Posts Tagged ‘EPA’
Chinese Drywall News Alerts
| Miami-Dade Officials Announce Drywall Assistance Poder 360 Miami-Dade County homeowners with Chinese drywall issues will receive financial help from the county on the toxic situation. County officials have reported … |
| Drywall victims get break MiamiHerald.com … are related to faulty Chinese drywall won’t have to pay any permitting fees to repair their homes, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said Thursday. … |
| Property appraiser trying to figure way to help tainted drywall victims Palm Beach Post More Money news » From The Post and AP By Jennifer Sorentrue More than 500 Palm Beach County homeowners whose property is tainted with Chinese drywall have … |
| Miami-Dade to help Chinese drywall victims Bizjournals.com Homeowners dealing with Chinese drywall can also try to get their property taxes reduced. Unlike the county permit program, which mostly applies to … |
| IRS: Tax deduction may go to homeowners with tainted Chinese drywall Scripps News The IRS statement comes a week after federal investigators issued a study concluding that there was a “strong association” between tainted Chinese drywall … |
| Gulfport Chinese drywall lawsuit could be among first in federal court WLOX By Trang Pham-Bui – bio | email GULFPORT, MS (WLOX) – A Gulfport couple hopes its lawsuit against a major manufacturer of defective Chinese drywall will be … |
| Congress Takes on Chinese Drywall Housing Wire These are the latest legislative actions taken by Congress to address the Chinese drywall situation. A Consumer Product Safety Commission-led task force, … |
| House Passes Chinese Drywall Resolution RealEstateRama … resolving this problem,†said Posey who recently toured several homes in Indian River County that have been affected by contaminated Chinese drywall. … |
| House Passes Glenn Nye’s Resolution to Aid Toxic Drywall Victims RealEstateRama … in Hampton Roads affected by toxic drywall. “I have seen firsthand the physical, emotional, and financial burden toxic Chinese drywall creates,†said … |
Chinese Drywall News Alerts
USBC States the Importance of Certification in Remediation for …
PR.com (press release)
There are possibly hundreds of thousands of homes that have to be remediated from defective Chinese drywall in Florida alone. It has been reported that as …
Chinese drywall concerns in Newport News subdivision
By Patrick Terpstra, 13News NEWPORT NEWS – Nearly 70 homes in a Newport News neighborhood could be checked after Chinese drywall was found in one house. …
See all stories on this topic
Estero home tested for Chinese drywall lawsuits
NBC2 News
ESTERO: A federal judge has ordered 30 homes across the country be tested for Chinese drywall, to set a standard for all of the federal lawsuits surrounding …
See all stories on this topic
Editorial: Let’s see more action on drywall
The News-Press
That’s at least some help for people whose recently built or remodeled homes have been damaged or ruined by Chinese drywall, which smells like rotten eggs …
See all stories on this topic
Investigators to get more money for tainted Chinese drywall
By ALLISON ROSS
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate committee on appropriations has allocated a $9.6 million increase in funding for the Consumer Product Safety Commission, citing in part the agency’s need to investigate tainted drywall products.
In the 2010 Financial Services Appropriations Bill, which was approved by the senate committee last Thursday, the CPSC was given $115 million – a 9.1 percent increase over last year’s funding and $8 million more than what the agency had requested for its budget.
“Families … across the country have seen their dream homes turn into nightmares because of this defective Chinese drywall,” Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said in a statement praising the increased funding.
Some drywall imported from China between 2000 and 2008 has been found to give off sulfuric odors thought to corrode metal components in homes such as air-conditioning coils, silver frames and copper wiring. Some homeowners have blamed it for respiratory trouble, nosebleeds, headaches and other health problems.
In addition, other homeowners have claimed that some American-made drywall gives off the same sulfuric odors.
The U.S. House committee on appropriations also has approved increased funding for the CPSC, which is the lead governmental agency investigating the tainted drywall issue.
According to a press release from that committee, the CPSC was allocated $113 million for the 2010 fiscal year – an $8 million increase above last year and $6 million more than the budget request.
The statement from the House committee said part of that money should be used to expand the Import Safety Initiative, which puts CPSC inspectors at key U.S. ports.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2009/07/13/drywallfunding13.html
Another round of Chinese drywall testing nearly complete
By Aaron Kessler
ORLANDO – The Florida Department of Health is nearly complete with another round of drywall testing aimed at zeroing in further on what contaminants in Chinese wallboard may be responsible for emitting volatile sulfur gases.
Lori Streit, with Illinois-based Unified Engineering, conducted the first lab tests for the state published in March. Those tests found hydrogen sulfide, carbon disulfide and carbonyl sulfide coming from several Chinese drywall samples taken from Florida homes.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090604/BREAKING/906049944/1006/SPORTS0301
Chinese drywall hits health, wallets, homeowners say
PARKLAND, Florida (CNN) — Sherri and Ira Rojhani stopped paying the mortgage on their 2-year-old South Florida home in April, victims not of a troubled economy, but, they say, of drywall from China that they believe is making them sick.
They join a growing list of homeowners in 13 states who face foreclosure or the prospect of paying both their mortgage and rent on alternate housing as they seek relief from what they describe as corrosive gasses emitted from the Chinese drywall. The drywall is now the subject of several scientific studies.
“Families are being forced to make health decisions based on financial consideration, and that is fundamentally flawed,” said Sherri Rojhani, a homeowner in Parkland, Florida. “We shouldn’t be in a position to stay in a home, based on our health,” she said.
Homeowners allege the gas is causing home appliances and copper wiring to fail and causes chronic, long-term upper respiratory infections.
Federal authorities including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission are studying the possible health effects of the drywall. Most of their results are still some time off.
On Tuesday the EPA announced that it found sulfur, a corrosive material, in the Chinese drywall samples it tested and that sulfur was not found in the U.S. manufactured drywall samples it also tested. The EPA also found strontium in the Chinese drywall at levels about 10 times higher than in the U.S. drywall. Strontium is a metal often used in manufacturing the glass for television screens.
The EPA also detected two elements typically found in acrylic paints in the Chinese drywall but not in the U.S. drywall.
The EPA said these results are not intended to establish a definitive link between the drywall and the conditions being found by homeowners in their homes.
Broward County mayor: Legislators torpedoed Chinese drywall aid
BY ALLISON ROSS
Palm Beach Post
Efforts to expand health testing and limit builder liability related to Chinese drywall got torpedoed this legislative session, Broward County Mayor Stacy Ritter told a group of homeowners, building contractors, real estate agents and bankers Monday.
One proposal had called for $400,000 in funding to go to the state department of health for Chinese drywall-related testing, Ritter told the group. And an amendment sponsored by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, that proposed absolving certain homeowners, suppliers, contractors and installers of liability was withdrawn after being attached to at least three bills.
Ritter made her remarks at a lawyer-sponsored ”Toxic Drywall Roundtable” at the Heron Bay Marriott in Coral Springs.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist last week outlining plans to investigate Chinese drywall, and assuring the governor that the EPA is taking the issue seriously.
”I share your concerns and can assure you that EPA is working with our federal and state partners to address the challenges posed by imported Chinese drywall,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson wrote.
The letter came in response to one sent last month by Crist asking for federal assistance.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1033040.html