FEMA Suppressed Health Warnings for Workers, Katrina Victims

"There is an issue inside the trailers, but I don't know if it's formaldehyde or mold or bacteria" or something else, Paulison said, adding that he knew of no federal scientific consensus on what level of formaldehyde in homes is safe.

FEMA has received only 200 formaldehyde complaints, replaced 58 trailers and moved five families into rental units, he said.

FEMA announced yesterday that it has asked CDC to help conduct a new public health assessment of trailers used for prolonged periods under real-life conditions.

"The health and safety of residents is FEMA's primary concern and FEMA believes additional research is needed to address recently raised inquiries and concerns," an agency press release stated.

U.S. health officials will collect samples, interview trailer residents, and focus on air quality issues and exposures, including children, the disaster agency said.

As of May 2007, FEMA had received 140 formaldehyde complaints. Some Katrina trailer residents filed a class-action lawsuit in June in federal court in Baton Rouge against trailer manufacturers.

The Sierra Club in May 2006 reported finding unsafe levels of formaldehyde in 30 out of 32 trailers it tested along the Gulf Coast.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics remains deeply concerned that Gulf Coast children residing in FEMA trailers may have been and may continue to be exposed to levels of formaldehyde gas that are hazardous to both their short-term and long-term health," Dr. Scott Needle of the American Academy of Pediatrics said in testimony for the committee today.

The formaldehyde controversy, revived scrutiny of the disaster-response agency. Its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 was chronicled in a series of government reports and led to a congressional overhaul earlier this year.

Today, Waxman and Davis charged that FEMA's apparent ongoing indifference to storm victims and resistance to investigators marked an infuriating pattern of bureaucratic self-protection that augurs poorly for the nation's emergency preparedness.

"The federal government's primary response agency has to be proactive, nimble, and trusted as the honest broker between Washington and those in need at the state and local levels," Davis said. "Reading these documents, I'm not persuaded FEMA is that agency yet."

Waxman said FEMA's reaction to legal challenges should have been "to fix the problem . . . I can't imagine how many lawsuits they're going to face after trying to cover it up."