WASHINGTON (July 2, 2010) – Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.)  today wrote the Federal Trade Commission asking for answers on former FEMA trailers contaminated with formaldehyde that are reportedly being used to house some workers cleaning up the oil from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. According to several cases now being investigated by the Inspector General’s office at the General Services Administration, companies that bought the trailers may have removed warning labels or otherwise not informed buyers that the trailers are not intended to be repurposed as homes.

The trailers, originally provided by FEMA to Gulf residents following Hurricane Katrina, were found to have unhealthy levels of formaldehyde, which is a carcinogen.

 
“Removing the labels from these trailers is not like taking off the tag from a mattress. It’s like taking off the warning label from a pack of cigarettes,” said Rep. Markey, who chairs the Energy and Environment Subcommittee in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “We are asking the FTC whether the sales of these trailers might constitute an unfair or deceptive practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act, and if so, what actions the FTC is taking to address this matter.  We need to make sure that those who are working to respond to the BP spill are not needlessly exposed to the formaldehyde in these trailers.”

 
“No one should be living in these FEMA trailers,” said Rep. Melancon.  “That’s a lesson I thought was learned by all after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. We need to get to the bottom of why workers along the Gulf Coast are being housed in these toxic trailers.”

A copy of the letter to the FTC can be found here: http://markey.house.gov/docs/070210ftcletter.pdf
 

Yesterday, Markey and Melancon wrote to the U.S. General Services Administration asking for answers regarding the sales of these trailers. A copy of that letter can be found here: http://globalwarming.house.gov/mediacenter/letters?id=0045