A Timeline of CDC's and FEMA's Response to Formaldehyde Danger
Created by ProPublica on Sep 8, 2008
Last updated: 03/12/10 at 03:43 AM
FEMA issues draft disaster housing strategy, saying government may house disaster victims in trailers only as a last resort and will develop a National Disaster Housing Task Force.
From the AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) - A year overdue, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a draft disaster housing strategy Monday, which leaves it largely up to the next administration to figure out a way to avoid Hurricane Katrina-like problems that sent victims to toxic trailers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-07-21-26280255_x.htm
Harvey Johnson, FEMA's deputy administrator, told a U.S. Senate panel that FEMA had become a much different agency from the one that was criticized for its post-Katrina performance. The agency was praised by state officials for its response to recent disasters, such as the California fires and flooding in the Midwest. Johnson said federal, state and local agencies had improved their coordination and had focused more on preparedness.
FEMA extends its deadline for accepting proposals for alternative disaster housing by an extra two weeks to Aug. 1.
"WASHINGTON -- The leading producer of travel trailers used by evacuated Hurricane Katrina residents was aware from its own testing that formaldehyde levels in some of its units exceeded acceptable levels but did nothing to warn residents, according to a report issued Wednesday by House Democrats."
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1215668073145860.xml&coll=1
The formaldehyde emissions from FEMA trailers may have originated from particleboard, according to a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC releases the finalized report on its formaldehyde testing; as stated in their preliminary findings, the chemical levels were high enough to cause health problems.
http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2008/r080702.htm
Congressman Henry A. Waxman, chairman of the House Committee On Oversight and Government Reform, requests the testimony of executives from Gulf Stream Coach, Forest River, Keystone RV, and Pilgrim International.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/House_oversight_committee/6_4_08/Letter%20to%20Forest%20River.pdf
FEMA approved the use of trailers for disaster victims as a last resort, contrary to promises to never use them again after Katrina, when high levels of formaldehyde were found in the trailers.
The trailers could only be approved for use by the head of FEMA and they would have to meet the agency's standard for low formaldehyde levels.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4982007
According to a FEMA press release, 34 of the 42 FEMA trailer sites have been closed before the June 1 deadline for relocating families
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=43575
A study of 144 Hancock County Children did not find a difference between the health problems of children who lived in FEMA housing and those who did not. But the study, done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, focused only on children who had been treated for respiratory problems before Hurricane Katrina.
A report by Environment California found that some nursery furniture had formaldehyde levels high enough to trigger allergic reactions and asthma attacks in children.
http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/reports/environmental-health/environmental-health-reports/toxic-baby-furniture-the-latest-case-for-making-products-safe-from-the-start
The Environmental Protection Agency was delayed or blocked by the White House in its attempts to categorize chemicals as carcinogens, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office.
In regards to formaldehyde, the GAO found that the EPA used data from an industry-funded group instead from its own scientists when devising rules for the chemical. Those rules were later struck down by a federal appellate court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/30/MN9A10DOR1.DTL
A large study examining the link between a dozen chemicals and Lou Gehrig's disease found that people regular exposed to formaldehyde were 34 percent more likely to develop the disease.
The study was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health.
http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1630786820080416
FEMA agreed to set strict limits for the formaldehyde levels in the mobile homes it buys for disaster victims. The agency said it would set its exposure standard to the CDC's finding of 16 parts per billion in the average modern home.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2008/04/11/fema_limits_formaldehyde_in_trailers/
FEMA announced that it would deliver mobile homes to Arkansas residents affected by the Feb. 5 tornado disaster. FEMA began testing the mobile homes for formaldehyde in early March and said it would continue the tests for homes considered for use by disaster victims.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=43155
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said the state would accept FEMA mobile homes for tornado victims as long as their formaldehyde levels were 40 parts per billion or lower. Tests on 32 homes designated for Arkansas found that three of them had levels above 77 parts per billion, which is considered high enough to raise the risk of cancer and respiratory illness.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was criticized by congressional investigators for "fundamental failings" in preventing disaster victims from being exposed to dangerous levels of formaldehyde.
In testimony, ATSDR Director Dr. Frumkin was questioned about how his agency handled the FEMA request for a health assessment:
"I think in retrospect, one of the issues that we could have done better was to have recognized the significance of a request from an attorney. That's an irregular form of a request, and we could have flagged concerns with that to the agency."
The report by the House Committee on Science and Technology investigations subcommittee also criticized a CDC director for repeatedly ignoring the warnings of one of the agency's top toxicologists.
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/03/31/cdckatrina_0401.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Local governments and police departments in Pennsylvania received trailers donated by FEMA for use in community events and emergencies, according to the Scranton Times Tribune.
Local officials said they were unconcerned about formaldehyde exposure because the trailers would only be used for short periods of time.
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2008/03/24/top_local_stories/19417571.txt
FEMA staff made plans to obtain testing devices for 100 trailers. "Safety will proceed to obtain 'passive' devices (100) and 'direct read' instruments (3) for the sampling for formaldehyde in 100 trailers in our Purvis center," Richard Seeds wrote.
From the AP: NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A group of Gulf Coast hurricane victims sued the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday for sheltering them in trailers that allegedly exposed them to dangerous fumes. The complaint filed in federal court adds FEMA as a defendant in a batch of consolidated cases against several manufacturers that provided the agency with tens of thousands of trailers and mobile homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.
FEMA Director David Paulison faced sharp questions from a House Appropriations subcommittee for the agency's continued use of formaldehyde-laced trailers after Katrina. The hearing praised FEMA for its response to recent disasters, but pressed it for the agency's attempts to improve its housing plan and work force. The report on emergency housing and the formaldehyde-tainted trailers was seven months late. Paulison complained that he was given no clear answer on what level of formaldehyde exposure was acceptable when reports found high levels of the chemicals in the Katrina trailers.
FEMA and CDC issued a joint press release in which they announce preliminary test results showing that the formaldehyde levels in the FEMA trailers are high enough to increase the risk of cancer and respiratory disease.
http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2008/r080214b.htm
From the House Committee on Science & Technology Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight Report:
In 2005, Dr. De Rosa had been rated “exceptional” in his annual performance assessment, provided with a 5-percent pay increase and was ranked eight out of 26 employees in the Senior Biomedical Research Service (SBRS) within ATSDR.
In 2006, Dr. De Rosa was again rated as “exceptional” and received a 4.1-percent pay increase and a $10,331 bonus. When he received his “unsatisfactory” performance assessment in October 2007, Dr. De Rosa said that he was told by Dr. Sinks that he wasn’t a “team player.”
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20p115.pdf
ATSDR Deputy Director Tom Sinks sends an e-mail to staff about working with outside organizations, claiming that ATSDR leadership wasn't aware of FEMA's prior legal requests.
"NCEH/ATSDR Leadership was unaware that our staff were working directly with FEMA lawyers or that supervisors had not been directly included in the work," the e-mail read.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs%20PAGES%20111-113.pdf
Eight months after Dr. De Rosa raised his concerns about flaws in the original report, Drs. Frumkin and Sinks, ATSDR's director and deputy director, release a revised health consultation regarding formaldehyde.
Dr. De Rosa blasted ATSDR director Dr. Howard Frumkin in an email: "On multiple occasions during the first six months of this year, you have opposed the release of information to the public on several important health issues. Your generalized response to my efforts to communicate critical information to persons and entities outside the CDC is to simply put a stop to the dissemination process."
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20%20p%20102-108.pdf
Dr. Frumkin removed De Rosa from overseeing the revision to the health consultation and placed Dr. Mark Bashor, his Associate Director for Science, in charge of finalizing the report.
In an email to ATSDR Director Dr. Howard Frumkin, echoing the concerns of chief toxicologist De Rosa, CDC chief Julie Gerberding wrote, "I realize that good science takes time, and good regulations can take an eternity. But in the meantime, this issue is festering and people in these trailers are very upset with their govetrnment [sic]. How can we do more to help them right now?"
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/gerberding_email_070810.pdf
From the House Committee on Science & Technology Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight Report:
On August 8, 2007, an ATSDR industrial hygienist, Lynn Wilder, outlined her concerns about the consultation in an e-mail after seeing it for the first time. “Except for the first day [of EPA testing], the conditions during air sampling are not reflective -- they underestimate -- of typical residential exposure,” she wrote. “Indoor sampling to evaluate a health hazard is done with the home sealed as much as possible and a furnace turned on to represent worse case conditions.” This was never done in the EPA tests, however. “Even with the doors and windows open,” observed Wilder, “formaldehyde levels exceed: all three ATSDR MRLs [Minimal Risk Levels] …” NIOSH, OSHA and other standards.
“I am extremely concerned that we have compared the air sampling results with an occupational exposure level of 300 ppb [.3 ppm] (ACGIH) [American Conference of Industrial Hygienists] – residents are exposed for up to 24 hours/day and may reside in these homes for years,” warned Wilder. “This exposure should not be compared to a 15-minute occupation value.”
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/wilder_email_070808.pdf
CDC's Sascha Fielding sent an email to ATSDR director Dr. Howard Frumkin, saying the language to introduce the report prepared by ATSDR had been drafted. "During the summer of 2006, FEMA asked ATSDR to analyze formaldehyde sampling data collected in 96 unoccupied trailers by EPA. These unoccupied trailers were similar to those distributed by FEMA to house persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina," the introduction read.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%2088-89.pdf
CDC's Mike McGeehin wrote, "Everyone involved in this from CDC has moved rapidly and enthusiastically. The only delays we have faced was in waiting for FEMA's request and their answers to 2 pages of questions that we sent."
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20pages%2081-82.pdf
From the House Committee on Science & Technology Subcommittee on Investigations & Oversight Report: On July 25, 2007, Dr. Frumkin was e-mailed about a CDC Health Advisory Notice (HAN) regarding formaldehyde that was being finalized for distribution to physicians and other health care providers treating Gulf Coast residents. This notice included information about the potential effects of short-term exposure to formaldehyde, including irritation of the eyes, nose and throat and mentioned some of the “at risk” populations, including asthma patients and those with respiratory illnesses. It did not, however, mention other especially vulnerable populations, including children and the elderly, and it failed to mention that formaldehyde is a probable or known carcinogen or the potential long-term consequences of exposure, including cancer. Dr. Fumkin took no actions to correct the omissions in the CDC’s HAN release.
Dr. De Rosa emailed CDC's Mike McGeehin and his ATSDR bosses, Dr. Howard Frumkin and Dr. Sinks, about his concerns on ATSDR's reaction to formaldehyde.
"I am concerned that the reported clinical signs are the harbinger of a impending public health disaster," he said. "We know based on data provided to us that levels are up to 80 times higher than peak occupational limits and up to 300 times higher than our health guidance values."
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20pages%2081-82.pdf
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meeting -- on the agenda: FEMA Trailers (Howie)
ATSDR's Scott Wright wrote to colleague Sascha Fielding and explained how the .3ppm level was derived. He claimed it was was based on "documented, peer reviewed, scientific literature" and defended himself, saying "ATSDR emphatically stated in the conclusions that the levels of formaldehyde seen in trailers was of a Health Concern!"
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/wright_email_070720.pdf
FEMA came under the scrutiny and criticism of the House Oversight Committee for its "failure to respond adequately to reports of dangerous levels of formaldehyde in the trailers."
http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?id=1413
ATSDR's Dr. Tom Sinks began drafting a memo critical of Dr. Christopher De Rosa, in part for his alleged mishandling of other scientific issues. An excerpt from the first draft: “The following describes a pattern of conduct and performance inappropriate for a senior scientific manager within the agency. This pattern is characterized by inappropriate behavior and inadequate performance as a manager and a scientist. This situation is unexpected and will not be tolerated from a professional with your experience and level of authority. Elements of this behavior have occurred far too often and must stop.” The official reprimand, however, was never delivered to De Rosa.
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meeting -- on the agenda: FEMA Trailers (FEMA letters) (Sascha)
Dr. Chris De Rosa (ATSDR) forwarded to CDC's Richard Weston and Sascha Fielding his June 1, 2007 e-mail which said, "There is no 'safe' level of exposure" to formaldehyde.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20p67-68.pdf
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meeting -- on the agenda: FEMA Trailers (Sascha)
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meetings -- on the agenda: FEMA Trailers (Scott)
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meetings -- on the agenda: FEMA Trailers (Tom)
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meetings -- on the agenda: FEMA Trailers (Tom)
Dr. De Rosa writes to ATSDR's Dr. Howard Frumkin and Dr. Tom Sinks, cautioning them on the use of the word "safe" in reference to formaldehyde.
(FEMA had asked a third time for a recommendation on what levels of exposure would be safe for trailer residents):
"Since it is a carcinogen it is a matter of science policy that there is no 'safe' level of exposure...We should be very cautious in making a public health calI on this issue," he wrote.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20p67-68.pdf
In response to the Feb. 22, 2007 letter by Congressman Gene Taylor (D-MS) concerning health problems of trailer residents, CDC responded with advice on how residents can alleviate their symptoms, including "keeping their windows open or operating their air conditioners in an exhaust mode as opposed to a circulate mode."
Attached to the letter was a summary of CDC/ATSDR's findings on formaldehyde, which mentioned that the chemical is a "probable human carcinogen."
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/support_docs/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20p59-61.pdf
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meeting -- on the agenda: Gulf Coast Recovery Caucus meeting & FEMA trailers (Scott/Mike A)
Office of the Director, Issues Management Team Meeting -- on the agenda: FEMA Trailers (Sascha)
Dagny Olivares, ATSDR's communication official, told CDC that to her knowledge, neither FEMA nor state/local authorities had asked for a health assessment regarding formaldehyde and FEMA trailers.
Her e-mail came in response to media requests, including one from CBS' "Evening News," on CDC's "response to increases in respiratory problems among persons living in FEMA trailers."
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/Sci_tech_trailer_investigation_support_docs_OCRd%20p%2054.pdf
In answering questions before the House Homeland Security Committee, FEMA director R. David Paulison said, "We've been told that the formaldehyde does not present a health hazard; however, we do encourage our occupants of those trailers to air those out, keep them open as much as possible to let the fumes die out."
http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/formaldehyde/paulison_homeland_testimony_070515.pdf
FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker tells the press, "We have no need, and we see no need, to question the reliability and safety of the trailers."
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