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Old 07-08-2008, 08:53 PM   #1
Texas TC
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Default GS on Capitol Hill

I heard that GS and others will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow to answer questions about the temporary trailers they built for FEMA during Katrina. Several trailer suppliers are being questioned about the formaldehyde levels in the trailers supplied. I guess you can look a gift horse in the mouth.



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Old 07-10-2008, 01:15 PM   #2
payne266
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It dont surprise me none they will probaly wind up like Weekend Warrior class action lawsuit and go by the wayside
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Old 07-13-2008, 04:24 PM   #3
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Congressional Testimony RV Companies

The heads of local RV companies were called to testify before Congress about dangerous levels of formaldehyde in trailers built to house victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. (CBS photo)
By Jim Pinkerton



WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Four Elkhart County RV companies were put under the microscope on Capitol Hill Wednesday, as Congress works to figure out who's to blame for toxic trailers provided by FEMA to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

It was the second Congressional hearing into dangerous levels of formaldehyde found in trailers distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The previous hearing was held last summer, but didn't include representatives from the manufacturing companies. This time, the manufacturing companies were the ones on the hot seat.

Nappanee based Gulf Stream Coach Chairman Jim Shea, Goshen based Keystone RV President Ronald Fenech, Elkhart based Forest River President and C.E.O. Peter Liegl, and Middlebury based Pilgrim International Past President Steve Bennett were all on hand to testify, along with Centers for Disease Control Director of Environmental Hazards Dr. Michael McGeehin.

The group was sworn in before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee late Wednesday morning, and Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wasted no time getting to the heart of the matter.

"What this hearing will show is that no one was looking out for the interests of the displaced families living in the FEMA trailers," he said during his opening remarks. "FEMA failed to do its job, and trailer manufacturers took advantage of the situation. During today's hearing, the trailer manufacturers will be asked some hard questions."

After a series of opening remarks by all on the panel, with the exception of Bennett, who said he had no remarks prepared, Rep. Waxman began firing those questions at Shea first.

"[Gulf Stream] did test trailers after hearing the first reports of high formaldehyde levels. It found pervasive formaldehyde contamination in its trailers, and it did not tell anyone," he said during his opening remarks. "We reviewed thousands of pages of documents that show that Gulf Stream regarded the high levels of formaldehyde in its trailers as a public relations and legal problem, not a public health threat."

Shea immediately responded, saying there were never any directives from FEMA about the use of formaldehyde in the trailers.

"In fact, there are no federal standards governing formaldehyde in the manufacture of travel trailers. The lack of such a standard leaves our industry with no clear definitive guidance on the issue," he said.

Shea also said the results of Gulf Stream's "in-house" tests were not conclusive, and weren't scientific.

"It's not a testing, sir," he told the committee. "It's a screening device that picks up many other components. It's not testing."

Even so, Shea says Gulf Stream did take appropriate actions after learning of complaints in March of 2006.

The following is excerpted from prepared comments Shea submitted to the committee during Wednesday's hearing:

"Gulf Stream took the following steps: First,we sought information regarding complaints received by FEMA. We spoke to the FEMA employees with whom we were working in the affected areas, as well as in Washington, D.C.

Second,we directed Gulf Stream employees to attempt to address the
few complaints Gulf Stream received regarding its travel trailers, but were ultimately instructed by FEMA that Gulf Stream should not communicate directly with occupants of travel trailers it manufactured.

Third, we gathered information on ways to identify and reduce levels
of ambient formaldehyde in travel trailers.

Fourth, we provided FEMA representatives with information related
to ventilation of travel trailers and other measures to increase ventilation.

Fifth, we offered to participate with FEMA in joint testing of the
travel trailers with FEMA. FEMA never accepted that offer.

Sixth, we offered to share with FEMA the results of some informal
formaldehyde screenings of occupied travel trailers that one of our
employees had performed in March and April 2006 in anticipation of
litigation that would follow the stories of formaldehyde reports in the press. Although the screening results were not scientific and not reliable, we offered to share these informal screening results with FEMA in May 2006. That offer was never accepted by FEMA."

But Rep. Waxman says that's not true.

"You told FEMA you didn't get any complaints," he said during the flurry of crossfire questions. "Let me read this email this committee received last year from your company."

"'Gulf Stream respectfully disagrees with the premise of the committee's questions, i.e. that formaldehyde levels sold to FEMA were high,'" he read. "I find this response astonishing."

In fact, Rep. Waxman said, because of Gulf Stream's testing, the company should have known better than anyone about the potentially high levels. Other manufacturers, Waxman said, did not test FEMA trailers, but did test other "off the lot" trailers, and found high levels of formaldehyde as well.

Again, he said, all of the companies failed to give notice of what they'd found.

Rep. Waxman also says a series of internal emails shown for the first time at Wednesday's hearing prove Gulf Stream knew the formaldehyde could become an issue.

"There is an issue in my trailer that will not go away," read one email from an unnamed source sent directly to Gulf Stream on March 20, 2006. "It burns my eyes and I'm getting headaches everyday. PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME!!!"

Several Republican committee members, including Rep. Mark Souder, whose district includes much of Elkhart County, said other emails prove FEMA knew about the potential problems, too.

An exchange of emails between Stephen Miller, of FEMA's overseeing agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and Shea's brother Dan Shea ends with the question: "Does your field staff have the ability to put this to bed?"

Rep. Souder says that proves the RV industry is being "unfairly singled out" for FEMA's failure.

"You're being criticized for doing a very simple test that could've been done by the government," he told Shea during the hearing. "What employer or company in America is going to expose themselves to voluntary cooperation if this is the end result?"

In a prepared statement issued following the hearing, Souder went on to say damage to the RV industry stemming from the Congressional investigation could be irreparable.

?At a time of crisis, hardworking Hoosier manufacturers came to the aid of their fellow Americans in Louisiana and Mississippi,? Souder wrote. ?And yet they have faced a relentless barrage of attacks from Congress that have largely ignored science, and instead relied on anecdotes that could be as much motivated by lawsuits as anything else."

"RV manufacturers in Elkhart County are already facing tremendous economic pressure, and the allegations raised at today?s hearing can only hurt them further. If Congress isn?t careful, these good Hoosier manufacturing jobs will simply move to China,? he continued.

Others testifying at the hearing voiced similar concerns.

"Many of our workers are now confused and hurt at the charges about the quality of our RVs," said Liegl during his opening remarks.

But in an exclusive interview with CBS News, two former Gulf Stream employees said they were told to cover the problem up.

"A couple of hours before they came out to do their inspection, we were instructed to open the doors and windows so the odor wouldn't be as strong when FEMA inspectors got there," said Linda Esparza, a former quality control supervisor at Gulf Stream's Etna Green factory in Kosciusko County. "It was about how much money Gulf Stream was going to make. The people that own Gulf Stream had an opportunity to make a whole lot of money. And they did."

Each company representative that testified before the committee said it wasn't about money. Each said their companies were proud to help out during a disaster, and their profits did not dramatically increase because of it.

"Like every business, we have to pay our workers and our suppliers, and earn enough to keep things going," said Forest River's Liegl during his opening remarks. "But we never even thought about charging higher prices. We sold the trailers built for the Gulf Coast at the same modest profit level we make on normal sales. Our overall profit that
year was about the same as it was in the years before and the year after Katrina."

Chairman Waxman said, profits aside, he believed blame lies on both the government and the manufacturers.

"FEMA failed to do its job and trailer manufacturers took advantage of the situation," he repeated during his closing remarks before adjourning the hearing.

FEMA representatives were asked to voluntarily testify at Wednesday's hearing, but did not, said Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-South Bend) who made several brief remarks before the committee.

"I think FEMA's absence here to explain their standards and their actions, they really have eliminated a key part of the answer here," Donnelly said.

All four manufacturers also told the committee they are working to prevent formaldehyde related problems in the future.

"We have not and will not stand idly by," said Keystone President Fenech. "The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association has recently announced compulsory standards that require manufacturers to build all units using carb compliant wood by January 1, 2009, and carb-certified wood by July 1, 2010. At Keystone, we intend to beat those deadlines."

No further hearings have been scheduled, as Congress continues to investigate the trailers. But it's unlikely the issue is going away.

Attorney Sean Trundy tells CBS News he's already filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of those who lived in the Gulf Coast trailers. No court date has yet been set.



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