Democratic lawmakers blast CDC on FEMA trailers

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention bungled by not checking sooner for formaldehyde in trailers use to house victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Democrats on a House of Representatives Committee said on Wednesday.

House Science and Technology Committee Democrats also accused the CDC of acting out of revenge to discipline a staffer who said he repeatedly called for action on the trailers.

The Democratic lawmakers sent CDC director Julie Gerberding a letter asking that she suspend all personnel actions against Dr. Chris DeRosa and return him to his post as director of the Toxicology and Environmental Medicine division.

"This appears to be a classic 'shoot-the-messenger' response from an agency which our investigation has shown to have engaged in a scientific and management fiasco at the highest levels," they said in their letter to Gerberding.

In February, the CDC reported its tests of 519 trailers provided to Katrina victims by the Federal Emergency Management Agency showed potentially dangerous levels of formaldehyde in many of the trailers. It urged that people be moved out of the trailers, where many have been living since soon after the hurricanes struck in 2005.

Early last month, Mike Lapinski, FEMA federal coordinating officer, said 35,000 trailers are still occupied in Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana.

Formaldehyde, a chemical used to manufacture many building materials, can irritate the skin, eyes, nose and throat. High exposure levels may cause cancer.

DeRosa said he had "repeatedly cautioned" senior CDC staff about the problem. On Tuesday, he told a hearing of the committee that late last year he received an unsatisfactory evaluation and was removed from his post as division director.

Other CDC experts told the committee on Tuesday the agency had moved too slowly on the trailers and said they took responsibility for their failures.

"The Science and Technology Committee consider Dr. DeRosa a whistle-blower. He sought to repeatedly raise the alarm within the corridors of the CDC that a public health disaster was unraveling before them," committee chairman Rep. Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat, said in a statement.

The lawmakers asked Gerberding to personally explain what happened.

CDC spokesman David Daigle said, "We've worked hard to comply with their requests in a timely manner, and will continue to be fully forthcoming. We cannot comment on personnel matters, but we are committed to respecting Dr. DeRosa's rights."

(Reporting by Maggie Fox, editing by Vicki Allen)