Over the past few days the British (well, English) press has been full of laments over the weather. It actually has snowed in most places (how unseasonal, this being February!), and -160C IS cold for this country, but the TV pictures from around Europe really should stop us from going on about it. Even Rome had snow during the rugby international, which you would have thought would have suited England, but no matter.
Spare a thought for the people of Louisiana, then, who got caught up in the disastrous events following Hurricane Katrina. Not only did they suffer the indignity of having President Bush overfly the area on his way back from holiday, and Dick Cheney insist that power crews repair an oil pipeline substation rather than local hospitals, they were given temporary accommodation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in ‘trailers’ that were contaminated with formaldehyde.
As the American website FindLaw, in its attorney’s blog,points out: “Formaldehyde is a cancer-causing chemical substance found in construction materials such as plywood and particleboard. The formaldehyde-laden trailers were provided to Gulf Coast residents from September 2005 until May 2009. Shortly after the trailers were made available, FEMA began receiving complaints from trailer occupants about the smell of formaldehyde.”
As the writer, a blogger from Dunlap Fiore, points out, the issues involved in construction law are complex and require an expert to unravel. Certainly in the UK a whole body of expert witness opinion exists to guide the unfortunate complainant, as a perusal through the Expert Witness Directory will demonstrate.
In this case, the residents of Louisiana were told by the Federal Appeals Court in January that they cannot sue FEMA for any ill-health caused by the carcinogen. According to a report in the US legal news service Courthouse News: “The United States cannot be sued without consent, and that consent is a prerequisite to federal jurisdiction. Courts must measure the government's liability according to the law of the state where the alleged act occurred.”
The issue seems to be that the temporary accommodation was offered free “with no obligation”. So there you have it; in the US you can’t complain if your own government poisons you, as long as they didn’t charge you for the privilege.
Not all legal minds are closed to the human emotions, however. News blog Above the Law, which carries a regular Letter from London detailing all the sleaze from this side of the pond, had this handy little Valentine’s Day missive for all those who need to have their expressions of undying love put into perspective:
Now you know where you stand!