FEMA accused of meddling into health study of formaldehyde-contaminated Katrina trailers

Two House subcommittees have sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security and the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry asking why the Federal Emergency Management Agency interfered with a heath report on formaldehyde in trailers housing people displaced by Hurricane Katrina -- and why ATSDR complied with FEMA's demands that it not consider long-term exposure impacts including cancer.

According to information obtained by the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee and the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology, FEMA allegedly sought to insure that the health consultation would not include any long-term formaldehyde exposure considerations such as cancer, even though people living in the trailers were subjected to long-term exposure to the chemical, which is present in materials used to construct the trailers. The Environmental Protection Agency has classified formaldehyde as a probable human carcinogen.

Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), chair of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee, said in statement:

"The evidence that FEMA ignored, hid and manipulated government research on the potential impact of long-term exposure to formaldehyde on Katrina victims now living in travel trailers is hard to ignore. Honest scientific studies don't start with the conclusion, and then work backwards from there."

The subcommittees' investigation is continuing. Meanwhile, FEMA has denied any attempt to suppress information on the formaldehyde problem:

The health and safety of residents has been and continues to be our primary concern. FEMA has not and will not attempt to, nor will it condone any effort to, suppress or inappropriately influence any report from the Center for Disease Control's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) or any report from any agency, including any related to the effects of formaldehyde on residents in its direct housing program.

The agency has come under fire for being slow to act to protect public health after learning about high levels of formaldehyde in temporary housing for Katrina survivors. Trailer residents have also faced other problems including toxic mold and exploding propane tanks.

Bush: North American leaders to meet in New Orleans

During his final State of the Union Address delivered last night, President Bush announced that this April's North American Leaders' Summit will be held in New Orleans:

Tonight the armies of compassion continue the march to a new day in the Gulf Coast. America honors the strength and resilience of the people of this region. We reaffirm our pledge to help them build stronger and better than before. And tonight I'm pleased to announce that in April we will host this year's North American Summit of Canada, Mexico, and the United States in the great city of New Orleans.

Started in 2005 as part of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the inaugural summit was held at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, with subsequent annual meetings taking place in the Mexican resort city of Cancun and the Canadian capital of Ottawa. The leaders of the three nations also met for a second time last year in August in Quebec. The president offered no details on exactly when or where the New Orleans summit would take place.

The news has been greeted with enthusiasm by political leaders, earning a standing ovation from Congress and the praise of Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that it was a sign "New Orleans is open for business." Louisiana Recovery Authority Chairman Norman Francis noted that the gathering will give Louisiana a chance "to highlight both our progress and our remaining needs to the nation and world."

The summit is also likely to test New Orleans' police force. Last August's gathering in Quebec drew hundreds of labor, trade and environmental activists, with police using tear gas and pepper spray against some protesters who were throwing rocks and branches. The Security and Prosperity Partnership has been criticized as undemocratic and for promoting a corporate-driven agenda --- much like the Bush administration's Katrina recovery efforts.

New Orleans' appearance in the president's speech comes after he faced criticism over last year's address, which made no mention of the Gulf region's continuing struggle to recover from the 2005 hurricanes. In another nod to the region, jazz trumpeter and New Orleans native Irvin Mayfield Jr. sat in Laura Bush's guest box during the speech. The Times-Picayune reports that the 30-year-old artist and educator also played a concert at the White House prior to the speech with a bejeweled instrument dubbed the "Elysian Trumpet" in honor of Irvin Mayfield Sr., whose body was found on New Orleans' Elysian Fields Avenue after Katrina's floodwaters receded.

(White House photo by David Bohrer)

Lawsuit seeks to reopen New Orleans' Charity Hospital

Attorneys representing uninsured patients filed a lawsuit today to require Louisiana to reopen Charity Hospital or to take other measures to care for people with chronic health conditions that have been worsened by a lack of access to doctors since Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana has one of the highest rates of uninsured residents in the nation.

The suit comes as Walter Kaelin -- special representative to the United Nations' Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons -- is visiting New Orleans and other Gulf communities to discuss how the U.N. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement apply to those displaced by Katrina. A report on the Guiding Principles' applicability to Katrina survivors released this week by the Institute for Southern Studies details how the lack of health care access since the storm implicates Guiding Principle 28, which calls on authorities to establish conditions allowing internally displaced persons to return home "in safety and with dignity."

New Orleans' death rate has risen 47 percent since the two years preceding Katrina, and a recent survey found that 36 percent of residents of the New Orleans metro area reported reduced access to health care. The problem is especially severe for the city's African-American residents, 72 percent of whom reported reduced health care access -- evidence of underlying racial discrimination that's also prohibited by the Guiding Principles.

After Katrina, Louisiana State University reopened University Hospital -- part of so-called "Big Charity" -- to provide care to the region's uninsured, but that facility does not provide the same range of services that Charity offered and has only 171 beds compared to 550 that the two hospitals previously had.

The attorneys who filed the pro bono suit include Calvin Johnson, Bill Quigley and Tracie Washington of New Orleans; Stephen Rosenfeld of Boston; Thomas Milliner of Metairie; Steven Berman of Seattle; and Leonard Aragon of Phoenix.

Institute discusses Hurricane Katrina and human rights at Brookings

Institute for Southern Studies Director Chris Kromm was one of the speakers at a Brookings Institution panel discussion held yesterday titled "Fires, Floods, Earthquakes and Tsunamis: A Human Rights Perspective for Major Natural Disasters."

Other panelists at the event, held at Brookings' Washington headquarters, were Walter Kaelin, representative of the United Nations' Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and a member of the U.N. Human Rights Committee; Monique Harden, co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights in New Orleans; Ajamu Baraka, director of the Atlanta-based U.S. Human Rights Network; and Linda Poteat of InterAction, a coalition of U.S.-based humanitarian aid organizations. The panel was moderated by Elizabeth Ferris, senior fellow of foreign policy at Brookings.

The event marked the public kickoff of Kaelin's five-day visit to the United States to learn about the challenges faced in the aftermath of a disaster as catastrophic as Hurricane Katrina. At the invitation of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, Kaelin will be meeting with displaced persons across the Gulf region and leading training sessions to help public officials understand their obligations under human rights standards. He plans to make similar visits later this year to disaster-stricken regions of Latin America, Africa and Asia.

In conjunction with Kaelin's visit, the Institute will formally release a report on Katrina and human rights at a press event scheduled for tomorrow in New Orleans. Titled "Hurricane Katrina and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement: A Global Human Rights Perspective on a National Disaster" [PDF], the report by Kromm and Institute Editorial Director Sue Sturgis was produced in collaboration with the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement and marks the most in-depth study produced to date on the Principles' applicability to the ongoing Katrina crisis.

Completed in 1998 by Dr. Francis Deng of the Sudan and embraced by the United States and the rest of the international community, the 30 Guiding Principles draw on existing international law to outline human rights protections for those displaced by disasters and conflict through three phases: before displacement, during displacement, and in the return, reintegration and resettlement of those displaced. The Institute report documents how the U.S. government and other authorities failed to adhere to basic provisions of the Guiding Principles before, during and after Katrina, and it offers recommendations for how the government can protect the right of return for those still displaced by the storm and prevent human rights abuses during future disasters.

The report "makes a valuable contribution in analyzing the response to Katrina-induced displacement in light of accepted normative standards," Ferris wrote in her foreword.

To watch C-Span's video of the event, click here and scroll down to "Recent Programs."

(PHOTO: Walter Kaelin, representative of the United Nations' Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, speaks at the Jan. 14 Brookings Institution panel discussion on human rights and disasters. From left to right, the other panelists included Ajamu Baraka of the U.S. Human Rights Network, Linda Poteat of InterAction, Chris Kromm of the Institute for Southern Studies, Monique Hardin of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, and moderator Elizabeth Ferris of Brookings.)

Mental health problems still plague Katrina's children

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the U.S. Gulf Coast more than two years ago, but the storms are still taking a toll on the lives of the region's children.

At least 46,600 children in the Gulf are still experiencing mental health and other serious problems as a result of the back-to-back 2005 disasters, according to a new report [PDF] from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Children's Health Fund.

The study used data collected by the government and researchers to determine that the storms displaced about 163,000 children from the region, about 81,000 to 95,000 of whom have since returned to Louisiana or Mississippi. The researchers have been closely following about 1,250 displaced families and extrapolated from their experiences to draw conclusions about the region.

The report estimates that more than half of the 46,000 to 64,000 displaced children in Louisiana (55.4 percent) and nearly half in Mississippi (47.1 percent) exhibit one of three risk factors that can seriously impact their lives: a substantial drop in academic achievement, lost access to health care, or clinically diagnosed depression, anxiety or behavioral disorders.

"The time is long overdue for President Bush to demand an appropriate and humane case management protocol from FEMA and other agencies that ensures access to schools, social support services and a medical home, and to call on all governors to provide relocation opportunities for the tens of thousands of families who still do not have adequate permanent housing," says Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of the Children's Health Fund and director of the Mailman School's National Center for Disaster Preparedness.


(FEMA photo by Keith Riggs)

Let's get the Gulf Coast on the campaign agenda

The Gulf Coast is still reeling from the biggest natural disaster in U.S. history. FEMA trailers, boarded-up schools and devastated neighborhoods can be seen for miles. Jeffrey Buchanan of the RFK Memorial, who collaborated with the Institute on our latest report on the Katrina recovery, sizes up the lack of focus on this lingering problem, and what we can do about it. - Chris

By Jeffrey Buchanan
Guest Contributor

This Presidential Primary season, voters have listened to nearly a half a million words from two dozen Presidential candidates in 25 debates. Through 37 hours of ndiscussion, one major American crisis has struggled to break into the debate.

Debate moderators have avoided asking what each candidate as President will do to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, where communities are still fighting to come back more than two years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the levee failures. Critics claim that the future of Gulf Coast communities and residents has not received adequate attention in the debates, given its national importance. Analysis of the more than 1,000 pages of transcripts from the debates reveals that discussion of Gulf Coast rebuilding makes up a mere fraction of a percent of the dialogue during the debates this election season.

Through twelve Republican candidate debates, neither George Stephanopoulos, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Brit Hume, Chris Matthews nor any other moderator for that matter have asked Republican candidates a single question about Gulf Coast rebuilding. Moderators of Democratic events have not done much better, directing only a fraction of their debates, less than one percent, to Gulf Coast recovery.

Top candidates from both parties have gone out of their way to characterize the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina as a failure during their respective debates. Only once this primary season, at right to return home after Hurricane Katrina, based on international law. Though some candidates hinted at their rebuilding plans, there were no follow-up questions so the candidates were not pressed to explain the steps they would take to create the economic and social conditions necessary for residents to realize their rights.

Gulf Coast residents fear that important questions about the future of their communities and the hundreds of thousands of their friends and families who are still displaced will continue to go unasked and unanswered this primary season.

Things are not looking much better for the general election debates.

Despite letters of support from a bi-partisan list of seven Presidential candidates and supportive editorials from USA Today, the New York Times, Time Magazine, and the Washington Post, New Orleans’ application to host one of four scheduled general election Presidential Debates was recently denied.

"New Orleans did not measure up," claimed Paul Kirk, co-chairman of the debate site committee, explaining why his committee passed over the city.

With New Orleans set to host such large-scale events in upcoming months such as the Sugar Bowl, the NCAA Championship Game and the NBA All-Star Game, city leaders found the snub shocking.

Anne Milling, founder of Women of the Storm, the group which led the application effort with a consortium of local universities including Dillard, Loyola, Tulane and Xavier, called it, "a case of politics trumping the clear moral choice."

"A defining moment in American history"

Debates are a time to make candidates take a stand on the most important issues facing American voters. National polling data indicates that Gulf Coast rebuilding is still important to Americans nationwide, not just those living in the region.

John Zogby, one of the top minds in the polling industry, wrote recently in Campaigns and Elections Magazine that polling data on domestic issues facing candidates in the 2008 elections indicates, “Katrina, over the long haul, will prove to be more of a defining moment in American history than the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.” He went on to note that after witnessing the failed federal response to Gulf Coast recovery, American voters “hunger nationwide for a new model for the federal government.”

Zogby found that Americans wanted a leader who would could unite the nation and marshal the necessary resources to rebuild after a disaster. He wrote that Americans wanted federal leadership with the flexibility to work with local leaders, including local governments, faith and community groups, and solve problems.

Still Recovering: More than Two Years Later

In terms of physical devastation, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the levee breakdown far surpasses any disaster in America's history. They caused more damage than our three largest disasters combined; the September 11th attacks, Hurricane Andrew, and the Northridge earthquake. The human face of the disaster can be seen in the hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents who remain displaced from their communities two years after the levees broke.

Housing shortages threaten communities across the Gulf Coast. Thousands of families are about to be kicked out of FEMA trailers, which the federal government recently determined contain levels of toxins so strong that they have advised their employees not to enter the structures.

Federal programs like FEMA Public Assistance have proven slow and inflexible for rebuilding vital community infrastructure. Critics claim construction projects addressing long term needs are often ineligible for federal aid. In New Orleans, this policy has resulted in infrastructure deficiencies with severe social and economic consequences. With schools closed, students must travel long distances and some 300 students in New Orleans during the 2006/07 academic year were unable to even enroll. Restricted public transit and battered roads limit access to work and services. Scarce childcare facilities limit options for working parents. Crime rates have risen while police headquarters operate out of FEMA trailers. Death rates rise as hospitals operate at diminished capacity.

Levee construction remains under-funded and preventable erosion continues to destroy nature's flood protection, the wetlands, threatening returning residents. Some like Nyra Humphries of New Orleans, who is finishing repairing and moving back into her home, cannot help but worry that all their hard work will be in vain.

"It's hard to put so much time and money into my home when there's no work done to prevent more flooding," Nyra said.

These issues impact the pace of recovery and ultimately the rights of residents to return to their communities and live with safety and dignity.

A handful of candidates this campaign season have traveled to the Gulf Coast. A few have even posted portions of their rebuilding plans on their websites but not all voters and Gulf Coast residents have access to this information. For residents who are still waiting on the federal government to fulfill its promises, questions remain about the Presidential candidates’ commitment to the region.

A New Model for Gulf Recovery

Recently, Representatives Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Charlie Melancon (D-LA) and Gene Taylor (D-MS) introduced a new model for Gulf Coast recovery in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 4048, the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act. The policy was developed with the help of Gulf Coast residents, human rights groups, and the Gulf Coast Civic Works Project, a college campus-based effort to jump start the region's recovery. The legislation hopes to empower the region's greatest assets, the disaster's survivors, with the resources they need to lead. Through funding and implementing critical infrastructure and environmental projects, the legislation would create 100,000 living wage jobs. The policy would build stronger communities across the region through providing skills training opportunities, supporting local businesses and working closely with community groups, residents and local leaders.

Stephen Bradberry, State Head Organizer with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in Louisiana, believes this bold plan will require the support of the next President to become a reality.

"The current President made a whole list of promises to residents about rebuilding the Gulf Coast but the job is not done. The moderators of the upcoming Presidential debates need to ask the next President whether they plan to right the situation," says Bradberry. "We need to put the candidates on record, “Do you support the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act to rebuild stronger communities across the region hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita?"

ACORN members, students and supporters like the RFK Center for Human Rights have begun an effort to push moderators of upcoming debates to get a straight answer from the potential nominees on Gulf Coast rebuilding. Together they hope to give the region a voice to influence the discussion using social networking websites like Facebook and Myspace and other internet advocacy tools.

"If the debate is not coming to Gulf Coast then we need to bring the Gulf to the debate," said Bradberry, winner of the prestigious RFK Human Rights Award in 2005.

The campaign, aptly named "Bring the Gulf to the Debate," has begun to target Facebook, ABC and WMUR, co-hosts of the back-to-back Republican and Democratic New Hampshire primary debates on January 5th. The groups provide supporters with ways to contact debate moderators, reporters and officials at the media organizations hosting the debate on their website. Facebook and Myspace users are urged to join "Bring the Gulf to the Debate" user groups for updates and other ways to support Gulf Coast communities.

Supporters of the legislation with a Facebook account can directly contact ABC reporters asking that they push for a question about the Gulf Coast Civic Works Act in the January 5th debates. Through ABC's newly announced partnership with Facebook, ABC has begun feeding political content to the youth driven website and off-air ABC political reporters have begun keeping active profiles detailing their days with the candidates. Building off the success of other trendy web 2.0 efforts like the CNN-YouTube debates, the partnership gives the public greater influence about which questions are asked to the Presidential candidates. ABC World News Tonight host and New Hampshire debate moderator Charles Gibson even posted a Facebook profile where his "Fans" can suggest questions for the Republican and Democratic candidates.

"It's a unique opportunity to move these media organizations to finally ask the questions the people of the Gulf Coast and their fellow Americans need to hear answered," said Chris Hauck, a San Jose State university student and Gulf Coast Civic Works Project organizer.

With the New Hampshire debates, and the CNN-Los Angeles Times-Politico debates in California on January 30th and 31st, the primary debate season is still in full force. Though the Gulf Coast will not host a Presidential debate, residents and their national supporters still have hope that the region's crisis can be brought back into the national debate this election season.