Federal Efforts Good Start – But Don’t Expect Relief

An interesting article just came out in the Miami Herald today about the latest Chinese Drywall updates. The Environmental Protection Agency, also known as the EPA, have been doing investigations and taking tests to prove the correlation between the foreign defective drywall and health effects, failure of appliances, and corrosion of copper. They are one step closer to finally proving the drywall to be defective. EPA’s new test results show that Chinese Drywall have high levels of strontium, sulfur, and other elements that are not found in American Drywall. In addition, the Chinese Drywall showed to have three different sulfur compounds that lead to a foul odor, another connection to finding the problem. The levels of strontium in the Chinese Drywall were 10 times the rate than the levels in American-made plasterboard.

Recently, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida and Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana have lead the fight for more thorough testing. It was at their request that the EPA conduct these tests due to the many complaints of homeowners in their states. The complaints are from 10 different states. Many law suits and class action cases are taking place on behalf of South Floridians, and some builders have began suing the Chinese manufacturers for providing them with defective drywall.

The Florida Department of Health have also conducted similar tests to that of the EPA’s and coincidentally came up with the same results. Nelson and Landrieu have requested more money to continue their investigations and are now taking up the issue with the national government. Nelson will be sitting with the Senate Commerce Committee this Thursday to discuss this issue. Nelson will be bringing his own team of investigators to the committee meeting, including members of the EPA, experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a homeowner from Florida, and a builder from Louisiana.

The EPA is trying to create a standard that orders states to test the air quality of all homes with Chinese Drywall.

It must be noted that despite these efforts homeowners whose homes have been affected with toxic Chinese drywall should not expect a “drywall bailout.” I anticipate that any legislation that is passed will focus on identifying the problem, identifying any potential health affects, and preventing this problem in the future. However, I do not expect this legislation to actually compensate homeowners directly. FEMA may be able to provide low interest or no interest loans, legislation may be passed to help homeowners seek mortgage relief while they live outside the home, standards may be imposed that will dictate what drywall is made of in the future….However, none of these measures will compensate the victims. This is not unusual. Just look as to how the government reacts to a disaster like a hurricane. The government issues low interest loans from FEMA, they send in the National Guard for protection, they provide a number of other services, but typically they do not compensate homeowners for their loss. That is the role that insurance plays in our society. Further, if the insurance does not pay voluntarily, then the Courts or the Judiciary is where victims seek justice.

They can be assured that investigations are under way and that attorneys are doing their best to work with toxicologists and builders to fix this massive growing problem in the United States.