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Makers knew Katrina trailers tainted with formaldehyde

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Manufacturers knew there were high levels of formaldehyde in the trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina victims, but sold them to the government anyway, according to a congressional report released Wednesday.

The report by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is at odds with an analysis done by Republican staffers on the same committee. The Republican report found that trailer manufacturers should not be held accountable for the high levels of formaldehyde — a preservative commonly used in building materials — in trailers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency set up to house people displaced by Katrina in 2005. Republicans say it is the government's fault for not having standards for safe levels of formaldehyde in trailers.

But Democrats say their staff interviewed employees from one of the manufacturers — Gulf Stream Coach — who said they, too, were suffering effects from formaldehyde exposure, including nose bleeds, shortness of breath, dizziness and bleeding ears. One employee told investigators that there was a foul odor throughout the plant.

Gulf Stream Coach, Inc., received the bulk of the FEMA trailer contracts after Katrina, collecting more than $500 million.

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said the Democrats' investigation found that Gulf Stream did test trailers, but treated the test results as a public relations liability instead of as a health hazard.

"It found pervasive formaldehyde contamination in its trailers, and it didn't tell anyone," Waxman said Wednesday.

[Credit: Eileen Sullivan - AP; Photo: ohmygov.com]

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So, if anyone is keeping up, trailer manufacturers can be held accountable for their actions but telecoms can not. Just wanted to make this clear.
mako2424

37 responses // Makers knew Katrina trailers tainted with formaldehyde

  • Sadly this does not surprise me.
    shroomfairy
  • Do you know about Roe VS Wade??? It's the new FEMA evacuation plan for New Orleans.

    Somebody needs to hang for this. How many times does the Bush Administration and it's surrogates get to openly break the law and get away with it??? It's craziness.
    bansheewail
    1 response to this
  • that kind of shows how desperate they were kust to get money
    knightlynight200
  • this is criminal and treasonous by the Bush regime.
    Betico
    1 response to this
  • it's one thing after another with this administration...hopefully it will not continue this fall
    jaxgrfx
    2 responses to this
  • "bleeding out the ears" - yea, that's when you know something might be wrong.
    recommended by  huntre
    stephenthomson
  • jeromecon

    You too sir, are an idiot.

    Do you really think bush&co didn't know what was going on?Not even I think they are that stupid.

    What was bush waiating for,Gov.Blanco to call "Hey Mr. Pres.we got people dying down here. You want to help out?"


    Now I'll admit,Gov. Blanco is partly to blame.As is the mayor of N.O.(I can't remember his name) but it is the federal government that is the Peoples last line of defense in case of a disaster.So once again bush&co were derelict in their duty to protect the American People.

    Could it be because a large proportion of the devestated area was populated by African Americans? Surely not.Oh wait,thats right they still haven't even rebuilt the area yet.And thousands are still displaced.Hmmmm!
    pissedoffinarkansas
    3 responses to this
  • They sat unused for two years and there's something wrong with them? They sucked before this came about.
    J_Jammer
  • i guess this shouldn't suprise me but it does. have humans evolved to a state void of conscience?
    crazykatlady
    1 response to this
  • Before I clicked on this, the icon/picture looked like a bunch of coffins to me... my sub-conscience knew the story before I even read it... Formaldehyde... that's used in embalming right? Jeeps!
    jjmaster
  • Remember the smallpox contaminated blankets the U.S. sent to American Indian Nations?

    Wake up. Everybody is an ndn, now.

    What is formaldehyde doing in everything anyway?
    TouchArt
    1 response to this
  • Actually, I haven't researched it, but I think that a while back I heard that formaldehyde is in a lot of building materials.

    Yes TouchArt, to the Indian genocide, I remember, and don't forget the syphillus experiments that they subjected Black Americans to... And our tax dollars pay for all of this trashing...
    jjmaster
  • This almost begs the question....why weren't they looked at before they were given to people? Oh wait..they probably were.
    SilenceNoMore
  • Even if formaldehyde is used in building materials, why on earth were the levels so high in these trailers? It doesn't happen by accident on a scale like this.
    Paul_Flynn
  • FIMA did not responsibly know of the damage that the housing would cause or the health problems that the homes provided would bring.
    _LegalEagle_
    1 response to this
  • http://current.com/items/89090134_fema_supply_debacle
    I love that the manufacturers defense is: There is no industry standard for the amount of formaldehyde in travel trailers.
    I think the trailer manufacturers are mostly responsible for this but overall FEMA has done a pathetic job helping the Katrina victims.
    Here is a link to another example.
    jay_ct
    1 response to this
  • David Allen "Getting Things Done"

    It's a brilliant book on how to make a list of everything that needs to be done, priortize tasks, and achieve results.

    List of Things To Do:

    1) Monitor progress of hurrican that could possibly cause billions of dollars of damage

    2) Ensure all equipment and personnel are ready and available (coordinate with states on this one)

    3) Cancel photo op at Crawford ranch (put fannel photo op shirt back in dresser)

    4) Do we have enough buses?

    5) If we need temporary houses what kind of resources do we have and have they been inspected? Do we need more?

    THIS is how an actual leader might keep his shit together, tight and be ready to rock no matter what happens.

    Let's look at the Prez's to-do list for that fateful day.

    Bush's To-Do List re: Katrina

    1) Play video games

    2) Someone is probably handling this tornado-type thingy. Make note to self to figure out who that is and send a text asking if everything is cool.

    3) Put iPhone in charger!

    4) Eat a burrito

    5) Put Netflix in Whitehouse mailbox. Update rental list to add "Tommy Boy."

    ----

    I'm sorry but if you want to wear the Big Boy pants you've got to be a little smarter, better organized and on top of things than the average bear. You can't just shrug your shoulders and say, "Don't blame me. That was somebody else's issue to deal with!"

    Well, had you not handpicked someone so incompetent that might have been a resonable defence, I suppose.

    What's so infuriating to people is that the President seems so disorganized and oblivious.

    He hires people that don't know what their doing, but are close "buds" of his and then he just flakes out and has no idea what's going on. Even now he's in the White House playing Halo 3 saying, "Trailers? What trailers? These people are still in trailers? That tornado was, like, years ago!"

    And then when people rightly call Bush out behaviour that wouldn't be acceptable for the regional manager of a McDonald's we're dismissed as Bush-haters.

    If he wants to be a frat boy and party, fine. If he wants to be leader of the free world, fine. The problem is you can't be the flaky stoner frat guy and hold a position of extreme responsibility at the same time.
    crob80227
  • Let's face why would the Bush administration or the trailer manufactuer even care how much formaldehyde was in the trailers or what the effect would be on those exposed? They weren't going to be living there. It is a sad time in this nation when there is a blatant disregard for the lives and quality thereof of the American people.
    Maybe Bush should be living in one of those trailers camped out on the front lawn of the White House till his ears bleed. Oh, that's right he's probably already had an oraface bleed, but from years of snorting coke.
    jakepaulmom
  • Hey now jakepaulmom, just because he spent years avoiding military service and snorting coke off the ass of hookers DOES NOT mean he is not an intelligent, organized and effective leader.

    On second thought.....
    crob80227
  • So when is the Revolt? Can we please get them out now... --funny how that statement works in so many ways for our current government.
    thewarnerla
  • Government is only as effective as the people involved.

    It shouldn't matter if the contactors employed by the government screwed up....because if we had COMPETENT people in sensitive government oversight positions overseeing the projects then the problems would have been caught, identified and dealt with waaaay before anyone got hurt.

    At least Obama seems to be able to function on that kind of level.

    Look at Grandpa McCain! Forget his asinine politics that would have been considered outdated in the 1930's -- the man can barely stay awake for more than an 1hr at a time.

    Remember how confused Bush looked back in 2000 when he was asked to name world leaders?

    McCain has that same expression when asked to remember what he had for lunch!
    crob80227
    2 responses to this
  • Formaldehyde is a known carcinigen(sp). Even in oilfield chemistry it is regulated and employees are tested. Almost everyone knows this, I assumed!
    MoonLoon
  • 500 million -- gulf stream must have some good friends in government... and they are all friends that are not accountable for hurting citizens as usual?
    jjmaster
  • Hey Shattered
    1st of all you need to get a degree, I already have several. 2nd Noone ever said the mayor wasn't black, do you really think that Bush and the manufacturer of the trailers had no knowledge and no responsibilty? You my friend are seriously in need of some education. Then you go on to blame the victims for not cleaning up??
    I feel so sorry for you thinking that the little people should be held responsibile. If you really believe that CEO and the president are that unaware of the things that go on, then you my friend have never held a job. Get out into the world, get a job, get a degree and start thinking before you try to put people down.
    jakepaulmom

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