FEMA Executives Should Face Criminal Charges For Distributing Toxic Trailers
- by: Pamela Lyn
- recipient: Congressman Henry A Waxman, Chairman of the Committee of Oversight & Gov't Reform
According to article on Time.com:
"Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, FEMA doled out over 120,000 mobile homes to residents of the Gulf Coast. Many of those trailers have walls and cabinets made up of particleboard, which contains formaldehyde that can sometimes emit gas in hot, humid weather such as that found in Louisiana and Mississippi. The effect on humans (especially children) range from "burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; nausea; coughing; chest tightness; wheezing; skin rashes and allergic reactions." As early as March 2006, FEMA began to receive complaints about formaldehyde odors. After one trailer was tested, an April 2006 e-mail sent from a FEMA attorney to another staffer concluded, "The end result %u2014 well above OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards... Tester himself developed eye-watering symptoms of exposure." Yet, in response to complaints, FEMA's legal department advised that testing "would imply FEMA's ownership of the issue." Another read, 'Do not initiate any testing until we give the OK... Should [tests] indicate some problem, the clock is running on our duty to respond to them.' "
After a thorough investigation into this matter, we ask the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform to recommend that FEMA Executives be charged with criminal negligence and conspiring to endanger public safety.
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Dear Rep. Waxman,
According to recent reports FEMA knowingly endangered the public safety of over 100,000 victims of hurricanes Katrina & Rita by refusing to notify them that their FEMA trailers might expose them to toxic poisoning.
According to an article by Time.com, "Many of those trailers have walls and cabinets made up of particleboard, which contains formaldehyde that can sometimes emit gas in hot, humid weather such as that found in Louisiana and Mississippi. The effect on humans (especially children) range from "burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; nausea; coughing; chest tightness; wheezing; skin rashes and allergic reactions."
While these symptoms might not be fatal to a relatively healthy individual, individuals with pre-existent conditions such as asthma, emphysema or heart trouble were placed at extreme risk. In addition, many of those individuals may have already had to wade through toxic water during the early aftermath of the hurricane. FEMA's cover-up of this health risk was not only sickening but criminal.
We, the undersigned, ask that after a thorough investigation into this matter, the Committee on Oversight & Government Reform recommend that FEMA Executives be charged with criminal negligence.
Nothing less will regain the public's trust. We're counting on you!
