Safety Lapses Raised Risks In Trailers for Katrina Victims

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Safety Lapses Raised Risks In Trailers for Katrina Victims

Formaldehyde Found in High Levels; 17,000 Say Homes Caused Illnesses

By Spencer S. Hsu

Washington Post Staff Writer

Sunday, May 25, 2008; A01

Within days of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in August 2005, frantic officials

at the _Federal Emergency Management Agency_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac2/related/topic/FEMA?tid=i

nformline) ordered nearly $2.7 billion worth of trailers and mobile homes

to house the storm's victims, many of them using a single page of

specifications.

Just 25 lines spelled out FEMA's requirements, with little mention of the

safety of those to be housed. Manufacturers produced trailers with unusual

speed. Within months, some residents began complaining about unusual sickness;

breathing problems; burning eyes, noses and throats; even deaths.

Today, industry and government experts depict the rushed procurement and

construction as key failures that may have triggered a public health catastrophe

among the more than 300,000 people, many of them children, who lived in FEMA

homes.

Formaldehyde -- an industrial chemical that can cause nasal cancer, may be

linked to leukemia, and worsens asthma and respiratory problems -- was present

in many of the FEMA housing units in amounts exceeding the _Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac2/related/topic/Centers+for+Disease+Control+an

d+Prevention?tid=informline) 's recommended 15-minute exposure limit for

workers, the limit at which acute health symptoms begin to appear in sensitive

individuals.

Weak government contracting, sloppy private construction, a surge of

low-quality wood imports from China and inconsistent regulation all contributed

to

the crisis, a _Washington Post_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac2/related/topic/The+Washington+Post+Compan

y?tid=informline) review found. But each of the key players has pointed

fingers at others, a chain of blame with a cost that will not be known for

years.

Already, 17,000 plaintiffs who lived in FEMA units have alleged damaging

health consequences, from respiratory problems to dozens of deaths and cancer

cases, in a federal class-action lawsuit naming 64 trailermakers and the federal

government. Many of the plaintiffs were drawn from the roughly 350,000

people who unsuccessfully filed claims against the _Army Corps of Engineers_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac

2/related/topic/U.S.+Army+Corps+of+Engineers?tid=informline) over the levee

breaches that flooded New Orleans.

The CDC reported this month that Hurricane Katrina led to increased

complaints of lower-respiratory illnesses among 144 children studied in

Mississippi,

but it found no difference between those who lived in FEMA housing and those

who did not. However, the CDC said the findings could not be generalized

beyond the sample, and the agency is conducting a broad, five-year study of the

storm's health impact on children across the Gulf Coast area.

" I still can't believe that we bought a billion dollars' worth of product

with a 25-line spec. There's not much you can do in 25 lines to protect life

safety, " said ph Hagerman, a _Federation of American Scientists_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac2/rela

ted/topic/Federation+of+American+Scientists?tid=informline) expert who is

leading a $275 million effort, funded by the _Department of Homeland Security_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.c

om/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Department+of+Homeland+Security?tid=informline) ,

to develop new emergency housing. " There's over 20,000 parts in these homes. "

FEMA, for its part, faults manufacturers of the trailers, which are wheeled,

and the mobile homes, which usually sit on concrete pads. Some trailermakers

used cheaper, substandard wood products in the rush to meet production

targets, increasing emissions of the cancer-causing chemical, according to

industry

officials and analysts.

Companies say that federal guidelines were inconsistent and that they relied

on suppliers to deliver quality materials. In turn, wood suppliers blame

cheap, high-formaldehyde-emitting plywood imports that flooded the U.S. market

during the recent housing boom.

R. ison, who became acting FEMA administrator two weeks after the

storm hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, acknowledged missteps but said

changes are needed far beyond his agency. " We're taking all the darn heat. . . .

You would think that I ordered them with extra formaldehyde so they didn't

rot or something, " he said.

" The manufacturers have been skating by on this thing, " he said, noting that

many trailers bought by FEMA were on sale to consumers. " This is bigger than

FEMA. This is bigger than FEMA, " he said, repeating for emphasis.

A price has already been paid by trailer residents such as Esposito,

25, a full-time warehouse worker in Slidell, La. She first noticed her

toddler's symptoms after moving into a FEMA trailer in April 2006: an endless

series

of coughs, colds, sinus infections, earaches and pink, crusty eyes.

Treatments and antibiotics had no effect, and soon a, now 4, and later her

newborn sister, Alyssa, now 16 months old, regularly needed atomizers to help

them

breathe.

Last August, doctors said they suspected the cause was exposure to

formaldehyde, and told the single mother to leave her trailer at once. " My

girls, they

could have all these problems the rest of their lives, " Esposito said, her

voice breaking, " . . . and the doctors still don't know any more. " Hasty

Decisions

On Sept. 4, 2005, one week after the storm, ison's predecessor,

D. Brown, declared that FEMA was " pulling out the stops " to find housing for

237,000 Katrina evacuees who were staying in shelters, the largest internal

displacement of Americans since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

The price of haste was, inevitably, waste. FEMA bought $762 million worth of

mobile homes, most of them unusable in coastal flood zones under FEMA rules

because they could not be moved quickly in case of another storm. After an

intervention by then-Florida Gov. _Jeb Bush_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac2/related/topic/Jeb+Bush?tid=i

nformline) ®, FEMA spent $249 million to lease cruise ship cabins, which

evacuees largely refused to use.

FEMA bought 21,300 mobile homes and 33,100 trailers off dealers' lots for

$1.4 billion using one page of specifications, according to interviews and

documents provided by the agency. It paid manufacturers $931 million to produce

an additional 76,800 trailers using eight pages of custom requirements, again

with limited safety standards and no mention of formaldehyde.

ison said FEMA incorporated applicable federal codes in ordering the

mobile homes. Regarding trailers, which are not subject to federal regulation,

those sold to the public and to FEMA in the past produced few complaints, he

said. " We bought them in good faith, just like we have for the last 20 years. "

The largest housing orders were filled by Fleetwood Enterprises and Gulf

Stream Coach. FEMA's $520 million order from Gulf Stream, the largest from any

builder, exceeded the company's reported 2004 recreational vehicle sales and

was its first direct federal contract.

Formaldehyde is a colorless gas present at background levels in nature but

emitted from the resins and glues used in many construction components,

including particleboard flooring, plywood wall panels, composite wood cabinets

and

laminated countertops. Emissions are greatest in warm weather and when

trailers are newly constructed, the conditions experienced by Katrina victims on

the Gulf Coast.

But manufacturers did not discuss, nor did FEMA ask, if it would be safe to

house evacuees in trailers for 18 months or more with such materials. " They

did not, " ison said. " I don't think they were asked, either. "

A spokeswoman for Fleetwood, based in Riverside, Calif., whose subsidiaries

produced 10,600 trailers and 3,000 mobile homes for FEMA, said the company did

not discuss the formaldehyde issue with the agency. " You know, when

something hasn't been a problem, you often don't suddenly consider that it will

be. I

don't believe that anybody expected these people to stay in the trailers as

long as people have stayed in them, " Kathy Munson said.

Fleetwood said its trailers, which were built with only higher-quality,

low-emitting wood products that the company said met federal standards for

mobile

homes, had the lowest levels of formaldehyde, with only 10 percent exceeding

the CDC benchmark. Gulf Stream's trailers had the highest levels, with more

than 50 percent topping the CDC standard.

Gulf Stream's lawyers said in a letter to congressional investigators that

the company mostly met a " longstanding policy " to buy components that comply

with mobile home standards, but it acknowledged exceptions. They said the firm

" did not conduct any testing on components or parts " but instead " relied on

the representations " of its suppliers about their quality.

Delaney, a Gulf Stream spokesman, said he could not respond to

questions, citing in part litigation. Among other companies whose trailers

tested

high in the CDC study, Keystone RV declined to comment. Forest River referred

questions to the industry's trade group, the Recreation Vehicle Industry

Association.

Dave Hoefer Sr., chairman of Pilgrim International, said the pending lawsuits

limited what he could say, but he pointed out that FEMA specifications

prompted his company to put in fewer sidewall openings than usual, which may

have

restricted ventilation. He said his company had never received a complaint

about formaldehyde and used its usual materials to build Katrina trailers.

An industry association spokesman, Feldman, said symptoms may be

caused by mold, Katrina-related chemical spills, smoking or local climate

factors. " There may be a rush to conclude formaldehyde is the issue when in fact

the

results seem to suggest the answer is a little more complex, " he said.

However, others said that in 2005 and 2006, much of the nation's hardwood

plywood came from Asia and was high in formaldehyde. China's share of the North

American market has grown from 4 percent to nearly 40 percent since 2001,

according to the Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Association, which represents North

American producers.

" The most likely source of formaldehyde in the Katrina trailers and in all

travel trailers are composite wood products . . . [and] the most likely source

for those materials are imported products, " primarily from China, said

Whalen, director of corporate sustainability for Columbia Forest

Products, of Portland, Ore., the association's largest U.S. plywood

manufacturer.

_Sen. Ron Wyden_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://projects.washingtonpo\

st.com/congress/members/w000779/) (D-Ore.) demanded a

U.S. trade investigation after domestic producers complained in 2006 that

containers of imported hardwood plywood reeked of formaldehyde, products

advertised

as having low formaldehyde emissions were falsely labeled and sample tests

showed levels much higher than allowed in federal housing.

" There's no real enforcement authority by the government, " said Gail

Overgard, vice president of Timber Products in Springfield, Ore.Little

Regulation

No binding safety standard exists for formaldehyde in any U.S. homes, even

though the chemical was classified as a human carcinogen by the _World Health

Organization_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac2/related/topic/World+Health+Organization?tid=informline)

in 2004 and is deemed a probable carcinogen by the U.S. government.

But early this year, the CDC reported that 41 percent of the trailers it

tested in December and January had levels of formaldehyde greater than 100 parts

per billion, the level that the CDC's National Institute for Occupational

Safety and Health recommends as safe for 15 minutes of exposure by workers.

California health regulators estimate that lifetime exposure to formaldehyde

at 100 parts per billion increases cancer risk by 50 cases per 100,000

people.

" Even at levels too low to cause . . . symptoms, there could be an increased

risk of cancer, " the CDC reported in February. Because the tests were done in

winter, they understated exposure levels during warmer months, the agency

said.

J. Joe son, president of the Mississippi chapter of the _American

Academy of Pediatrics_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpos

t.com/ac2/related/topic/American+Academy+of+Pediatrics?tid=informline) , said

that " pediatricians along the Gulf Coast . . . all reported

epidemic problems with asthma and respiratory symptoms . . . covering the time

of the hurricane, and, although it's diminished over time, it's ongoing. I

personally believe that formaldehyde did play a significant part in the

problem. "

Despite its hazards, the chemical's presence in homes has largely escaped

regulation. In 1985, after consumer complaints and lawsuits, Washington imposed

a limit on the amount of formaldehyde emitted by plywood and particleboard in

mobile homes -- but did not restrict how much of that wood can be used.

The _Housing and Urban Development_

(https://webmail.hsus.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.washingtonpost.co\

m/ac2/related/topic/U.S.+Department+of+H

ousing+and+Urban+Development?tid=informline) office that enforces those

rules has a small budget of $6 million and a staff of 13 based only at

headquarters. Wilden, who directed the office in the 1980s and 1990s,

said in an

interview that while the industry " benefits from minimal regulation, " it

lobbied for cuts in the office's budget.

When HUD set the formaldehyde limit for wood in mobile homes 23 years ago, it

said it anticipated that the resulting ambient air levels would be less than

400 parts per billion, or quadruple what the CDC says is problematic. The RV

industry association points out that, according to the CDC tests over the

winter, levels in 99 percent of the Katrina trailers fell below that

threshold.

The use of formaldehyde in trailers is unregulated because they are

considered vehicles, not homes, and because their makers say they are typically

used

a few days at a time, a few times a year.

" The RV industry is generally unregulated, and lobbying efforts have

succeeded in keeping it that way, " said Connie Gallant, head of the RV Consumer

Group, which represents trailer owners.

California regulators recently enacted the nation's tightest formaldehyde

limits on wood products, setting limits 60 percent below HUD standards by next

year and 75 percent below by 2011. The rules are expected to become a de facto

national standard.

FEMA, meanwhile, has barred the future use of trailers, and required that

mobile home builders use wood that emits virtually no formaldehyde. The RV

industry has embraced HUD and California standards.

FEMA has relocated more than 4,000 families after receiving 11,000 health

complaints, but about 22,000 of its trailers remain occupied despite a CDC

recommendation that all residents be moved to safer housing. As of May 1, more

than 3,000 mobile homes were still occupied.

ison said that in the absence of a legally binding safety standard for

residential air quality, FEMA will do the best it can in providing disaster

housing. But, he complained, " There is no national standard for formaldehyde

levels in American homes -- not conventional . . . homes, not [mobile] homes. "

Staff researchers Madonna Lebling and Tate contributed to this report.

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