Katrina evacuees say US disaster response agency rebuffed health complaints

The U.S. disaster response agency rebuffed complaints from Hurricane Katrina evacuees who are afraid government-issued trailer homes are poisoning them with toxic chemicals, trailer residents said Friday.

Evacuees have long speculated their health troubles were exacerbated by formaldehyde in the trailers, an idea bolstered this week with congressional testimony that the Federal Emergency Management Agency knew about the threat but did not investigate.

Hurricane victims living in government trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi said they cannot persuade FEMA to perform tests.

FEMA provided more than 120,000 trailers to people displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Thousands of people still live in them, mostly in Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

On Thursday, documents released to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee showed FEMA lawyers discouraged the agency from pursuing reports the trailers had dangerous levels of formaldehyde, a chemical that can cause respiratory problems.

FEMA's chief, R. David Paulison, apologized to trailer residents during Thursday's hearing in the House. A FEMA spokeswoman declined to comment on the residents' complaints.

The agency issued a statement earlier this week saying air quality in the trailers is safe _ if they are properly ventilated. FEMA also asked the Centers for Disease Control for help in conducting an assessment of trailer air quality.

The formaldehyde complaints had sparked lawsuits before the congressional hearing, and more are likely. Justin Woods, a New Orleans lawyer representing the family of a woman who died of lung cancer, has asked a federal judge to certify a class-action lawsuit _ not against FEMA, but against companies that sold trailers to the agency.

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Associated Press writers Mike Kunzelman in New Orleans and Shelia Byrd in Jackson, Mississippi, contributed to this report.