Jurors: FEMA trailer didn't expose family to fumes

[cal04]

Source: Associated Press

A federal jury on Thursday rejected a New Orleans family's claims that the government-issued trailer they lived in after Hurricane Katrina was defective and exposed them to dangerous fumes.

A jury of five men and three women decided that a trailer made by Gulf Stream Coach Inc. and occupied by Alana Alexander and her 12-year-old son, Christopher Cooper, was not "unreasonably dangerous" in its construction.

The jury also concluded that Fluor Enterprises Inc., which had a contract to install FEMA trailers, wasn't negligent in doing so. The federal government wasn't a defendant in this first of several "bellwether" trials.

After eight days of testimony, the jury heard closing arguments in the case against Gulf Stream Coach and Fluor Enterprises.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090924/ap_on_re_us/us_toxic_trailers_3

[Louisiana1976]

1. I wonder how many of the jurors have lived in a FEMA trailer.

I read in the article that the son got asthma from living there.

[anigbrowl]

2. No, you did not read that

This is what you read (emphasis added):

"Alexander's lawyers claimed elevated levels of formaldehyde in the family's trailer aggravated Cooper's asthma and increased his risk of getting cancer. Formaldehyde, a chemical commonly found in construction materials, can cause breathing problems and has been classified as a carcinogen."

Why should a juror have to live in a FEMA trailer in order to be able to assess evidence about it? Maybe, after listening to 8 days' worth of evidence from both sides, they decided that it just didn't back up the claims that were made.

[merh]

3. Jury rejects claim that FEMA trailer was hazardous

Source: http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/09/jury-rejects-claim-that-fema-trailer-was-hazardous.html

Jury rejects claim that FEMA trailer was hazardous

A trailer issued by FEMA after Hurricane Katrina was not "unreasonably dangerous," a federal jury decided today in rejecting a New Orleans family's claim of being exposed to toxic fumes.

Alana Alexander and her 12-year-old son, Christopher Cooper, lived for 19 months in the trailer, made by Gulf Stream Coach Inc. and installed by Fluor Enterprises Inc. Alexander's lawyers claimed that elevated levels of formaldehyde worsened Cooper's asthma and increased his risk of getting cancer.

The government was not a defendant in the case, the first of several to go to trial.


Read more: USA Today

---

This is the first case to go to trial.

[KT2000]

4. the industries stacked the decks

for liability cases a long time ago. These, like all but a very few environmental cases will go nowhere. Corporations are essentially free to poison anyone and get away with it.

The standard for allowing scientific evidence into the trials is controlled by certain rules. The science must be commonly accepted by the scientific community and published in what they consider acceptable journals. Sounds good but what they consider as acceptable journals routinely refuse to publish much of the research that shows harm to humans from chemical exposures. They are so far behind on testing chemicals to begin with - so the lack of information serves as proof that no damage has been documented.

It is likely the proof in these cases is document only in journals that are not considered acceptable. The physicians association for environmental and occupational medicine is made up of a lot of corporate medical officers.After 9/11 they would only offer advice for offering psychological counseling - nothing for avoiding dangerous exposures.

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. Let those SOBs live in one for 19 months.

GD Fuckers

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

6. So every juror in a case involving paralysis should have to be paralyzed?