Lawmakers Criticize FEMA's Handling of Hazards Posed by Trailers

Three things come immediately to mind:

1. Its always a good idea to let people die to avoid liability.

2. Will the offensive treatment of Katrina victims ever end?

3. I'm really becoming quite the fan of Henry Waxman. Why are there so few like him?

Nearly four months after the Federal Emergency Management Agency promised to study the risk of formaldehyde in trailers provided to Hurricane Katrina survivors, none of 52,000 occupied units have been tested, and FEMA has warned its employees for their own safety to stay out of 70,000 similar trailers in storage.

"This double-standard is wholly unacceptable," Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said in a written statement, accusing FEMA of hiding the extent of trailer contamination and leaving "American disaster victims exposed to a whole new nightmare."

"The foot-dragging continues," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), whose House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in July disclosed documents indicating that FEMA had suppressed warnings about the health problems and had resisted testing since March 2006, in part because of fears over legal liability.

Via WaPo.