A federal judge in New Orleans has signed off on a $37.5 million settlement involving companies that provided trailers to thousands left homeless from Gulf Coast hurricanes seven years ago. Some residents claim the trailers contained chemicals that made them sick.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency provided trailers as temporary housing after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Government tests found hundreds of trailers in Louisiana and Mississippi had formaldehyde levels five times those found in modern homes, and residents say they suffered headaches, nosebleeds and breathing problems.
About half the settlement goes to attorney fees and costs. The rest will be shared by about 55,000 residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.