For more information about the “Chinese Drywall Litigation Conference” on Thursday, June 18, contact the conference producer, HB Litigation Conferences, formerly Mealey’s Conferences, by phone at (484) 324-2755, by email at info@LitigationConferences.com, or by visiting the conferences section at HB’s website at www.LitigationConferences.com.

Contact
Sharon Boothe
Sharon.Boothe@LitigationConferences.com
(484) 324-2755 x208
www.litigationconferences.com

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, which consolidates similar cases filed in different federal courts before a single judge, has assigned the case to U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon, the paper reported.

Attorneys in South Florida argued that Miami would be a better location, because a majority of Chinese drywall problems and lawsuits have occurred there. The problems first cropped up in southwest Florida’s Gulf Coast cities. The drywall was imported following hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005, after the housing boom and rebuilding efforts created a material shortage among domestic suppliers.

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2009/06/15/daily14.html

 BATON ROUGE, La. — The Senate diverted legislation dealing with Chinese-made building materials, which has been implicated in health problems, to a second committee hearing.

Several federal and state agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are investigating complaints that Chinese drywall is causing health problems. There also are reports that fumes from the drywall corrode metal and cause a rotten-egg stench in homes.

Sen. Julie Quinn’s bill originally would have allowed homeowners who used the drywall in their houses to sue the makers, distributors and sellers of the material for damages and attorney fees.

With the measure up for a Senate floor vote on Tuesday, Quinn had it rewritten to delete the litigation provisions. She instead proposed that homeowners with the drywall be reimbursed by the state, with tax credits for the cost of the drywall.

Senate President Joel Chaisson, D-Destrehan, ordered the amended bill to the Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Committee, which considers all tax bills. The measure previously won approval from a Senate judiciary committee chaired by Quinn, R-Metairie.

Homeowners in at least 18 states have complained that fumes from Chinese-made drywall produce a “rotten eggs” odor and cause metals, such as air conditioning coils, to corrode. The fumes have also been associated with respiratory and sinus problems in some residents. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the U.S. imported roughly 309 million square feet of drywall from China during the housing boom from 2004 to 2007. In Louisiana, many homeowners who had to be rebuild following Hurricane Katrina have discovered that the tainted drywall was used in their homes.

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released results of tests it conducted that compared Chinese drywall to American-made material. The tests found sulfur and two organic compounds associated with acrylic paint in the Chinese drywall that were not present in the American wallboard. The agency said more testing is needed to determine if any of the compounds found in the Chinese drywall are responsible for problems reported by homeowners

http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/6613

 According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, at least 13 states and the District of Columbia have reported “health symptoms or certain metal corrosion problems in their homes that may be related” to Chinese drywall. The CPSC said it was “moving aggressively” with the EPA and HHS to fully investigate the matter, including communication with the Chinese government. The CPSC said it has received more than 180 reports, starting with the first one on Dec. 22, 2008.

 ”The Chinese Drywall Litigation Conference,” taking place on June 18, will feature chairman Bruce Steckler of Baron & Budd and a defense co-chair to be announced. Speakers include Hugh Turner of Akerman Senterfitt; Russell Nassof of TRC; Paul Phillips of Rimkus Consulting Group Inc.; Lorelie Masters of Jenner & Block; Stephen Mysliwiec of DLA Piper; Veronica Bates of Hermes Sargent Bates; Robert Horst of Nelson Levine de Luca & Horst; Burton LeBlanc of Baron & Budd; Jeremy Alters of Alters, Boldt, Brown, Rash & Culmo; Sandy Esserman of Strutzman, Bromberg, Esserman & Plifka; John Kilpatrick, Ph.D. of Greenfield Advisors; Arnold Levin of Levin, Fishbein, Sedran & Berman; Ervin Gonzalez, Law Offices of Erving Gonzalez; Richard Lewis of Hausfeld LLP; and Patricia Williams, Ph.D., DABT, Environmental Toxicology Experts.

http://news.prnewswire.com

April 13, 2009

CHALMETTE, La. (AP) — Thomas Stone and his wife rebuilt after their home was flooded by six feet of water during Hurricane Katrina, never dreaming they would face the agony of tearing it apart all over again.

They tapped Lauren Stone’s 401(k) retirement savings and saved $1,000 by installing Chinese-made drywall throughout their two-story home. Now the Stones are among hundreds of Katrina victims facing another, this time unnatural, disaster.

Sulfur-emitting wallboard from China is wreaking havoc in homes, charring electrical wires, eating away at jewelry, silverware and other valuables, and possibly even sickening families.

“The bathroom upstairs has a corroded shower-head, the door hinges are rusting out,” said 50-year-old Thomas Stone, the longtime fire chief of St. Bernard Parish, outside New Orleans. And then there’s the stench, like rotten eggs, that seems to get worse with the heat and humidity.

“It makes me wish there would be another flood to wash it out,” said his wife Lauren, 49.

Chinese manufacturers flooded the U.S. market with more than 500 million pounds of drywall around the same time Katrina was flooding New Orleans, an Associated Press review of shipping records has found.

The boom in imported China-made building materials peaked in 2006, driven by domestic shortages created by the nationwide construction boom, as well as a series of Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Full Story