Product Liability Law Blog

In the years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, thousands of their victims who received shelter in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers have sued the trailer manufacturers for auto products liability because of illnesses they sustained from exposure to high levels of formaldehyde in the mobile homes.

Some 143,000 trailers were used as emergency housing units following the two storms. Later, federal tests on hundreds of FEMA mobile homes in Mississippi and Louisiana determined that the levels of formaldehyde (a carcinogen linked to breathing problems) found in the trailers was about five times greater than what can be found in modern homes.

FEMA trailer lawyers representing clients have accused the trailer manufacturers of using poor methods and materials in an attempt to quickly construct the mobile homes to meet FEMA’s demand for temporary residences on the Gulf Coast following both hurricanes.

One plaintiff, Elisha Dubuclet, says the high levels of formaldehyde that she and her family were exposed to while living in a FEMA trailer aggravated her daughter’s eczema and increased her chances of getting cancer. Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. made the trailer where Dubuclet's family lived. Other FEMA trailer residents have complained of breathing problems, eye, throat, and nose irritation, and nausea.

Trailer residents were not the only ones made ill from exposure to the high levels of formaldehyde. According to a CBS News report, Linda Esparza and Tommy Yager, a mother and son who worked on the construction of some of the FEMA trailers, say they experienced flu like symptoms and fatigue as a result. The two of them built the trailers for Gulf Stream Coach, an RV maker contracted to make 50,000 trailers as quickly as possible. At one point in 2006, Gulf Stream Coach was producing over 100 trailers each day—that's triple the rate of regular production.

In July 2008, officials for Gulf Stream Coach, Forest River, Keystone RV, and Pilgrim International testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. They admitted that they knew the FEMA trailers they made for the hurricane victims contained unsafe levels of formaldehyde.

Deal in works to resolve some FEMA trailer claims, AP/Google, December 2, 2009

Manufacturers say they knew of FEMA trailer health risks, Christian Science Monitor, July 11, 2008

Did Trailer Makers Know About Toxic Fumes?, CBS, July 8, 2008

Related Web Resources:
FEMA Moving 35,000 Hurricane Katrina Families Out of Toxic Trailers, Product Liability Law Blog, February 18, 2008

Federal Emergency Management Agency

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

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Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , FEMA Trailers , Toxic Chemicals , Toxic Injuries or Disease , Toxic Tort/Environmental Cases

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The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is trying to relocate some 35,000 families out of the trailers and mobile homes that the agency had provided after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Results from tests by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention confirm that there are dangerous levels of formaldehyde fumes in many of the trailers.

Formaldehyde is an airborne chemical and a preservative commonly found in construction materials. Exposure to too much formaldehyde can lead to breathing problems and possibly even cancer. The toxin can be found in construction materials, such as composite wood and plywood panels, which were used in the thousands of FEMA trailers.

The CDC test results is not the first time that there has been an indication that the FEMA trailers and mobile homes may have been causing health problems for its residents. A number of people living in the homes have complained of different health issues, such as headaches, asthma, sinus problems, respiratory distress, nosebleeds, and runny noses.

As early as last April, the Sierra Club tested FEMA trailers and found formaldehyde concentrations up to .34 parts per million in many of them—an excessively high amount. Even after these test results, FEMA maintained that the toxic problem was isolated to only a handful of trailers and that the mobile homes were generally safe for use. FEMA had suggested that improving ventilation by airing out the trailers would help.

There are over 35,000 FEMA trailers and mobile homes in Louisiana, Mississippi, and other states. Over 144,000 mobile homes and trailers have housed Katrina victims at some point.

The CDC says it has not found a direct connection between the toxin and the different illnesses and symptoms that the occupants in the trailers have reported, but it is recommending that trailer residents move out as soon as possible.

The trailers were manufactured quickly to accommodate all the Katrina victims. Residents have also complained that the trailers and homes are cramped and poorly made.

Toxic FEMA Trailer Cases
Our products liability law firm has successfully dealt with many injury cases throughout the United States involving all kinds of defective motor vehicles, as well as injury and death cases brought about from exposure to hazardous toxins and wastes. One of our Toxic FEMA Trailer Lawyers would be happy to speak with you during a free consultation.

FEMA slammed for using toxic trailers, MercuryNews.com, February 15, 2008

FEMA to step up efforts to move hurricane victims from toxic trailers, Baltimore Sun/Associated Press, February 14, 2008

Related Web Resources:

FEMA Trailer Study, CDC

Sierra Club Action Confirms FEMA Inaction On Gulf Coast, Sierra Club, July 23, 2007

FEMA

Continue reading "FEMA Moving 35,000 Hurricane Katrina Families Out of Toxic Trailers " »

Posted by Gilbert, Ollanik, & Komyatte, P.C. | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Automotive Product Liability , FEMA Trailers , Toxic Chemicals , Toxic Injuries or Disease , Toxic Tort/Environmental Cases

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