USAID has not asked FEMA for housing help, official says

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has not held any discussions of sending formaldehyde-tainted trailers to Haiti for use as temporary housing for earthquake victims, said a key official involved in response and recovery efforts Wednesday.

Under questioning from Rep. Donna Edwards (D-Md.), FEMA Associate Administrator for Response and Recovery Bill Carwile said his agency and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which is leading US assistance efforts in Haiti, have not discussed sending unused trailers declared unfit for human habitation after Hurricane Katrina to Haiti.

Edwards blasted the idea of using the trailers, many of which were found to contain unhealthy levels of formaldehyde by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to Haiti to house displaced victims of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

"Just because you are poor and have no place to live doesn't mean you want to live in a formaldehyde trailer," Edwards protested at a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Wednesday.

She further noted that FEMA is selling some of the trailers in a public auction with a legal notice that buyers are required to sign. By signing the notice, the buyers acknowledge that the trailers may include unhealthy levels of formaldehyde and that the US government cannot be held responsible for sickness, loss of life, or loss of property stemming from use of the trailers.

Although undesirable, at least those filling out the paperwork become aware of the risks, Edwards asserted. Haitians, by contract, would have no warning that the trailers could contain deadly levels of formaldehyde.

Carwile asserted that FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security have never discussed sending such trailers to Haiti with USAID. Indeed, he said, USAID has not asked for any assistance with temporary housing needs from FEMA at all.

The discussion arose when Rep. Joseph Cao (R-La.) asked Carwile about the possibility of sending the trailers to Haiti.

Cao noted that many refugees from Haiti's hurricanes were living in tents and that the unused trailers may provide a humane way to house them if the issue if the US government could address the issue of formaldehyde. He requested the inventory of such trailers that could be sent and a cost/benefit analysis of whether it made sense to ship them internationally to Haiti.

Carwile said FEMA could provide an inventory of the trailers but USAID would have to develop the cost/benefit analysis as it would act as the shipping agency for any supplies going to Haiti.

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) also objected to the idea of sending the trailers to Haiti after Cao's inquiry.

"In addition to the international problems of moving products from the US to overseas..., we wouldn't want to be exporting a source of illness--certainly not to our neighbors in the Caribbean," Oberstar interjected.

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, wrote to FEMA chief Craig Fugate last month to protest any consideration of a plan to send the contaminated trailers to Haiti, declaring that the trailers would only sicken or kill Haitians who already suffered through a major disaster.