summer of 2006.  Gulf Coast residents who lost their houses to Hurricane Katrina were issued trailers as temporary housing. 

Soon after moving into the trailers, a small number of people began experiencing health problems ranging from headaches and runny noses to chronic respiratory problems and nosebleeds.  The complaints caught the attention of local physicians and environmentalists, veterinarians, and eventually the Sierra Club, which conducted indoor air quality tests on the trailers in April of 2006.  The tests revealed all but four of the trailers had formaldehyde levels above what the EPA considers to be an “elevated level” capable of causing watery eyes, burning in the eyes and throat, nausea, and respiratory distress in some people. 

Six months later, in November of 2006, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration tested FEMA trailer holding stations on the Gulf Coast and determined that formaldehyde levels reached 5.0 parts per million, or 50 times the EPA’s “elevated” level.

Despite these test results and the complaints of over 20 trailer inhabitants, FEMA stood buy their trailers, affirming them safe for use. “FEMA stands confident in using travel trailers for emergency sheltering,” said FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker. “… To put it in perspective, we have almost 115,000 trailers out right now, and FEMA has received just over 20 complaints total.”  

Flip-Flop

Faced with new complaints from residents and mounting evidence to support their claims, FEMA reversed its decision to stick by its trailers in July 31, 2007, deciding to immediately stop using, buying and selling disaster-relief trailers because they could be contaminated with formaldehyde.

But instead of relying upon the two studies already conducted on the air quality inside the trailers, FEMA commissioned a new study conducted by the CDC and Department of Homeland Security Office of Health Affairs. 

“Nothing is as important to FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security as ensuring that disaster victims have a safe and healthy place to reside during their recovery,” the agency said in a statement.

The results of this study were released last week and disclosed above.  They revealed, to no one else's surpirse, toxic levels of formaldehyde in the air inside the trailers.    

Now What? 

Today, Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Henry Waxman wrote to FEMA Administrator R. David Paulison and three manufacturers of FEMA travel trailers requesting explanations for the high levels of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers and additional information about FEMA's handling of the toxic trailers.  The letter to FEMA's Administrator, excepted below, highlights the fact that FEMA has yet to provide all documents relating to the purchase and testing of the trailers requested by the House Committee six months ago.  You can bet the powers that be are scrambling at FEMA to figure out how to handle these requests, what went wrong, and who to blame for it. 

Dear Mr. Paulison:

I am writing in regard to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's ongoing investigation into dangerous levels of formaldehyde in travel trailers provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to victims of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes.

First, I am concerned that FEMA has still not provided all responsive documents to the Committee. There is a striking absence of documents that would clarify how the agency's approach to the formaldehyde hazard was developed and approved. In particular, FEMA has not produced documents which clarify how the chain of command functioned above the level of Patrick Preston, a trial attorney in the Office of General Counsel.

In order to resolve this matter, I request that you produce all remaining documents and personally certify that FEMA has provided all documents. Additionally, I request that Patrick Preston be made available for a transcribed interview no later than Friday, February 29,2007.

Please ensure that FEMA produces every document responsive to its requests up to the date of the subpoena, July 16,2007, including every responsive document relevant to your role as FEMA Administrator.

Finally, I understand FEMA has decided to reimburse individuals who purchased a travel trailer through the General Services Administration. Please provide the Committee with information that explains FEMA's decision to reimburse these individuals as well as how FEMA intends to make taxpayers whole for any defective products that may have been purchased with taxpayer funds. I also understand that the Federal Occupational Health (FOH) has been conducting an employee monitoring project with regard to the presence of formaldehyde in FEMA trailers. Please provide the results of this monitoring project.

 

Dear Mr. Bennett:

I am writing regarding the Pilgrim International, Inc., travel trailers sold to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005.

These trailers were provided as housing by FEMA to victims of the hurricanes. At one time, over 100,000 trailers, including those manufactured by Pilgrim, were being used as housing for victims of the hurricanes. Currently, thousands of families in the Gulf Coast continue to live in the travel trailers and mobile homes manufactured by Pilgrim and other companies.

On July 19, 2007, the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing as part of its investigation into dangerous levels of formaldehyde in the travel trailers and manufactured homes FEMA provided to victims of the Gulf Coast hurricanes. Through its investigation, the Oversight Committee learned that numerous travel trailers and manufactured homes tested by both FEMA and a non-profit organization had levels of formaldehyde much higher than the level at which adverse health effects begin to occur.  Specific evidence obtained by the Committee indicates that travel trailers manufactured by Pilgrim were included within this group.

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