Senator Landrieu: Federal Government Must Combat Defective Chinese Drywall Problem

Landrieu participates in Commerce Committee hearing on imported drywall; releases updated "Help Guide."

05/21/2009 -- WASHINGTON -- At the request of United States Senators Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Bill Nelson, D-Fla., the Senate Commerce Committee today held a public hearing to learn more about problems caused by tainted Chinese drywall and federal agencies' proposed response to protect consumers. Because thousands of Louisiana homes may contain the defective product, the Commerce Committee allowed Sen. Landrieu to attend and discuss the impact on Louisiana homeowners.

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"This defective Chinese drywall is the latest in an unfortunate pattern of inferior and dangerous products coming into this country," Sen. Landrieu told the Committee today. "This is very concerning to our constituents and they are turning to Congress for answers. Louisiana is second to Florida in the number of homes affected by this particular product, and my office has received numerous complaints. Louisianians are looking to this committee for action and support."

The Senate Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which testified at today's hearing. Representatives from the EPA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also appeared in front of the Committee to answer questions from Committee members. A Louisiana witness, Randy Noel, testified on behalf of the National Association of Home Builders. Mr. Noel spoke about the pervasiveness of this Chinese drywall in Louisiana and urged the federal government to develop standard testing procedures to identify which types of drywall are defective.

"We -- the builders -- that have used it and discovered they used it have begun testing, using private firms, some of the same ones that are in Florida," Noel said. "Not every house is tested with the same materials. So the presumption is that some of the Chinese drywall has sulfur in it and some of it doesn't. That's part of the biggest problem: we need a reliable protocol for testing that everyone can rely on to determine whether that product has it or not.

"Some type of certification process to say 'you don't have it' would help tremendously in the marketplace for those folks that may not have it."

Homeowners in 16 states, including hundreds in Louisiana, have reported metal corrosion, noxious fumes and health concerns in homes with imported Chinese drywall. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the devastating flooding that followed damaged more than 1.2 million units of housing, with more than 309,000 of those units sustaining major or severe damage. Louisiana is the second-highest recipient of Chinese drywall, with approximately 60 million pounds having been imported into the state. Florida has received 60 percent of imported Chinese drywall since 2006. An estimated 7,000 Louisiana homes have the product, and as many as 100,000 homes nationwide could be affected.

In late February, Sen. Landrieu began receiving reports of defective drywall from homeowners in southeast Louisiana. These accounts were similar to those seen in Florida homes: a "rotten egg" smell within homes; health issues such as skin irritation, persistent cough, bloody noses, and asthma attacks; and homeowners noticing blackened and corroded metal components in their homes. According to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, the majority of these reports come from the New Orleans region and southeast Louisiana.

"Just to give you an example of how widespread this issue is in my state, we have seen hundreds of homeowners ranging from St. Bernard Parish Fire Chief Thomas Stone to New Orleans Saints Head Coach Sean Payton report this product in their homes," Sen. Landrieu said in prepared testimony. "Many parents have been seeking answers on what might be making their kids sick or, now that more details are coming out, how they should safely remove this product from their homes. This defective Chinese drywall represents an attack on these families and presents another obstacle on our road to Gulf Coast recovery."

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a preliminary report detailing its testing of four U.S. drywall samples and two Chinese drywall samples. The tests found that Chinese-made drywall contained sulfur that was not in U.S. drywall, strontium at levels ten times as high as in U.S. drywall, and two other organic compounds generally found in acrylic paint that were not detected in the U.S. product. These initial tests are helpful to distinguish possible problem substances in Chinese-made drywall that are not in U.S.-made drywall. The EPA has said more testing is needed, including air sampling in affected houses, to determine whether the drywall is in fact the cause of corroded wiring and appliances and the reported health problems.

Information about the Chinese drywall and which federal and state agencies are working on the issue is available in an updated consumer help guide released today by Sen. Landrieu.

You can access the fact sheet by visiting: http://landrieu.senate.gov/media/09.05.20_Chinese_Drywall.pdf

Audio of Sens. Landrieu and Mr. Noel testifying today in front of the Senate Commerce Committee hearing is available in a radio actuality: http://landrieu.senate.gov/media/09.05.21_Chinese_Drywall.mp3

Source: Senator Mary Landrieu