Chinese Drywall Answers

We recently wrote that, following the deaths of ten children in three years, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) was conducting tests at Fort Bragg. Now, the US Army says that tests on building materials, including Chinese drywall, used in the homes revealed nothing that would have caused the deaths, said the News Observer.

The agency was testing the homes where the infants died to ascertain if defective drywall was the culprit and was also spearheading a nationwide probe into defective Chinese drywall cases. The military ordered testing following reports of infant deaths at its housing on a large base near Fayetteville, said the News Observer. …

Facing withering criticism, Lowe’s Companies Inc. has increased its offer to settle toxic drywall lawsuits. According to ProPublica, the home improvement store chain is offering as much as $100,000 to customers who claim their homes and health sustained damages because of toxic drywall they allegedly purchased at Lowe’s.

Despite the settlement, Lowe’s continues to maintain it did not sell any Chinese-made drywall, which has been linked to corrosion and other problems seen in homes around the country. When it announced an earlier version of the settlement, the company said it “entered into this agreement as part of our commitment to serving our customers.” …

Habitat for Humanity says it will be gutting about 24 Florida homes it built with defective Chinese drywall. The homes were built between 2006 and 2009 in Lehigh Acres, Cape Coral, North Fort Myers and Bonita Springs with Chinese drywall donated through Habitat’s national organization.

This isn’t Habitat for Humanity’s first run-in with Chinese drywall. Earlier this year, the Sarasota-Herald Tribune, in cooperation with ProPublica, reported that Habitat built more than 200 homes with Chinese drywall in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans and then ignored homeowners’ complaints about corrosion and other problems in their homes. …

US officials are in China hoping to persuade Chinese companies to pay for repairs to homes built with toxic drywall made in that country. Inez Tenenbaum, head of the US Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), is in Shanghai for a meeting with her counterparts there, and will ask the country’s trade ministry to convince Chinese drywall makers to meet with US officials to discuss solutions to the problem.

Since late 2008, the CPSC has received more than 3,600 reports from residents in 39 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, and Puerto Rico regarding defective Chinese drywall. Sulfurous gases emitted from Chinese drywall are being blamed for significant property damage, including damage to HVAC systems, smoke detectors, electrical wiring, metal plumbing components, and other household appliances. Some people living with the wallboard have also complained of health problems. The CPSC has recommended that homes built with defective Chinese drywall be gutted. …

The Chinese drywall settlement announced last week by the judge overseeing the consolidated federal litigation in New Orleans is garnering praise from some Louisiana politicians. The Chinese drywall settlement sets up a pilot remediation program by which Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. and various other builders and suppliers will pay to remediate 300 homes in Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi and Alabama. Hopes are high that the pilot program will eventually lead to a larger settlement of Knauf drywall claims.

According to the Associated Press, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) called last week’s announcement a “ray of light” for homeowners plagued by the toxic drywall. Louisiana’s second senator, Republican David Vitter called the settlement “good news,” but added that more needs to be done “to ensure that all the victims receive just compensation.” …