Feds: Homes with Chinese drywall must be gutted
NEW ORLEANS - Thousands of U.S. homes tainted by Chinese drywall should be gutted, according to new guidelines released Friday by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The guidelines say electrical wiring, outlets, circuit breakers, fire alarm systems, carbon monoxide alarms, fire sprinklers, gas pipes and drywall need to be removed.
About 3,000 homeowners, mostly in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, have reported problems with the Chinese-made drywall, which was imported in large quantities in the housing boom and after a string of Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The drywall has been linked to corrosion of wiring, air-conditioning units, computers, doorknobs and jewelry, along with possible health effects. Commission officials said some samples emit 100 times as much hydrogen sulfide as drywall made elsewhere.
The agency continues to investigate possible health effects, but preliminary studies have found a possible link between throat, nose and lung irritation and high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas emitted from the wallboard, coupled with formaldehyde, which is commonly found in new houses.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) said now the question is who pays to gut the homes. "The way I see it, homeowners didn't cause this. The manufacturers in China did," Nelson said.
About 2,100 homeowners have filed suit in federal court in New Orleans against Chinese manufacturers and U.S. companies that sold the drywall. U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon is expected to rule soon in a pivotal case against the Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., the only Chinese company that has responded to U.S. suits. Knauf Plasterboard has offered to pay for remediation in homes where its defective drywall was installed.
In Cape Coral, Fla., Joyce Dowdy, 71, and her husband, Sonny, 63, plan to move out of their $150,000, 1,600-square-foot home while it is gutted to get rid of tainted drywall. "We can't live like this anymore," Joyce Dowdy said. "It's costing us as much as we paid for the house."
