Oregon Public Broadcasting

Some of the families that lost their homes in last December’s floods could be one step closer to moving into temporary housing.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has rented an empty lot behind Vernonia City Hall to build a new mobile home park. But it could take weeks before the actual homes arrive. Bilal Qureshi has more.

FEMA trailers are sitting on a lot in Portland. They’re for people in Vernonia who lost their homes in last year’s flooding. Federal agents are testing them for the chemical formaldehyde.

Last month the Center for Disease Control revealed that similar trailers sent to Katrina victims had five times the acceptable amount of formaldehyde. That’s an air-borne compound known to cause breathing problems and even linked to cancer.

Denise Everhart is a representative with FEMA in Salem. She says the agency is testing the trailers to make sure that doesn’t happen here…

Denise Everhart: "When we get the test results back we will give them to the state and they will determine if they’re acceptable. We are not going to put anybody in an unsafe situation."

The trailers will be moved to the Vernonia site if and when they pass inspections. Everhart says FEMA will announce that timeline within a few days.