FEMA Becomes The Other ?F? Word Under Bush (Editorial)

Remember all those surplus disaster travel trailers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency placed at the Hope airport to take care of Hurricane Katrina victims?

Several thousand are still there.

It seems as though FEMA has managed to foul up just about everything it has touched or said during the Bush administration.

FEMA provided about 120,000 travel trailers to victims of the 2005 hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

About 88 percent of them had formaldehyde levels above the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended limit, some as much as three times the limit. Formaldehyde can cause respiratory problems and possibly cancer in high doses or with prolonged exposure.

Some occupants have reported illnesses, including nosebleeds and headaches, because of unsafe levels of formaldehyde.

Some had such high levels that they were suspected as the cause of several deaths.

The latest in the continuing saga was an announcement by the agency’s chief spokesman, Aaron Walker, that concerns about formaldehyde would not stop it from selling or donating the surplus trailers.

Needless to say, there was a massive outcry from just about everyone – everyone except, maybe, President Bush. “Walker, you’re doing a heckuva job.” Just kidding.

Days later after Walker’s announcement, FEMA headquarters said the agency is “reviewing a number of policies related to travel trailers, including the status of sales and donations.”

Sometime, hopefully before the Bush administration comes to an end, FEMA can get its act together and test the air quality of the trailers and fix them or dispose of them.

Selling them as they are shouldn’t happen. For once, FEMA made the right decision and showed some uncommon sense in deciding to hold off selling or donating trailers until they know for sure they are safe for the public to use.