MORE KATRINA FALLOUT: FEMA Flip-Flops Again on Trailers

FEMA Flip-Flops Again on Trailers
Mobile homes purchased by the federal government for victims of Hurricane Katrina are tainted with formaldehyde.

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, January 18, 2008; Page A17


Those trailers the Federal Emergency Management Agency bought to house Hurricane Katrina victims were at the center of the storm again yesterday -- and not in a way that's going to make folks at the beleaguered agency any happier.

FEMA hurriedly bought the 145,000 trailers and mobile homes via no-bid contracts just before and after Katrina hit the coast in August 2005. But the purchase quickly became problematic, with some communities refusing them for a variety of reasons.

FEMA was forced to put trailers on the market, selling them to anyone for 40 cents on the dollar.

Yesterday, however, the emergency agency offered to buy them back, for their original purchase price, because of concerns that the trailers are tainted with formaldehyde. The agency said it is making the offer because of concerns about "possible adverse health effects" associated with the trailers.

More than 10,800 trailers were sold to the public by the General Services Administration from July 2006 until the program was suspended in July 2007, FEMA officials said. All of the trailers bought directly from the GSA will be eligible for the full buybacks, although purchasers will be responsible for getting the trailers back to FEMA drop-off points.

The issue of formaldehyde in the trailers has been contentious since early in the shelter program. A common wood preservative used in construction materials, it can cause vision and respiratory problems, and long-term exposure has been linked to cancer, asthma, bronchitis and allergies in children.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/17/AR2008011702965.html?nav=hcmoduletmv

:kick:

I actually suspect that they are buying them back, not because they are concerned about lawsuits from the new owners or damage to the health of the survivors they originally stuck in them......they need them to foist on unsuspecting flood victims up here in the Pacific Northwest, where our sunshine is sparse and the tainted wood problem might be less of an issue under a temperate climate. Yup, if they can get away with it, I'll bet those formaldehyde fuckers at FEMA will answer the clamor of our rural victims of recent devastating floods (or maybe all of the new victims of January tornadoes) by shipping their poisonous trailers to the other end of the nation, where not many are aware of the whole thing with the formaldehyde.

I know the logistics are improbable and all, but that is how little I trust this agency, anymore. I would not put anything past them. Why would they be buying them back now, they knew of the problems when they put them up for auction.

Can't wait for the CDC to issue that report!

And I can't wait for the entire prez-appointed staff of FEMA to be brought down, hard!