Drywall from China blamed for problems in homes
Homeowners are joining in class-ac-
tion lawsuits and U.S. senators are call-
ing for bans and investigations into Chi-
nese-made drywall that tests show can
emit sulfur gases that corrode copper
coils and electrical and plumbing com-
ponents, and sicken occupants with its
rotten-egg-type smell.
The problem surfaced in Florida in
late 2008, but similar occurrences have
been linked to tens of thousands of
homes in the Deep South, the Midwest,
the Southwest, and the Pacific North-
west.
Jerry Auvil of Portland-based Exte-
rior and Interior Specialists Local 2154,
which represents drywall hangers, was-
n’t aware of any problems in the Port-
land area. A spokesman for Associated
Ceiling and Wall Contractors in Port-
land said he had heard something about
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the bad drywall back east, but hasn’t
fielded any contractor complaints in the
Pacific Northwest.
It’s gotten so bad in the South, how-
ever, that U.S. Senators Bill Nelson (D-
Fla.) and Mary Landrieu (D-La) have
filed legislation seeking a recall and
temporary ban of the imported drywall.
Louisiana and Florida Governors
Bobby Jindal and Charlie Crist also are
calling on the Environmental Protec-
tion Agency and the Center for Disease
Control to step in and investigate.
Attorneys for homeowners in
Florida, Louisiana, and Alabama con-
tend the toxic chemicals emanating
from the drywall have corroded electri-
cal wiring and components of air-con-
ditioning and other household appli-
ances and, that in some instances, have
made homeowners ill.
Attorneys allege the imported dry-
wall contains fly ash residue — a waste
material captured from the chimneys of
coal-fired power plants. The material
that wouldn’t burn was recycled into
the drywall instead of being taken to a
landfill.
A target of the lawsuits is drywall
manufacturer Knauf Plasterboard Tian-
jin Co. Ltd. of China, and exporter
Rothchilt International Ltd. of the Chi-
nese port city of Ningbo. Several home-
builders in Florida and Louisiana also
are named in lawsuits.
Over 500-million-pounds of drywall
were imported from China between
2004 and 2007 when the construction
boom was at a peak and domestic ma-
terials were said to be in short supply.
Sen. Nelson said drywall from
China arrived at ports around the coun-
try, including 60 million pounds in New
Orleans and 27 million pounds in Mis-
sissippi — two areas hard hit by Hurri-
cane Katrina.
“I believe you’re going to see this is
widespread,” Nelson said.
It has been estimated that as many
as 300,000 homes across 40 states may
contain the defective drywall. Many of
those homes are uninhabitable and will
need to be completely gutted. Affected
electrical appliances also will need to
be replaced.
America’s Watchdog, a consumer
advocacy group based in Washington,
D.C., told the Labor Press via e-mail
that the tainted drywall is likely “all
over Oregon and Washington.”
America’s Watchdog President M.
Thomas Martin believes some of the
drywall was trucked up from Califor-
nia by subcontractors using undocu-
mented workers.
“This is why your labor unions
never saw it. We don’t think they would
have touched the stuff,” Martin said.
On its Web site, the organization re-
ports that unionized drywall installers
in the South “would not hang the dry-
wall, because it stunk, and or it made
workers sick.”
In their bill, Senators Nelson and
Landrieu are asking the secretaries of
Treasury and Housing and Urban De-
velopment to provide mortgage relief
and other assistance to affected home-
owners, though they want the costs to
be borne by the manufacturers and not
U.S. taxpayers.
“Homeowners are already suffering
from depressed home values and nega-
tive economic conditions,” Nelson said.
Nelson is a member of the Senate
Commerce Committee, which oversees
the Consumer Product Safety Commis-
sion. The CPSC also has launched a
federal investigation.
At a town hall meeting April 8 in
West Palm Beach, Florida, with Sen.
Nelson and Congressman Robert
Wexler (D-Fla.), Laborers Union offi-
cial Ron Nault raised concerns about
workers.
“What about the workers taking this
stuff out of the homes?” Nault asked.
“What do we do with the thing? Put it
in a landfill?”
EE
R
F
Nault then offered his own sugges-
tion: “Put it on a barge and send it back
to China.”
In recent years, Chinese imports
have been implicated in one safety
scandal after another: lead-laced toys;
toxic pet food; poisoned toothpaste and
snacks; tainted seafood and beef; and
defective tires and valve stems.
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PAGE 10
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
APRIL 17, 2009