Chinese Company Begins Drywall Remediation
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has determined that Chinese drywall imported into the United States by Knauf Plasterboard and other companies during 2005 and 2006 emits extraordinarily high levels of hydrogen sulfide, causing an array of problems in homes in 42 states, Puerto Rico and American Samoa.
It was imported during a period when increased hurricane activity and a real estate boom had created drywall shortages. So the United States turned to China to fill the need.
The Safety Commission says it has received almost 3,800 complaints about the drywall nationwide.
Metallic objects in homes with the bad drywall corroded and turned black. Copper air conditioning coils and electrical wiring and appliances failed, and people complained that their houses were making them sick.
The Safety Commission recommends that consumers remove all of the problem drywall from their homes and replace electrical components, wires, smoke alarms, fire suppression systems and natural gas pipes. Knauf Plasterboard has agreed to do that in 300 homes in four states.
The Safety Commission is now conducting tests at the Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico to determine what safety problems the homes with Chinese drywall are at risk for.
"We have to let people know whether there could be a wiring problem, whether smoke alarms could fail in dangerous ways, could sprinkler systems fail in dangerous ways," said Scott Wolfson of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The remediation program announced by Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin last year came after U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon in Louisiana ruled against the drywall manufacturers and said that plaintiffs were entitled to damages. He ordered that their homes be gutted.
Another drywall company involved in the case, Taishan Gypsum, owned by the Chinese government, is appealing the ruling.
In addition to gutting and remodeling the 300 homes in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida that were built with its product, Knauf Plasterboard is paying compensation to the residents for their expenses during the work.
Read more here.
Source: www.cnn.com, February 8, 2011
