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

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.

South Florida Business Journal – by Paul Brinkmann

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tests of high-sulfur Chinese drywall have confirmed differences between the imported material and U.S.-made drywall, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Tuesday.

The new EPA tests showed the Chinese-made drywall contained sulfur that was not in U.S. drywall, strontium (a metallic element) at levels 10 times as high as in U.S. drywall and two other organic compounds generally found in acrylic paint that were not detected in any U.S.-made wallboard, according to a news release.

“We now know there are three things in there that aren’t in other drywall samples,” Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said in the release. “We’ve got the what, and now we need the why and how do we fix it? In the end, I think all this stuff is going to have to be ripped out.”

Nelson’s office said the EPA has determined more tests are needed, including air sampling in affected houses, to determine whether the drywall is the cause of corroded wiring and appliances and the alleged health problems. Nelson said he and Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana, will file an amendment to pending legislation to provide emergency funds for further investigation and continued testing.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2009/05/18/daily29.html

 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.

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