FEMA Suppressed Health Warnings for Workers, Katrina Victims

[MountainLaurel]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has suppressed warnings from its own Gulf coast field workers since the middle of 2006 about suspected health problems that may be linked to elevated levels of formaldehyde gas released in FEMA-provided trailers, lawmakers said today.

At a hearing this morning of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, investigators released internal e-mails indicating that FEMA lawyers rejected environmental testing out of fear that the agency would then become legally liable if health problems emerged among as many as 120,000 families displaced by Hurricane Katrina who lived in trailers.

FEMA's Office of General Counsel "has advised that we do not do testing," because this "would imply FEMA's ownership of this issue," wrote a FEMA logistics specialist on June 16, 2006, three months after news reports surfaced about the possible effects of the invisible cancer-causing compound and one month after the agency was sued.

Another FEMA attorney on June 15 advised, "o not initiate any testing until we give the OK. . . . Once you get results and should they indicate some problem, the clock is running on our duty to respond to them."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/19/AR2007071901039.html?hpid=topnews

[whistle]

1. This is the most sinister evil corrupt outrageous situation I think a group

... of Americans could ever propagate upon other Americans. There can be no excusing these people over FEMA who caused this to happen.

[indepat]

2. That eloquent tag would be appropriate for almost all of this administration's policies and actions

by inserting "one of" before the third would "the."

[whistle]

3. You are right the whole stinking BushCo bunch is in the last throes

...of putrefaction

[siri2k]

4. Kick! n/t