RV workers react to congressional hearing on toxic trailers

by Leanne Tokars (ltokars@wsbt.com)

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Gulf Stream Coach manufactured thousands of trailers for FEMA in the town of Etna Green in Kosciusko County

Gulf Stream Coach manufactured thousands of trailers for FEMA in the town of Etna Green in Kosciusko County. (WSBT file photo)

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Jul 9, 2008 at 4:47 PM EST

Story Updated: Jul 13, 2008 at 7:42 PM EST

ETNA GREEN — It's the blame game on Capitol Hill and here at home over who's responsible for 'toxic trailers.'

The Centers for Disease Control says it found the highest levels of formaldehyde in trailers built by Indiana companies.

Officials from Gulf Stream Coach in Nappanee, Elkhart based Forest River, Keystone RV of Goshen and Pilgrim International of Middlebury are testifying this week.

Members of the House Oversight and Government Committee grilled Gulf Stream's president Wednesday.

Elkhart County Congressman Mark Souder was one of them. He says the manufacturers shouldn't take all the blame and FEMA should have played a bigger part in testing.

Company officials said they rushed to meet a desperate need for trailers after Katrina, but still maintained high quality.

They say before the storm and still today, there were no government standards on formaldehyde levels in trailers.

Some of the local RV workers who helped make those FEMA trailers are speaking out.

Gulf Stream Coach manufactured thousands of trailers in the small town of Etna Green in Kosciusko County.

One former worker told WSBT it was quantity over quality. Others say the company knew it had a problem with formaldehyde.

But most people we talked with in Etna Green say the RV companies are not the ones to blame.

It wasn’t uncommon to see FEMA trailers being transported on the streets of Etna Green.

“It gave so many people employment, it really did,” commented Elaine Fletcher, whose son worked at Gulf Stream Coach.

After the hurricanes hit, Gulf Stream Coach got the largest trailer contract — more than $500 million to supply 50,000 trailers as soon as possible.

Many people remember.

“They push them — you gotta get it out, you gotta get this many out, you gotta do this, you gotta do that,” remembered Paulette Chappell. “They don't even give them time to do to their job."

Oliver Cretcher worked at a company that provided materials to the RV companies.

“They were more quantity over quality at the time,” said Cretcher.

But is that to blame for the toxic formaldehyde levels?

Current and former employees at Gulf Stream told CBS News the company knew it had a problem.

“FEMA would show up around 9 or 10 in the morning to do their inspections,” said former employee Linda Esparza. “About a couple hours before they came out to do their inspection, we were instructed to open the doors and windows so the odor wouldn't be as strong when the inspectors got there."

But most people we talked with blamed FEMA, not Gulf Stream Coach.

“The houses were meant to be temporary,” exclaimed Cretcher. “They're not meant to be lived in for 3, 4, 5 years."

And in Etna Green, there's some concern now about what the FEMA trailer hearings could lead to.

“It didn't just help our community; it helped everybody, and we need these trailer companies to stay open. I don't know what's going to happen if they close,” said Fletcher.

Two former Gulf Stream Coach employees including Linda Esparza told CBS News that the formaldehyde levels also impacted their health and others at the plant.

It surprised a lot of people in Etna Green. Everyone who talked with WSBT said they never heard of any employees getting sick because of the formaldehyde.

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