Toxic Trailer Twist

By Jessica Taloney Reporter

FEMA is forbidding its workers from entering 70,000 trailers because they are too dangerous. What does that mean for 50,000 Gulf Coast residents still living in them? Toxic Trailer Twist

Published: Thu, November 08, 2007 - 6:33 pm Last Updated: Thu, November 08, 2007 - 6:54 pm

Jessica Taloney

More than 150 Mobile County families are still living in FEMA trailers despite warnings from the government that the trailers could be toxic.
In emails obtained exclusively by CBS News, FEMA officials banned employees from entering some of the travel trailers suggesting the problem could be even bigger than first imagined. "I haven't had no problem with it," said Rita Walsh, who says she's not concerned about the report. "It's a home, and we're lucky to have it," she said.
And, Walsh isn't alone. Most of her neighbors say they aren't concerned about reports of high formaldehyde levels either.
"They talk about it makes you sick or something. I ain't been sick," said Louie Barber, Jr. Barber and Walsh have both lived in FEMA trailers since their homes were condemned after Hurricane Katrina.
While a FEMA spokesperson tells News 5, the travel trailers are not safe for long-term living, she says the new warning doesn't apply to residents. Mary Margaret Walker says the emails were referring to trailers that have been locked up in high heat and humidity without ventilation and were not about the trailers still occupied by hurricane victims.
"They got in mine this morning. They fixed my sink and fixed my plug-ins," said Walsh, who insists as long as FEMA continues to come and fix problems in her trailer she won't complain. "Maybe different ones have formaldehyde in them. These don't. Ain't none of us been sick," she said.
The Centers for Disease Control are planning to randomly test 300 trailers in Mississippi and Louisiana for formaldehyde levels, but that testing was indefinitely postponed by FEMA.
Formaldehyde is a common wood preservative used in construction materials like particle board.
Prolonged exposure can cause vision and respiratory problems and has been linked to cancer and higher rates of asthma, bronchitis and allergies in children.