The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coping with the crisis of high levels of formaldahyde in the trailers it supplied to the displaced in the immediate wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Though, as owner, FEMA is responsible for the trailers, the formaldahyde is the result of a process called "off-gassing" that occurs with virtually all building and manufactured materials. It's common in cars, home supplies, lumber and plastic. It's the smell that arises when brand-new products are first unwrapped. Usually it dissipates in a day or so.

However, many of the the FEMA trailers were closed environments and sat unopened for months, if not years. Also, if they were inhabited relatively soon after Katrina they should have ceased off-gassing by now. The fact that they have not points to some serious manufacturing issues.

FEMA does not manufacture trailers.

Two companies supplied the bulk of the emergency trailers purchased immediately after Katrina.

The largest was Gulfstream Coach, based in Nappanee, Indiana. Gulfstream, whose name is familiar to millions of American consumers, supplied so many trailers that it emerged as the largest single contractor to the entire Department of Homeland Security in 2005, winning a $521 million contract award.

The next largest trailer supplier was Bourget's of the South. Until October 2005, this was primarily a motorcycle customizing shop based in River Ridge, La. with a sister shop in New York. That month it received a license to make trailers and won contracts worth $105 million to supply over 6,000 trailers.

In addition to these two companies, there were numerous engineering and prefabricated home building companies that rushed to supply emergency housing. 

The trailers that were rushed to Louisiana were hastily manufactured and then--as was widely-chronicled at the time--not well managed once they were there.

Remediating the existing trailers, discarding those that are uninhabitable, compensating and litigating the claims of those who are claiming injury will no doubt take years and millions--possibly hundreds of millions--of dollars.

The cost and tragedy of Katrina goes on.

• To read HSToday's list of Top 25 DHS contractors for 2005 click here.
• To read a Nov. 2007 General Accountability Office analysis of FEMA management of the trailers and temporary housing in PDF, click here.