Chinese Drywall Deemed Hazardous by U.S. CPSC

With the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina soon approaching, some homeowners are seeing their nightmare continue, seemingly without end. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, an agency of the U.S. Federal Government, announced on Friday, April 2nd, that they have determined their interim remediation guidance for Chinese drywall: Remove and Replace.

For homeowners, this is devastating and a relief. After the 2005 hurricane season, many homeowners found themselves in a rough spot, especially those who live on the Gulf of Mexico. The storms of that season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, had caused nearly $200 billion in damage along the coast, of which Hurricane Katrina is responsible for about $81 billion.

In that time frame, homeowners had to remove and replace their damaged drywall. The massive amounts of damage caused by the hurricanes caused a shortage of drywall in the southern states. This resulted in many suppliers turning to Chinese produced drywall as a stop-gap for the shortage. It was supposed to be a fix for a problem, not the cause of more problems.

The Chinese drywall was found by Lawrence Berkley National Laboratories to emit a gas, hydrogen sulfide, in quantities up to 100 times greater than non-Chinese produced drywall. The gas, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is an extremely hazardous gas which, in high concentrations, can cause coma and death with just a single breath. To complicate matters, the chemical released by the drywall also has the added benefit of corroding metals in houses, everything from door handles to wiring to smoke alarms.

It was clear to most that the fix would be to replace the drywall, but the move to recommend replacing the wiring and plumbing is a contentious matter. According to Cain Burdeau, a writer with the Associated Press, Knauf Plasterboard has agreed to replace the drywall in some houses, but they believe that the replacement of wiring and plumbing to not be necessary. Cain Burdeau's article also highlights one other important fact in this case, and that is no one wants to be the one holding the bill for the repairs.

Homeowners across South Mississippi and South Louisiana, some of the most poverty stricken parts of the country, are now forced into an unfortunate dilemma. Many have a house with a mortgage that they should be living in, but without any affordable alternative, they have to stay in these hazardous houses. Furthermore, many insurance companies are saying that they will not cover the costs of replacement, as they do not cover manufacturing defects. Some think the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, should help foot the bill, and others are taking out second mortgages to pay for repairs.

This, at least, is a move forward for those affected by the drywall issues. The only way to move forward is to take one step at a time, but with people's health, living standards and livelihoods on the line, those steps are becoming painfully slow for homeowners across the South.

Sources:
Consumer Product Safety Commission Executive Summary for April 2, 2010.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Normalized Hurricane Damage in the United States: 1900-2005
Occupational Safety and Health Administration Fact sheet on Hydrogen Sulfide
Burdeau, C. (2010, April 2). Feds: Homes with Chinese Drywall must be Gutted. Albuquerque Times. Retrieved from http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHINESE_DRYWALL?SITE=NMALJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT .