First trial over 'Katrina' trailer fumes opens

[madokie]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20090914_298_0_NEWORL61199

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press Writer
Published: 9/14/2009 5:02 PM
Last Modified: 9/14/2009 5:02 PM

NEW ORLEANS — For the first time since Hurricane Katrina left tens of thousands of families living in government-issued trailers, a federal jury heard allegations Monday that the shelters exposed Gulf Coast storm victims to hazardous formaldehyde fumes.
A New Orleans woman suing trailer maker Gulf Stream Coach Inc. and government contractor Fluor Enterprises Inc. claims her son's asthma was aggravated by elevated levels of formaldehyde in their trailer provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Gulf Stream's own tests found elevated levels of formaldehyde in its trailers in early 2006, but the company failed to warn plaintiffs Alana Alexander and her son, Christopher Cooper, about the potential risks, said plaintiffs' attorney Tony Buzbee.

"What you don't know can hurt you, and this case proves that 100 times over," Buzbee said in his opening statements Monday.