FEMA selling Katrina trailers

WASHINGTON, March 12 (UPI) -- Rep. Mike Ross Friday called for congressional hearings into the government sale of formaldehyde-tainted trailers used in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The government is selling the trailers off in 11 bulk lots for $133 million -- about 7 cents on the dollar, The Washington Post reported. The sales are expected to be completed by April 3 and buyers must promise the units won't be resold for housing. The highest bid came from a Columbus, Ohio, commercial real estate company that bid $27 million for about 15,000 units, roughly $1,800 each.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency bought 145,000 trailers and mobile homes for $2.7 billion to house 770,000 people displaced by Katrina and has spent $220 million more in storage fees.

"Taxpayers only lose in this scenario," Ross, D-Ark., said.

FEMA acknowledged it is unlikely people will heed warnings not to live in the trailers, which are tainted with formaldehyde, mold and mildew and are prone to propane leaks.

"People are all going to buy them, move into them and then start getting sick," said Marty Horine, a retired teacher from Clinton, Mo., who bought one of the trailers for her son to live in. She said she paid $6,000 for the unit but now doesn't want her son to move in. She also doesn't want to resell it, saying that would be "mean."