Project Katrina

U.S. Senators Mary Landrieu, Claire McCaskill and Barack Obama lauded Congress’ passage of their proposal to launch an investigation into reports that housing trailers contaminated with formaldehyde were provided to Hurricane Katrina victims.

This provision, which is contained in the Omnibus Appropriations package soon to be signed into law, will initiate a long overdue investigation into why the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) failed to prevent the contamination or investigate the allegations.

This exact provision was originally offered in July 2007 as an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill.

It is disconcerting that FEMA moved victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita into trailers with unacceptable amounts of formaldehyde, said Senator Landrieu. It is yet another example of the agency’s ineptitude. It is essential that we move forward with testing the trailers to determine how many are affected and what is necessary to move trailer residents into safe alternative housing. The language we secured in the omnibus spending bill takes this vital step to ensure that those affected by the hurricanes are being housed in a safe environment.

We pay taxes so that federal government protects us during national emergencies, not to put us further in danger, McCaskill said. Not only did FEMA fail Gulf Coast residents before Katrina hit, they knowingly continued to put their lives at risk nearly two years after the fact by allowing residents to live in trailers containing toxic fumes. I’m pleased that legislation will be signed into law that will help get to the bottom of this life-threatening decision so that we can prevent it from happening again.

The Bush Administration’s response after Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic failure, said Senator Obama. Instead of deploying the resources required to save lives and rebuild communities, the Administration consistently cut corners and buried the truth. Lives were put at risk, and countless Americans were left homeless and without the help they needed to rebuild. We must get to the bottom of reports that this Administration may have knowingly provided contaminated trailers to those who lost their homes after this disaster. At the very least, we owe the victims of Katrina answers, and we will continue to fight to finally get them the help they have long deserved.

This provision requires the U.S. Inspector General to:

• Investigate FEMA’s policies and processes regarding formaldehyde in trailers purchased by the agency to house Katrina victims;
• Collect and respond to health and safety concerns of trailer occupants; and determine whether FEMA adequately notified occupants of potential health and safety concerns and whether FEMA has proper controls and processes in place to deal with health and safety concerns of those living in trailers following disasters; and
• Report to Congress on its findings.

This is a vital development. In 2005 FEMA supplied more than 120,000 trailers to Gulf Coast residents. Thousands and thousands are still living in them with formaldehyde levels that are dangerous to their health. But to this point we don’t know how dangerous. Maybe we will in the near future.

Naomi Klein, the author of The Shock Doctrine has a must read post at the Huffington Post. She writes in part:

Readers of The Shock Doctrine know that one of the most shameless examples of disaster capitalism has been the attempt to exploit the disastrous flooding of New Orleans to close down that city’s public housing projects, some of the only affordable units in the city. Most of the buildings sustained minimal flood damage, but they happen to occupy valuable land that make for perfect condo developments and hotels.

The final showdown over New Orleans public housing is playing out in dramatic fashion right now. The conflict is a classic example of the "triple shock" formula at the core of the doctrine.

• First came the shock of the original disaster: the flood and the traumatic evacuation.
• Next came the "economic shock therapy": using the window of opportunity opened up by the first shock to push through a rapid-fire attack on the city’s public services and spaces, most notably it’s homes, schools and hospitals.
• Now we see that as residents of New Orleans try to resist these attacks, they are being met with a third shock: the shock of the police baton and the Taser gun, used on the bodies of protestors outside New Orleans City Hall yesterday.

Democracy Now! has been covering this fight all week, with amazing reports from filmmakers Jacquie Soohen and Rick Rowley (Rick was arrested in the crackdown). Watch residents react to the bulldozing of their homes here. And footage from yesterday’s police crackdown and Tasering of protestors inside and outside city hall here.

So there you have it. I don’t have any words to express my anger.

This week Bill Moyers’ takes a look at the waste and contractor fraud going on in Iraq. Last week the House Armed Services Committee said that $6 billion worth of military contracts are under criminal review, and another $88 billion (think the folks in New Orleans could use some of this money?) in contracts are currently being audited for suspicion of fraud. When the Associated Press (AP) recently took a look at the auditing process required by law, it found the DoD had not "met even basic accounting requirements, leaving them vulnerable to waste, fraud and abuse."

BILL MOYERS: As Inspector General of the State Department, Howard Krongard—known as "Cookie"—was supposed to be the watchdog guarding against corruption there. But he’s a political appointee with strong partisan loyalties, and now seven people on his staff have accused him not only of failing to do his job but of actively blocking their efforts to do theirs. The reason? Quote: "To protect the State Department and the White House from political embarrassment."

You know, I am thinking the folks in New Orleans could use a couple of these billions. And by the way, I will admit the state and local governments in Louisiana doesn’t have a greatest track record in how they spend money, but it ain’t like the Bush White House does either at this point.

Two years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, "none of the 115 ‘critical priority projects’ identified by city officials" for publicly funded rebuilding efforts "has been completed." Of the $34 billion "earmarked for long-term rebuilding," less than half "has made its way through federal checks and balances to reach municipal projects.

Shelley Midura a New Orleans City Council member from District A wrote the following open letter to President Bush. It is thoughtful, respectful (or at least a lot more then I would be), and outlines many things that the Feds could do to help New Orleans if only the White House would listen to the elected leaders and citizens that live in New Orleans.

Dear Mr. President:

Thank you for visiting New Orleans for the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the worst federal levee-failure disaster in United States history followed by the worst federal disaster response in United States history. We’re also grateful for the $116 billion federal allocation for the Gulf Coast. That $116 billion has served you well, as your spokesmen often cite it as an indicator of your dedication to our recovery. But, it hasn’t served us as well— it’s not enough, it’s been given grudgingly, and only after our elected officials have had to fight for it. So I feel I must correct the record about you and your administration’s dedication to our recovery and implore you to take action to make things better.

Indeed, you have allocated $116 billion for the Gulf Coast, but that number is misleading. According to the Brookings Institute’s most recent Katrina Index report, at least $75 billion of it was for immediate post-storm relief. Thus only 35% of the total federal dollars allocated is for actual recovery and reconstruction. And of that recovery and reconstruction allocation, only 42% has actually been spent. In fact, while your administration touts "$116 billion" as the amount you have sent to the entire area affected by Katrina and the levee failures, the actual long term recovery dollar amount is only $14.6 billion. This amount is a mere 12% of the entire federal allocation of dollars, billions of which went to corporations such as Halliburton for immediate post-storm cleanup work, instead of to local businesses. Contrast that to the $20.9 billion on infrastructure for Iraq that the Wall Street Journal reported in May 2006 that you have spent, and it’s an astonishing 42% more than you have spent on infrastructure for the post-Katrina Gulf region. The American citizens of the Gulf region do not understand why the federal obligation to rebuilding Iraq is greater than it is for America’s Gulf coast, and more specifically for New Orleans.

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Mississippi residents seem to have it pretty good as it relates to post-Katrina funding. They have brought in a huge amount of federal aid targeted (compared to Louisiana( for Katrina victims, largely in part because of the political connections of their governor and former RNC chairman Haley Barbour. But the ones who have benefited most from Barbour’s legal pilfering? Well it would appear his family members, who have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in Katrina-related business fundings. Some of these Republicans have no soul.

Our country is become more and more of a joke as each day passes. According to the Associated Press:

With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama’s football stadium.

About 10 condominium projects are going up in and around Tuscaloosa, and builders are asking up to $1 million for units with granite countertops, king-size bathtubs and ‘Bama decor, including crimson couches and Bear Bryant wall art.

While many of the buyers are Crimson Tide alumni or ardent football fans not entitled to any special Katrina-related tax breaks, many others are real estate investors who are purchasing the condos with plans to rent them out.

And they intend to take full advantage of the generous tax benefits available to investors under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, or GO Zone, according to Associated Press interviews with buyers and real estate officials.

Ok, I am no lawyer and I understand writing laws without loopholes isn’t the easiest thing in to the world to achieve. What about "intent?" This was not the intent of GO Zone. And the real estate firms are well aware of this. Why can’t the government just say, "look, you are trying to take advantage of a situation. You know it. We know it. Sorry, no tax break for you." I just don’t get why our government can’t use some common sense for once.

After nearly two years of listening to countless complaints that the post-Katrina "disaster trailers" contained dangerously high levels of formaldehyde, FEMA is finally springing into action. FEMA has decided to suspend the sale and donation of these trailers while they review the reports that the trailers are causing respiratory problems for residents. It’s a stunning reversal, considering that only a few weeks ago Congress saw documents showing that FEMA lawyers had discouraged the agency from looking into the problem.

Despite the administration’s pledges to increase the number of contracts awarded to small business for Katrina-related projects, a new congressional analysis finds that percentage of such firms represented in contracting has actually dropped from 12% to 7% of all those awarded. In addition, the report found that $95 million in contracts that the government claimed were awarded to small businesses were actually awarded to large companies or were ineligible receipts.

I swear, you just can’t make up stuff like this. Lawmakers are "infuriated" by subpoenaed documents released yesterday showing the agency, already under fire for not paying companies charged with post-Katrina clean-up, discouraged officials to follow up on reports of toxic chemicals in FEMA trailers. Trailers were not inspected even after occupants complained of respiratory problems, which were later found to result from toxic levels of formaldehyde in trailers.