On Jan. 17, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced refunds for potentially toxic trailers purchased between July 2006 and July 2007, the period trailers manufactured in response to Hurricane Katrina were sold.

According to FEMA, 864 disaster victims living in the trailers bought them directly from the agency, while the General Services Administration (GSA) sold 10,839 in online auctions. FEMA stopped selling trailers on July 31, 2007, due to concerns about formaldehyde contamination and poisoning. At last count at the end of November 2007, 47,000 families were still living in trailers and mobile homes in the Gulf Coast region.

Questions remain over whether the refund offer can really shift people out of toxic living conditions and into safer residences. While offering refunds is a positive development, the average trailer only cost $6,936, and that is unlikely to be enough for a down payment on a new mortgage or house repairs. Another problem is that FEMA is requiring buyers to apply for the refund within 60 days. The likelihood is low that families will find adequate replacement housing in just two months with just a few thousand dollars to spend. Though FEMA has offered assistance in finding alternate housing, many of those still in the trailers at this point will probably be stuck in the substandard housing because of a lack of options.

The issue of formaldehyde in the trailers reared its ugly head in March 2006, seven months after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. After testing only unoccupied trailers, FEMA declared them safe using a health standard for able-bodied workers assuming eight hours or less of exposure. When private testing and personal accounts told a different story, public outrage ultimately prompted a July 2007 congressional oversight hearing. FEMA implemented a hotline and program to place occupants with health concerns in immediate alternate temporary housing. The first comprehensive formaldehyde study began in December 2007 and will test a sample of 500 occupied trailers by the end of February. A report is expected in May, providing many Gulf Coast residents with long-awaited answers on whether their homes are a hazard to their families' health.

Two and a half years is too long to wait for such information. In the meantime, trailer residents may be slowly poisoned on the government's watch.