(Left to right) Gulf Stream Coach Chairman Jim Shea, Pilgrim International President Steve Bennet, Keystone RV President Ronald Fenech, and Forest River President and CEO Peter Liegl are sworn in before testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about FEMA trailers Wednesday in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/NEWSCOM)
Manufacturers say they knew of FEMA trailer health risks
By Eoin O'Carroll | 07.11.08
Manufacturers testified before Congress Wednesday that they were aware that the trailers used to house victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita contained unsafe levels of formaldehyde. Congressional Republicans say that the government is ultimately at fault because it did not establish air quality standards for those specific types of homes.
At a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, California Democrat Henry Waxman grilled officials of four companies – Gulf Stream Coach, Pilgrim International, Keystone RV, and Forest River – whose trailers were found to have the highest levels of formaldehyde, a chemical used to pressure-treat the wood panels in the trailers.
When Gulf Stream tested 11 occupied trailers two years ago, it found that every one had levels at or above 100 parts per billion, the level at which researchers say acute health effects begin to occur. Four of the trailers had levels above 500 parts per billion, the level at which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires medical monitoring.
Representative Waxman said that the companies should have informed the Federal Emergency Management Agency about the high levels of the toxic gas.
He sharply criticized Gulf Stream Coach chairman Jim Shea, whose company built 50,000 trailers for FEMA for $520 million. An investigation by House Democrats revealed documents that showed that the company had tested its trailers and found unsafe levels of the chemical. In his opening statement, Waxman said that Gulf Stream treated the test results “as a public relations and legal problem, not a public health threat,” and that “It found pervasive formaldehyde contamination in its trailers. And it did not tell anyone.”
Gulf Stream did write a letter to FEMA [PDF] in which it said that “informal testing” of the trailers indicated that the formaldehyde levels fell below what they called “the OSHA standard” of 750 parts per billion. That figure is the maximum level of allowable workplace exposure.
Waxman said that apparently FEMA did not follow up by asking for additional test results.
House Republicans point out that the government has not set any standard for the amount of permissible formaldehyde in travel trailers. As MSNBC reports, the government has indoor air-quality standards for mobile homes, but not travel trailers. Setting such a standard would require legislation from Congress.
Republicans are citing the absence of a federal standard to pin the blame on the government. The Washington Post quotes a number of GOP representatives who say that Waxman should lay off the trailermakers.
“The problem was and remains confusion among federal agencies, not some conspiracy among trailermakers,” said ranking committee Republican Rep. Tom Davis (Va.).
Rep. Dan Burton (R) of Indiana said that 8 million Americans live in or own mobile homes or trailers but that there had been only a handful of formaldehyde complaints before March 2006. “Instead of beating up manufacturers, we ought to give them a little vote of confidence,” he said.
Rep. Mark Souder (R) of Indiana suggested that companies were being subjected to a “double standard” and dubious science, noting that even before Katrina, a Tulane University study had found high formaldehyde levels in conventional homes in Baton Rouge.
For its part, FEMA issued a press release Thursday defending the trailer purchases:
FEMA neither knowingly, nor willingly, purchased manufactured units from dealerships and manufacturers that contained levels of formaldehyde above existing construction standards, nor did FEMA’s specifications encourage non-compliance with such standards. We have been fully transparent in our actions on this issue.
The agency has announced that, in the absence of a federal standard, it has now set the standard at 16 parts per billion for all of its units.
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2. Eduardo | 07.11.08
What ails these companies ails the Bush administration and our congress–blatant greed and contempt and disrespect of the American people. These companies and their CEO providing unsafe travel trailers to needy Americans is the same as the Bush, Cheney and Rove administration sacrificing the lives of our American soldiers, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis lives and $900 billion of American taxpayers money that we don’t have all for money for themselves and the American Oil companies are one and the same. Unadulterated and blatant greed at the expense of the expendable masses. These people have no class as reflected by their giving the “bird” to the press and the “so” response by Cheney when told that the American people were against the Iraq war which translates to the giving the
“bird” to the American people. They’re crude, rude and uncouth and it shows.
3. Jace | 07.12.08
Now Republicans want standards… But won’t that penalize business???? Masters of speaking out of both sides of the neck.
4. Eoin | 07.13.08
Gail, you can purchase indoor formaldehyde testing kits for about $100 here:
http://www.air-techinternational.com/formaldehyde.html
You hang it in your trailer for 5-7 days, and it gives you a parts-per-million reading.
5. Alan | 07.14.08
This is a comon problem in all new RV’s (trailers, and motorized).
Generally what one has to do is run the furnace for about a week and keep the unit sealed up, that helps to force the formaldehyde out of the glue. Then vent it for a week.
Its not a Fema issue, its not a gulfstream issue. Its the building products used and it is industry wide.
6. Snorton | 07.15.08
Formaldehyde outgassing from paneling, carpeting, pressboard products, and a myriad of other items has been in the home and workplace throughout the modern era. FEMA trailers are so far from being the only source of exposure. That “new car” smell? Yep, formaldehyde and a host of other VOCs. So, if you didn’t *know*, shouldn’t you be suing someone?
7. Rich | 07.18.08
Ed ward O,
Your an idiot. Turning this issue into a Pres Bush issue? C’mon.
O yeah, your right. Bush was pumping Formaldehyde into trailers at the end of the assembly line. He hates Americans so much that he found the time to make sure New Orleans was really, really screwed over by the hurricane, which he planned by causing more global warming, I’m sure. Oh wait, no he wasn’t and he has nothing to do with this story.
Dude, there are enough Bush stories you can talk about. And I think that is un-patriotic when you slam the President. I don’t like it when the rights slam Clinton and I don’t like it when the lefts slam Bush. It’s ok to disagree, but don’t be disrespectful to the office of the president.
8. Eoin | 07.18.08
Rich, please be civil toward the other commentors, particularly when you’re calling for respectfulness.
9. SlapYouGreen.com | 08.06.08
Sounds like, as with many realms of a political venue these days, this is productive and yet lacks diplomacy and directive. Kudos to all who support a green way of life. If you have incondescents still burning in your home, then stop the waste. We can help you with that. ut plaese do, act, reduce, and reflect. The things you do make a difference.
Thank you,
SlapYouGreen.com
10. Pete | 10.03.08
After reading the comments and the FEMA stores it does make you think. I voted for Bush, but I thought he was the lesser of the Evil but I was wrong. I think we will all learn from this in about 50 years after the de-classification of documents that relate to FEMA and the War. But look at the bright side the Bush camp made or will make a lot of money from the dead Americans.
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1. gail neal | 07.11.08
We have a 2006 Pilgrim FEMA trailer that we purchased in approximately 5/07. After we purchased it we found out it was a FEMA trailer. How do we know if this is safe for us, our children and grandchildren to be in? Please let me know what we need to do about this trailer. We purchased it from a private seller. I don’t know if the person knew what it was or not. She never said anything about it to us.