THE $400,000,000.00 WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS ON THE KATRINA MOBILE HOME SCANDAL

     Out of curiosity I decided to look up the cost of the emergency mobile homes supplied to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. As the title of this blog reads, $400 million dollars. No they weren't pretty, nor were there any unneeded fancy conveniences in these homes. But there's one thing I'm pretty sure of, and that's the certainty the FEMA organization made sure of, they were built to the Zone's requirement for that region. They weren't meant for permanent housing, although for a lot of the poorer families in that region, they could have been. With my 'later-in-life'career of 15 years in the mobile home business, it was part of our duties as mobile home sales representatives to explore the history of the formaldehyde issue. In earlier years to 1976, there was a finding by the Industry as a whole, that there was a possible health hazard in some of the products used in the production of mobile homes due to the amount of Formaldehyde content. Some people discovered they were allergic to the chemical and simply being around the odor from the fumes produced by the materials.
     An intensive investigation ensued and as a precautionary measure, the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) became involved in the production of these homes. Starting on July 1st, 1976, all manufactured housing required inspection and approved to the HUD code and in most cases the factories had an inhouse HUD inspector that placed HUD approved stickers on each individual unit. The formaldehyde levels approved by HUD were far below the allowable level of acceptance.
      Since the HUD code required the same materials used in Mobile home production be the same as in site built homes, the formaldehyde scare soon became a thing of the past. But the myth still remained and exists to this day even though it is only that, a myth.
      Formaldehyde was widely used in the production of laminate wood products and in the making of carpet. However, since Formaldehyde fumes dissipate similarly to gasoline fumes, even though the odor  lingers, the actual harmful fume content is gone. So when the structure is properly aired for a short while of a couple of days, the threat evaporates from the product sufficiently enough and the problem is gone. It doesn't re-generate. It's gone.
      Somehow, this safety message got lost along the way and Environmental nuts didn't let go of it. In their determination to spread the bad word about formaldehyde, they managed to persuade the official EPA nuts to condemn the use of the houses and they sat vacant the whole time of the Hurricane recovery. During all the time the residents were displaced, the Gov't had to pay the cost of other housing on top of it all. Probably equal to the cost of the mobile homes or more.
      I now understand that upon the insistence of the EPA, those homes have been, or are in the midst of being purposely destroyed. I challenge any EPA representative or supporter to prove me wrong.
      Just sayin'.