FEMA trailers make local stopover on way to final destination
More than 40 white trailers line a lot belonging to Ponderosa Service in southeast Mitchell, a final stop before the buildings once dedicated to helping victims of disaster are transported to American Indian reservations.Pete Brenden, owner of Ponderosa Service, said he’s hauled approximately 300 of the trailers from Texas to tribes in North and South Dakota, where the trailers are meant to be used as temporary housing.
“We take three to four a week,” Brenden said.
By: Austin Kaus, The Daily Republic
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More than 40 white trailers line a lot belonging to Ponderosa Service in southeast Mitchell, a final stop before the buildings once dedicated to helping victims of disaster are transported to American Indian reservations.
Pete Brenden, owner of Ponderosa Service, said he’s hauled approximately 300 of the trailers from Texas to tribes in North and South Dakota, where the trailers are meant to be used as temporary housing.
“We take three to four a week,” Brenden said.
The trailers began as property of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said external affairs representative Jerry DeFelice, but were released to other entities as a way of reducing inventory.
“We make them available to other federal agencies or nonprofits,” DeFelice said.
The trailers shipped by Ponderosa Service have been turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Brenden said the trailers have been distributed to members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in southcentral South Dakota, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate in northeast South Dakota, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of Belcourt, N.D.
Brenden said the individual who plans to take ownership of the trailer pays for the transportation costs.
The trailers received some negative publicity in recent years after trailer manufacturers were accused of supplying the federal government with toxic hurricane shelters.
High levels of formaldehyde were found in trailers used for hurricane victims.
But Brenden said FEMA conducts a series of safety tests before the trailers are allowed to be transferred. In addition, Brenden said the windows of the trailers are left open for ventilation purposes when they are transported.
“We don’t have any problems with them,” Brenden said.
DeFelice said all buyers are required to sign a waiver saying they will not use the trailers for permanent housing.
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