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RedditRescue and cleanup workers, who put their lives on the line in our nation's darkest hour, weren't given information about environmental risks and are now paying the price with financial hardship, illness, and even death.
Hundreds of thousands of people living on the Gulf Coast survived a horrific natural disaster and a failed government response, only to be placed in trailers that FEMA knew were at risk for dangerous levels of formaldehyde.
We are witnessing the cumulative impact of the Bush ideology: what columnist Paul Krugman called a "hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good."
Last month, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil rights, and Civil Liberties, chaired by Representative Jerrold Nadler, held a hearing entitled "the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Response to Air Quality Issues Arising from the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001: Were There Substantive Due Process Violations?"
It was revealed that scientists had informed the EPA of harmful air quality and dust at the disaster site that contained "dangerous levels of asbestos and other carcinogens." A September 14 draft of an EPA press release sited elevated asbestos levels and, as Nadler wrote in a New York Times op-ed, "expressed concern for workers at the cleanup site and for employees who would be returning to their offices 'on or near Water Street' on September 17." The White House deleted the warning and instead went with, "Our tests show that it is safe for New Yorkers to go back to work in New York's financial district."
Christine Todd Whitman, who was head of the Environmental Protection Agency at the time, testified that opening the stock market quickly was important: "We weren't going to let the terrorists win." As for revisions to public statements Whitman said it was critical at the time for the federal government to speak with "one voice."
How about an honest voice? A Mount Sinai Hospital study that began last year showed that 70 percent of the first 9,000 workers examined reported some kind of respiratory problem after working on the debris pile. Retired Lieutenant Bill Gleason of the New York Fire Department said, "If [Whitman] had stood on the pile and told us how bad it was, she could have saved tens of thousands."
According to Nadler, even the EPA's inspector general has concluded that the early statements about air quality were "falsely reassuring, lacked a scientific basis and were motivated by White House concerns other than public health -- and that, as a result, people were unnecessarily exposed to deadly contaminants."
And when Hurricane Katrina hit the EPA still hadn't learned its lesson. According to OMB Watch, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report "found inadequate monitoring for asbestos around demolition and renovation sites," and that "key information released to the public about environmental contamination was neither timely nor adequate, and in some cases, easily misinterpreted to the public's detriment." But far more damning is what has transpired with regard to FEMA-supplied trailers that an estimated 275,000 Americans are living in.
In March 2006, FEMA field workers began warning of health problems experienced by Hurrican Katrina survivors living in trailers with formaldehyde levels that were 75 times greater than the recommended workplace-safety level. One expectant couple was relocated, but then something that should be stunning, but sadly isn't, happened: the FEMA Office of General Counsel recommended no testing of trailers because--as one logistics expert wrote--testing "would imply FEMA's ownership of this issue." Another FEMA lawyer wrote, "Once you get results and should they indicate some problem, the clock is running out on our duty to respond to them." After a man who had complained of formaldehyde fumes was found dead in his trailer, "a 28-person, six-agency conference call took place."
Again, FEMA opposed testing of the trailers. Meanwhile, as Amanda Spake reported in February of this year in The Nation, infants and children were being hospitalized with respiratory illnesses. Air sampling by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the open air at trailer holding stations revealed formaldehyde levels thirty to fifty times greater than the EPA recommendation. Pediatrician Scott Needle, of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi said, "I was seeing kids and families coming in with repeated, prolonged respiratory illnesses--sinus infections, lingering coughs, viral infections that didn't go away. Over the course of three months, I saw several dozen families with these health problems. That's really high, and this isn't something I'd seen in my practice before. All of them were living in FEMA trailers."
"We started testing in Alabama," Becky Gillette, co-chair of the Mississippi Sierra Club, told Spake, "because we got reports from social workers there that so many elderly people living in the trailers were being hospitalized for respiratory conditions. And many of them were dying." The Sierra Club found unsafe formaldehyde levels in 30 of 32 trailers tested.
There were complaints of choking, coughing, nosebleeds, mouth and nasal tumors, sick pets, complicated pregnancies, and deaths. But it wasn't until last Wednesday--nearly a year and a half after the original warnings from field workers and right before a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing--that FEMA announced it would conduct random testing of trailers.
Committee Chairman Henry Waxman deemed FEMA's non-action "an official policy of premeditated ignorance.... senior officials in Washington didn't want to know what they already knew, because they didn't want the legal and moral responsibility to do what they knew had to be done."
One former army officer living in a trailer with his wife testified, "We have lost a great deal through our dealings with FEMA, not the least of which is our faith in government."
How many Katrina survivors might have been saved had testing begun a month ago? Or six months ago? Or a year? Or if people had been listened to and relocated?
How many workers who showed heroism after 9-11, who this administration praised but then left to fend for themselves, would still be healthy today if had they been properly warned?
The Bush government legacy is this: sacrificing proclaimed heroes, and turning its back on our most vulnerable citizens. We have fallen far indeed.
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
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I recall at the time of 9/11, many telecasts from the site cited hazardous air particles and many workers had masks on or around their necks. It could be that despite knowing the pile held large quantities of bad stuff, as the work went on for weeks and into months, the workers stopped using the uncomfortable and air restrictive breathing masks.
Around construction a fair amount, I see painters spray paint VOC-based paint all the time with either NO mask or cheap, $1 mask that sells by the dozen! It is unfortunate that some people just don't take health and safety personally! Drunk driving is just the most obvious tip-of-the-ice berg!
On the trailers, FEMA was at a tough place--to house so many with trailers--still, I question the 275,000 figure! Early on, over 150,000 landed in Houston, NOT in Houston trailers but to tens of thousands of apartments!
Posted by Happy at 08/02/2007 @ 6:15pm
There's got to be something greater to attain than profits. Where's the morality among these so-called Christian's in power? God I hope at least some lessons will eventually be learned from these recent tragedies. This notion that the government should do as little as possible for the nation's most vulneralbe citizens has got to go.
Posted by MATTMAN at 08/02/2007 @ 6:21pm
Blaming the victims is an excellent argument for this case.
Posted by MATTMAN at 08/02/2007 @ 6:24pm
I'm sure the victims of the formaldehyde are just faking their resperatory problems.
Posted by MATTMAN at 08/02/2007 @ 6:56pm
Okay, this isn't a "blame the victim" question or "the Bush Admin isn't responsible" (they are, "Katrina" was idiocy of the highest level), but...
When were the FEMA trailers purchased and who authorized it? And since their primary function was to operate as emergency housing for those displaced by disasters, why didn't somebody check them out for noxious gases?
Posted by Mask at 08/02/2007 @ 7:19pm
Regardless of when and how the trailers were acquired, is it not valid to assume that their readiness would have been the responsibility of whomever was in charge of them at the time in question?
Posted by MATTMAN at 08/02/2007 @ 7:34pm
Posted by HAPPY 08/02/2007 @ 6:15pm
And any of this, has any bearing on deliberate lies from the agency, who's sole purpose for exsistance, is to protect the publics health?
If the truth were told, perhaps, many would have forgone using adequate protection. But, this was not the case. Was it?
Eric
Posted by Malcontent at 08/02/2007 @ 7:35pm
The time at which they were needed, that is.
Posted by MATTMAN at 08/02/2007 @ 7:35pm
Terrifying toxins. Embalming fluid fumes in 30 of 32, 15/16, of the trailer homes tested!? What in the world!? It makes naturally occuring radon gas seem tame in comparison. What's the cause/source!?
Yesterday's bridge collapse. The still unsolved anthrax attacks. The seeming "false flag" 9/11 attack. The Warren Report's obfuscation in direct contradiction to what the Zapruder film evidences. Can we trace all this to "human venality and incompetence" as Alexander Cockburn has said? Maybe the bridge, likely even, but that's where I draw the line today. Call me Plunged Rese.
Posted by lewwelge at 08/02/2007 @ 8:28pm
Posted by MATTMAN 08/02/2007 @ 7:34pm
Well, it DOES have some import, MATT. If some Bush-appointed flunky bought the trailers on the cheap...then it plays to the political spin Ms vanden Heuvel is putting on this.
BUT...if it occured during the Clinton years, and those folks were acting as the standard Democratic bureaucrat of those years, then it DOES play into the idea that REGARDLESS of which party is in office...that Government screws up.
Posted by Mask at 08/02/2007 @ 9:06pm
Posted by Plunged Rese 08/02/2007 @ 8:28pm
Posted by Malcontent at 08/02/2007 @ 9:06pm
Posted by LEWWELGE 08/02/2007 @ 8:28pm
LEW is a nice guy, but EASILY sucked into conspiracy theories. (Somebody might remind him that PLUNGER ((of whom he's a fan)) predicted "World War-3" and "martial law in the USA" by....last March 28th)
Posted by Mask at 08/02/2007 @ 9:08pm
You ignorant shlubs continue to worry about people living in sub-par living conditions in New Orleans.
How many people within 10 miles of you live in basically the same conditions?
Any of you doing anything to make those people's lives better?
Posted by USAPRIDE at 08/02/2007 @ 9:19pm
If the writer worked where I work, on the construction of a fifteen million dollar home, she'd not be whining about a minor asbestos exposure or harmless levels of chemicals in trailers. She'd be amazed at the crap we inhale and expose ourselves to to build living space for gazillionaires. The author is a pampered upper echelon out of touch pc yuppie, which is fine, but they go nuts over all sorts of things working people handle all day every day. I do like her, she's smart and sexy, just useless outside the intellectual sphere.
Posted by blurbster at 08/02/2007 @ 9:49pm
In 1999 I traded in my very old mobile home for a brand new double wide. I was not informed about formaldehyde until after it was purchased & on my land.
In 2006 I was disabled with Idiopathic Lung Disease, oxygen dependent 24/7.
My pulmonologist says he is alarmed at how advanced my lung disease is, and that he cannot explain why it is as advanced as it is.
What do you want to be it's the "government approved" formaldehyde?
Posted by rm8471 at 08/02/2007 @ 11:21pm
Your deluge of info/links and quotes has, once again, "plunged" me into a near catatonic state of numbness, Rese. Mea culpa.
Feliz Viernes, amigos.
Posted by lewwelge at 08/03/2007 @ 08:40am
"...hostility to the very idea of using government to serve the public good."
This is the point.
The rescue workers who did not use their respirators were acting irresponsibly, as is the contractor who exposes himself to unhealthy contaminates while building upscale homes for wealthy people. These are poor personal choices. BLURBSTER's post implies that he is well aware of the nature of the materials he deals with on the job.
But when your government tells you your environment is safe despite knowing otherwise, that is simply criminal.
Posted by drhammer at 08/03/2007 @ 09:36am
And Christie Whitman, a figure for whom I once had some respect, did not resign soon enough. She needs to be held accountable for betraying the American people, particularly our heroic first-responders.
Posted by drhammer at 08/03/2007 @ 09:45am
Posted by HAPPY 08/02/2007 @ 6:15pm
Nice to know you fully support and excuse the crimes of the bush admin. Scumbag.
Posted by Dr Decibels at 08/03/2007 @ 10:59am
Any of you doing anything to make those people's lives better?
Posted by USAPRIDE 08/02/2007 @ 9:19pm
Yeah, I am. What about you, scumbag?
Or are you just sitting there sneering at the less fortunate?
Posted by Dr Decibels at 08/03/2007 @ 11:00am
I can't believe the outright heartless and arrogant responses from our resident ConservaCUNTS to these situations.
Is there ANYTHING you people will not rationalize away out of your love for Herr Shrubenfuhrer?
Do you people have any fucking souls at all, or are you just the mindless, heartless, soulless (sp?) morons that you appear to be?
I certainly hope you and your children suffer at the hands of these scumbags in the WH. And I hope the suffering goes on for you and yours for generations. You have earned it, and more.
And then we'll watch you blame it on Clinton.
Fuck all of you.
Posted by Dr Decibels at 08/03/2007 @ 11:05am
Posted by DR DECIBELS 08/03/2007 @ 11:05am
Come on, DECI...how do you REALLY feel?
Posted by Mask at 08/03/2007 @ 11:13am
Like kicking one of those self righteous sneering bastards right in the teeth.
Why hold back? Do they?
Posted by Dr Decibels at 08/03/2007 @ 11:16am
You ignorant shlubs continue to worry about people living in sub-par living conditions in New Orleans. ---- USAdickwad
Like the above.
Posted by Dr Decibels at 08/03/2007 @ 11:21am
Blame the victim, heaven knows it couldn't be Lord Bushes fault.
Posted by Dr Decibels at 08/03/2007 @ 11:24am
Posted by DR DECIBELS 08/03/2007 @ 11:16am
Well, calmez-vous, mon ami. Don't you know that success is the best revenge.
Just work hard on getting the Dem nominee elected in '08.
Posted by Mask at 08/03/2007 @ 11:55am
Dr. Decibels-- you're the shit! I like your style.
Posted by MATTMAN at 08/03/2007 @ 6:56pm
There is not one good agency under this administration- due to incompetence or corruption these guys need to be shown the door.How could have we let it go so far- and continue to do nothing. the Bush Administration is the best thing that has ever happened to America Haters and their followers around the world. If it was not for Cheney it could have possible considered mere incompetence on the part of W.- But Cheney scares the hell out of me- pure evil. so I actually would be somewhat relived to find out his was only up to his ears in corrruption and not World Domination (Pinky & the Brain). I think we havve only seen the tip of the iceburg with these guys. We'll need to revoke Executive Priviledge if we don't want to hear Bush invoke it at every turn.
Posted by Kimmy B at 08/03/2007 @ 10:02pm
Government of the people is a reflection of the people. We've just gone through seven years of what stares back when your average conservative looks in the mirror.
and I think the country has had just about enough of being nauseated
just about
Posted by Will C. at 08/03/2007 @ 11:44pm
lvliberty1,
I followed through your link to the EPA and it said exactly the opposite of what you state. The problem apparently is not that the authorized levels (which you blame Clinton for) are too high but that FEMA doesn't respect them. At the levels FEMA itself recognizes (1.3 ppm), the EPA (thanks for the link) says: "Formaldehyde, a colorless, pungent-smelling gas, can cause watery eyes, burning sensations in the eyes and throat, nausea, and difficulty in breathing in some humans exposed at elevated levels (above 0.1 parts per million). High concentrations may trigger attacks in people with asthma. There is evidence that some people can develop a sensitivity to formaldehyde. It has also been shown to cause cancer in animals and may cause cancer in humans. Health effects include eye, nose, and throat irritation; wheezing and coughing; fatigue; skin rash; severe allergic reactions. May cause cancer. May also cause other effects listed under "organic gases.""
Or maybe you were being ironic when you said it's safe?
Posted by hans bavinck at 08/04/2007 @ 08:12am
The Katrina victims would have been much better off having received no aid from the government.
Posted by Person at 08/04/2007 @ 11:07am
The Katrina victims would have been much better off having received no aid from the government.
Posted by PERSON 08/04/2007 @ 11:07am | ignore this person
compassionate conservative.
Posted by johannesrolf at 08/04/2007 @ 1:00pm
But when your government tells you your environment is safe despite knowing otherwise, that is simply criminal.
Posted by DRHAMMER 08/03/2007 @ 09:36am
You know I'm not one who is in love with Gov't! Still, fairness is in order!
The Gov't often say "It's safe to do la de da....IF ONE FOLLOWS PRECAUTIONS"! I'm NOT saying that specifically in this case of all the trailers being provided by multiple sources on short notice....Even in the trailers themselves, there could have been manufacturers' labels saying something to the effect when first used, ensure good ventilation w/healthy doses of fresh outside air!
Anyone who has ever bought a brand new car knows how they `smell' so good! Guess what? The stuff that provide that `new' smell, is extremely unhealthy!
Posted by Happy at 08/04/2007 @ 7:08pm
I mean that tongue-in-cheek based on the way KVH makes it sound. She also speaks as though every member of every government agency under Bush's control is populated 100% with Conservative hate mongers, which is preposterous.
Posted by Person at 08/04/2007 @ 7:16pm
Being that we all know all of this and that madman is still in office- I am simply blown away. As I pack my belongings to leave this fascist police state called America- I cannot help but be saddened. I know by what I see and we all see everyday that in the near future the entire world will end up like America- So for now I will head out to a country that is several years behind US. Maybe I can somehow help their people to understand that America and Americans are not the role models they claim to be.
I could never get close enough to that SOB Bush to fire a gun in his ugly twisted face- the fact no else has who could only serves to confirm we are screwed!
Posted by DWKern at 08/04/2007 @ 11:09pm
Am I living in another world if I ask that agencies like EPA, FEMA, and others should not act in a partisan way? Some kind of professional committees nominated by organizations should supervise these agencies' actions. For example, why not the American Civil Engineers Association and somekind of Logistics experts supervises FEMA's actions? I am sure they will always need that help to do things right in the first place because they have shown total ineptitude.
As for EPA and air quality, we are lucky to have serious organizations on the side of the people like the Sierra Club. How about the American Chemists Society checking out these problems (like the asbestos on 9-11) when the press requires it? We have the expertise in this country, it looks like everybody will trust the Agency and the Government without looking for a second opinion from professional organizations.
For those who criticize Democrats, I should remind them that since this Administration started, several of EPA's plans and environmental standards have been relaxed. I totally suscribe Hans B's comments on the level of formaldehyde in the air.
What is the practice of the manufactured homes manufacturers, I don't know. If the chemical is in the adhesive of the pressed wood or in the fresh paint, I hope they normally would expect these homes to sell after several months past manufacture so much of the chemical is gone by evaporation and the indoor concentration is already approaching that of the outside. If this is not the case, and the chemical takes years to go that is another story. But one guess is almost sure, the people of New Orleans that received the homes were poor, the homes were manufactured probably at the lowest cost (therefore the usage of cheaper materials) and the quality control by FEMA was non existent. That three "ingredient" combination is the footprint of this Administration.
About FEMA's lawyers, well this is outrageous and a sign of these times we are living under this Administration. Deciding not to test because that could uncover the Agency's responsibility is like not investigating a homicide because maybe it would incriminate someone we know. These lawyers should be held personally responsible, what is more important health and life, or economic liability? Where is the Attorney's code of ethics? These kind of things should be reasons for disbarment.
Posted by Frank42 at 08/05/2007 @ 04:25am
Posted by DWKERN 08/04/2007 @ 11:09pm | ignore this person
You are one fucked up little monkey!
Posted by Person at 08/05/2007 @ 08:59am
I know by what I see and we all see everyday that in the near future the entire world will end up like America
Posted by DWKERN 08/04/2007 @ 11:09pm | ignore this person
Could you imagine how wonderful this would be? For the rest of the world to be as rich, healthy and upwardly mobile as us? It would be a literal Heaven on Earth. Disease, famine, hopelessness, tyranny, and suppression would be wiped out like Polio. The human energy that would be unleashed would incalculable and our collective and individual accomplishments would be unimaginable.
Posted by Person at 08/05/2007 @ 5:55pm
The human energy that would be unleashed would incalculable and our collective and individual accomplishments would be unimaginable.
Posted by PERSON 08/05/2007 @ 5:55pm
yup, just imagine how much stuff one guy could collect in a lifetime. we might have to move to a new planet just to find room for it all.
but that would require tax dollars
Posted by Will C. at 08/05/2007 @ 7:03pm
so I guess we are stuck
Posted by Will C. at 08/05/2007 @ 7:04pm
Person, develop cognative abilities. Soon.
Posted by brantl at 08/06/2007 @ 2:18pm
You are one fucked up little monkey!
Posted by PERSON 08/05/2007 @ 08:59am
You should know, monkeyboy.
Now back into your tree.
Posted by Dr Decibels at 08/06/2007 @ 5:01pm
Posted by WILL C. 08/05/2007 @ 7:03pm | ignore this person Posted by BRANTL 08/06/2007 @ 2:18pm | ignore this person Posted by DR DECIBELS 08/06/2007 @ 5:01pm | ignore this person
Brilliant retorts! I'm proud of you each. Especially the "back in your tree" comment. Never have I been so soundly put in my place.
Posted by Person at 08/06/2007 @ 7:42pm
WHO IS HE FOOLING? HE IS D.O.A [DEAD ON ARRIVAL] HE WAS A LOBBYIST AT ONE TIME AND THE LAZIEST ELECTED OFFICIAL WHEN HE WAS IN CONGRESS! IT IS A PITY THAT THE ONCE ALMIGHTY REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS FALLEN SO LOW.
Posted by bsbuster at 08/07/2007 @ 3:15pm