By
Associated Press
.
Published: Thu, November 08, 2007 - 1:59 pm
Last Updated: Thu, November 08, 2007 - 2:03 pm
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A FEMA spokeswoman says the agency is barringemployees from entering thousands of stored travel trailers amid
concerns they could be exposed to elevated levels of a carcinogen.
Mary Margaret Walker says the directive doesn't apply to the
more than 48,000 trailers occupied by hurricane victims in
Louisiana and Mississippi.
FEMA postponed plans last week to test for formaldehyde levels
in the air inside occupied trailers. Formaldehyde, which can cause
respiratory problems and cancer, is found in some materials used to
build the trailers. FEMA is advising employees not to enter any of
the roughly 70,000 trailers in outdoor storage areas across the
nation.
However, Louisiana U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu calls it a
double-standard for FEMA to bar employees from entering trailers
while allowing residents to live in thousands of units. She says it
"defies logic" that occupied trailers are safer than those in
storage.
FEMA has suspended the sale of used trailers and says it won't
shelter victims of future disasters in them until safety worries
are resolved.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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its been over 2 yr. people will live in these trailers the rest of there life…if they are unsafe tell them to get out ...in 2 & 1/2 yr. they could have built a house are rent one…i know some have not been payed yet…but God helps those who help them self…they are just trying to live off tax payers….i fell sorry for them they lose there home..so did my mother and sister..they had no ins because they live on the water…but both have a new homes now ....by the way mother is 85 yr, old…she did it and they can also if they would try…