Bioremediation
Formaldehyde in Your FEMA Trailer?
Volunteer | Bioremediation
FEMA trailers were produced very quickly by several companies. In the rush to finish the trailers, some companies used unsafe materials. Paint, adhesives, insulation, and particleboard used to fabricate the trailers may contain formaldehyde. As the trailer ages, formaldehyde is released into the air in a process called “outgassing.”
Just 0.1 parts per million of formaldehyde can cause burning, watery eyes, nausea, and breathing problems for some people. The Sierra Club tested 44 FEMA trailers and found levels three times that high in some trailers. Elderly people and children may be more likely to get sick.
Increasing ventilation in your FEMA trailer can help. Keep the door and windows open as much as you can. Outgassing increases in higher temperatures. When you can't have your windows open, certain plants can help to filter the air in the trailer.
Plants that Remove Formaldehyde from the Air
FEMA Trailers Present Health Threats: Interview with Resident
BioremediationCristina lives in Algiers, in one of many FEMA trailers parked in the driveways of her neighborhood. Throughout the past year and a half that she and her children have lived in the trailer, they've suffered health problems—watery eyes, breathing problems. Cristina's been throwing up, and recently her symptoms led her to seek medical advice.
In July 2007, MSNBC reported the link between FEMA trailers and formaldehyde-related illness in their article, Are FEMA trailers 'toxic tin cans?'"Sierra Club testing of 44 trailers throughout the Gulf Coast showed that 83% were above the recommended limit of 0.10 ppm (parts per million). Formaldehyde gas can cause symptoms ranging from burning sensations in the ears, nose and throat, to breathing difficulty, nausea and exacerbation of asthma and other respiratory illnesses. A known carcinogen, formaldehyde is especially dangerous to children and the elderly.
Weekend Voices Interviews Emily Posner, Bioremediation Coordinator
Bioremediation | interviews/articlesMeg Perry Garden Blooming with Vegetables and Flowers!
BioremediationCommon Ground’s community gardens are starting to bloom with fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables!! Food security and access to healthy, fresh produce is a right of all New Orleans residents and returning evacuees. Common Ground Relief is working to uphold this right. Through the Meg Perry Garden, we hope to increase access to wholesome, nourishing produce while also increasing the area’s biodiversity and land quality.
Located by the London Street Canal off of St. Denis and Paris, Common Ground has been busy planting at the Meg Perry Garden.
The Meg Perry Community Garden and Bioremediation Project
Volunteer | Bioremediation
The eco-systems of the Gulf Coast region were severely disrupted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The communities in the area were left without the resources for sustainable healthy soil, clean water and locally grown produce.
The Meg Perry Community Garden and Bioremediation Project was founded to work with residents in Orleans Parish to address these issues.
Since 2005 Common Ground's Bioremediation volunteers have helped to remediate soil using natural methods, such as removing lead from the soil through the planting of ferns. The Bioremediation team are also growing mushrooms, which will be used to remove petrochemicals from the soil, and will also be used in compost. This compost will bind metals into the soil and improve its quality and productivity.
In addition to this, volunteers are collecting soil samples, which are tested by the LSU Ag Center, so as to determine if the soil contains toxins, and if clean, what plants and produce can be effectively grown.
The Meg Perry Community Garden and Bioremediation Project is in the process of starting the Sprouts Club, working with local children in the Community Gardens. In collaboration with Tulane University, Replant New Orleans and Hands On, Common Ground is setting up an Environmental Science Learning Project, which will work with local high school children to collect soil samples, remediate soil and provide food security in the Mid City neighborhood.
At the Meg Perry Community Garden in Gentilly volunteers are working with local organic farming expert Anne Baker of the New Orleans Food and Farm Network to help plant organic produce for local residents and businesses.
And we have a worm farm! It's much cuter than it sounds...
More information about Meg Perry
For more information about Bioremediation and the Healthy Soil Project, email Zeke
Guide To Do It Yourself Soil Clean Up
BioremediationThe New Orleans Residents’ Guide To Do It Yourself Soil Clean Up
Using Natural Processes
An Informational Booklet from The Common Ground Collective Meg Perry Health Soil Project, March 2006
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. What might be in your soil and how to find out
3. Different strategies for natural toxic soil clean up
4. How to clean up your soil step by step
5. General soil health, gardening, and personal safety tips
6. The Common Ground Collective project and support
7. Resources in the New Orleans community
8. Index
