News 12 This Morning, May 19, 2010

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. --- More than 80 travel trailers previously owned by the government are set for auction in North Augusta. Many of the trailers are the same brand and model year previously investigated for dangerous levels of formaldehyde.

According to documents released by the CDC, several brands of trailers, including 2006 GulfStream and Keystone, were found to have "higher that acceptable levels" of formaldehyde gas. The report explains that high levels of the gas can cause eye irritation, breathing problems, nose bleeds, and do contain some known carcinogens. News 12 found more than half of the travel trailers included in this sale were GulfStream. Additional models include Fleetwood, which were found by the study not to contain abnormal levels of the gas.

Augusta Auto Auction allowed our crew to enter and video all of the trailer units. We did find that several contained mold, rotten wood, and water damage on the interior walls.

In an on-camera interview with News 12, auction Vice-President David Bynum says he has "no concerns" about the trailers for sale, and adds most of the formaldehyde concerns in previous models were eliminated by allowing the units to "air out". We did observe the units were open and being cleaned while recording this story.

Bo Jones with Travel Country RV, a commercial dealership in Augusta, says consumers should understand the dangers before purchasing this type of used trailer. "You can have mold, mildew, rot, and you don't know what you are getting until you have a certified expert take apart the walls and look," Jones said.

"These (FEMA) trailers are not made to be towed back and forth to a campground and used like that," Jones added. He says these types of trailers were not designed to be used for camping or housing, because they do not contain holding tanks or heavy insulation.

Our News 12 crew observed no warning labels posted on auction materials or inside the trailers themselves that disclosed the history of the trailers, or the housing restrictions.

We have included many of the documents used for research in this story in the links below.