Jurors: FEMA trailer didn't expose family to fumes

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Jurors: FEMA trailer didn't expose family to fumes

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(http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TOXIC_TRAILERS)

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN (AP) – 2 days ago

NEW ORLEANS — A federal jury on Thursday rejected a New Orleans

family's assertions that the government-issued trailer they lived in

after Hurricane Katrina exposed them to dangerous fumes, in the first

of several trials that could lead to hundreds of similar claims being

resolved.

Five men and three women decided that a trailer made by Gulf Stream

Coach Inc. and occupied by Alana and her 12-year-old son,

, was not " unreasonably dangerous " in its

construction. One juror saying the plaintiffs' attorneys never had the

" smoking gun " that proved their case.

The jury also concluded that Fluor Enterprises Inc., which had a

contract to install FEMA trailers, wasn't negligent. The federal

government wasn't a defendant in this first of several " bellwether "

trials, which are designed to help the New Orleans court test the

merits and possibly settle of other claims over formaldehyde exposure

in FEMA trailers.

Lawyers on both sides wouldn't speculate on how the verdict could

affect other cases. A law professor who specializes in toxic tort

cases said verdicts in bellwether trials can steer parties toward a

mass settlement of similar claims.

and lived in a FEMA trailer for 19 months after

Hurricane Katrina damaged their home in August 2005.

's lawyers claimed elevated levels of formaldehyde aggravated

's asthma and increased his risk of getting cancer.

Formaldehyde, a chemical commonly found in construction materials, can

cause breathing problems and has been classified as a carcinogen.

Plaintiffs' attorneys accused Gulf Stream and other trailer makers of

using shoddy materials and methods in a rush to meet the Federal

Emergency Management Agency's unprecedented demand for temporary

shelters after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Gulf Stream denied its

trailer jeopardized the health of and her family. A company

lawyer also noted that took her son off a steroid medication

for his asthma for more than two years.

....

But lawyers typically wait for several cases to be tried, he said. For

example, Merck Inc. had won 10 of 15 federal and state court verdicts

— including four of five in federal court — when it agreed to a $4.85

billion settlement with people who had suffered heart attacks or

strokes after taking its painkiller Vioxx for at least 30 days.

Before the trailer trial started, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt

ruled that a two-year statute of limitations bars 's claims

against the government. Pierce said he doesn't know if the jury would

have reached a different verdict if the government hadn't been

dismissed from the lawsuit.

" It was a tough decision, " he said. " It wasn't simple. "

's trailer was made in 2004 for FEMA to use after a hurricane

in Florida, but it wasn't occupied until her family moved in after

Katrina. Weinstock said during his closing arguments that Gulf Stream

wasn't obligated to build a " perfect product. "

" It's a nice piece of equipment. It's not the Taj Mahal, " he said of

the travel trailers, which are smaller than mobile homes.

Plaintiffs' attorney Mikal Watts said Gulf Stream made an

" unreasonably dangerous " trailer and Flour compounded the formaldehyde

risks by improperly installing it. FEMA relied on the companies to

provide safe shelters, Watts added.

" ly, I think they were trying to clean up somebody else's mess,

and they should not be held responsible,and they should not b

Weinstock told jurors that formaldehyde is found in safe levels in

many products, including cosmetics, foods and shampoo. He downplayed

the link between formaldehyde and cancer, saying only one scientific

group has classified the chemical as a carcinogen.

Government tests on hundreds of trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi

found formaldehyde levels that were, on average, about five times what

people are exposed to in most modern homes. FEMA downplayed

formaldehyde risks for months before those test results were announced

in February 2008.

" If these trailers weren't dangerous, would there be 30,000 of them

sitting in a field? " plaintiffs' attorney Tony Buzbee said.

Sharon Noonan Kramer