FEMA scrambles to avoid being sued for poisoning people

Crossposted from our new home blog,They gave us a republic...

Congress needs to ensure that FEMA's negligence in providing people with trailers with high levels of formaldehyde in them is not excused.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency last week asked for immunity from lawsuits over the high formaldehyde levels in the trailers it used to house Hurricane Katrina victims. FEMA says it did not build the trailers, merely bought them, so the manufacturers should be held solely responsible.

A U.S. attorney argued before a federal judge on July 23 that FEMA's response to the natural disaster is legally protected since the agency was exercising governmental discretion. Only Congress, he said, has the authority to address the agency's possible negligence. U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt of the Eastern District of Louisiana is taking the request under advisement. Attorneys for the plaintiffs expect a ruling in the next two or three weeks.

Congressional hearings have revealed that FEMA knew about the formaldehyde problem in its trailers and failed to take action for almost two years. FEMA's lawyers advised the agency not to test for toxicity in order to avoid liability -- but that advice may have left FEMA vulnerable to even greater liability. Those familiar with this gray legal area say the government agency could be held liable for several reasons.

Of course, FEMA is trying to pass the buck and direct the lawsuits towards the companies that manufactured the trailers. In some ways, yes, I can agree with proceeding against the manufacturers. But for FEMA to provide the trailers and do nothing for two years is unacceptable.

The reasons for the shoddy work are problematic for FEMA. Their employees were present--and set the specifications for--the trailers as they were being manufactured. Cheap materials and low-cost procedures were used (I have visions of half-assed trailer components being slapped together with cheap glue by people who didn't give a shit, don't you?). It's hard to escape liability when the people who manufactured the trailers were under your nose and doing what you told them to do. I think the manufacturers should have cried foul and refused to build with formaldehyde. The problem is, whistle-blowers are often driven out of business or punished for exposing government corruption. Until we reform the government whistle-blower laws and protect the rights of people who speak out, we are going to have debacles like this.

Sadly, the government's terrible response to Hurricane Katrina continues to this day. Alabama football boosters have great condos to use now, but the actual people flooded out and driven from their neighborhoods are still living in trailers manufactured with poisonous materials inside:

Three years after Hurricane Katrina, many people are still living in the FEMA-issued trailers. The trailers were never intended for long-term housing -- they were meant for short-term, emergency use only.

This has only exacerbated the effects of the building specifications set by FEMA, which fall below federal safety standards.

"The fact that people are still in those trailers," said [David] Super of the Univ. of Maryland, "is a failure on FEMA's part."

Yes it is, and that failure should not be excused away with immunity
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Fuel Spill Closes Mississippi--and the Door to Off-shore Drilling

Advocates of off-shore oil drilling have been caught flat-out lying again and again about spills and disasters because they know what spills mean--publlic sentiment against their wishes is too much to overcome.

Nearly 30 miles of the Mississippi River from New Orleans southward could be closed for days after a fuel barge and a tanker collided, spilling more than 400,000 gallons of fuel oil, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

[SNIP]

The accident left a sheen of oil over much of the river and its banks, and skimmers have been deployed to suck the oil off the river's surface, Blue said.

However, the spill is much smaller than the ones that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the Coast Guard estimated that more than 7 million gallons of oil were dumped into the Mississippi and nearby waterways.

This kind of story needs to be spread around and amplified--not only can everyday river traffic cause spills of fuel, gasoline, or oil but so can the weather.
Just ask John McCain--who has now cancelled his visit to an existing off-shore oil rig because the tropical storm now moving inland is too strong.

"Dolly" has been rated a category 2 Hurricane--dangerous enough to keep McCain away, who would have reaped the rewards of standing on the deck of an off-shore oil rig in the wind and the rain to show how safe it was.

Instead, Americans got a stark reminder of why oil and fuel spills are so important to remember when it comes to this ridiculous rush towards off-shore drilling. Which, by the way, wouldn't solve anything much at all.

--WS

Will Bobby Jindal be the Chosen One?

There are no pluses for McCain to pick Bobby Jindal. None. I don't care what anyone says--if McCain is stupid enough to pick Jindal, it means he has no intention of winning the Presidency and just wants to make a pick that helps Republicans in the distant future.

John McCain will huddle with vice presidential aspirant Bobby Jindal during a trip to New Orleans later this week, sources close to the campaign confirm to The Fix.

McCain's trip to Louisiana on Wednesday was the cause of much head scratching in the political world as it was not in keeping with a week of planned stops in battleground states.

But, the meeting with Jindal, who has been the state's governor since 2007, suggests that McCain himself is deeply engaged in the process of picking his second-in-command and that the youthful Jindal is under serious consideration.

Remember--Jindal is 37 years old, believes in exorcisms, and has about as much experience as a 37 year old can have, which isn't very much. Here's what Jindal wrote in 1994, in the New Oxford Review.

Strangely, I found myself repeating the Hail Mary until it became a chant. Being a recent convert to Catholicism, I had yet to accept the Catholic doctrines concerning Mary and considered any form of Marian devotion to be idolatry. Though I had never before prayed a Hail Mary in my life, I suddenly found myself incapable of any other form of prayer. Somehow, Mary's intercessions allowed me to find peace during that long night; I knew that I had survived the worst and that I would exit with my faith intact. It terrified me to recall how close I came to turning away from Christ out of fear.

The crucifix had a calming effect on Susan, and her sister was soon brave enough to bring a Bible to her face. At first, Susan responded to biblical passages with curses and profanities. Mixed in with her vile attacks were short and desperate pleas for help. In the same breath that she attacked Christ, the Bible's authenticity, and everyone assembled in prayer, Susan would suddenly urge us to rescue her. It appeared as if we were observing a tremendous battle between the Susan we knew and loved and some strange evil force. But the momentum had shifted and we now sensed that victory was at hand.

While Alice and Louise held Susan, her sister continued holding the Bible to her face. Almost taunting the evil spirit that had almost beaten us minutes before, the students dared Susan to read biblical passages. She choked on certain passages and could not finish the sentence "Jesus is Lord." Over and over, she repeated "Jesus is L..L..LL," often ending in profanities. In between her futile attempts, Susan pleaded with us to continue trying and often smiled between the grimaces that accompanied her readings of Scripture. Just as suddenly as she went into the trance, Susan suddenly reappeared and claimed "Jesus is Lord."

With an almost comical smile, Susan then looked up as if awakening from a deep sleep and asked, "Has something happened?" She did not remember any of the past few hours and was startled to find her friends breaking out in cheers and laughter, overwhelmed by sudden joy and relief.

Dare to dream.

--WS

Rebuilding Fire Stations in New Orleans

Pajamadeen is on the case...fire fighters in New Orleans have to turn to celebrities to get help because the government...well, read on:

So, let’s see…We can spend over $2.4 billion a week “rebuilding” Iraq, but we can’t rebuild fire stations in New Orleans?

Help has come, instead, from the kindness of strangers. Actor Denis Leary, who portrays a firefighter on the Rescue Me TV show, formed The Leary Firefighters Foundation in 2000 in response to a Worcester, Massachusetts fire in an abandoned warehouse in his hometown. More than 75 firefighters worked what’s been called “the perfect fire.” Six of them perished, including Jerry Lucey, who was Denis’ first cousin, and Lt. Tommy Spencer, a childhood playmate and high school classmate.

The Leary foundation has provided millions of dollars in equipment and training support to firefighters. After 9/11, the foundation created The Fund for New York’s Bravest to raise money for families of the 343 fallen firefighters. Relying on his entertainment industry connections, Leary created The BASH for New York’s Bravest, which is now an annual star-studded fundraiser. After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA estimated that it would cost millions of dollars and take 10 years to repair and replace the damaged New Orleans fire stations. Last year, a member of the New York District Council of Carpenters, Jerry Cremins, was in New Orleans to pick up his son at Loyola University. He couldn’t believe what he saw. As he told CNN: “It doesn’t translate that well on TV…It was astounding to me that they haven’t been helped out — that local governments and municipalities haven’t held up their obligations. That is basically when citizens have to step in and get the job done.”

Deciding he was just the man to help, Cremins contacted the Leary foundation. Soon, union volunteers and NOFD firefighters were working together. So far, five fire stations have been rebuilt by the volunteers, with two more scheduled to be finished this spring. Cremins himself has made nine trips to the Big Easy, on his own dime and own time. Leary says he got involved because “I gave up on ever hoping that politicians in this country — local, state or federal — would step in to help these guys.” Leary says that some of the firefighters have told him almost-unbelievable stories of bureaucratic red tape and heartlessness. One firefighter spoke of a fire house that had three feet of water in it; he told Leary that when FEMA inspected the fire station, they told the fire department that they’d pay for the hinge on this door below the water line, but the two hinges above the water line they weren’t going to pay for.”

Edward Blakely, who’s in charge of New Orleans recovery efforts, said he appreciates the Leary Foundation’s work but, due to spiralling crime rates in town, the city has focused on rebuilding police headquarters instead. While not complaining, firefighters like to note that not a single firefighter abandoned a post during Hurricane Katrina — unlike many NOPD officers who bailed.

That's right--your fucking government is arguing over which hinges on which particular fucking doors it will fucking pay for. In New Orleans. In America. In April of 2008.

Is it January 20, 2009 yet?