2
Why bad Chinese drywall isn't banned
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: There's a Senate hearing today focusing on substandard drywall imported from China. Homeowners in the Southeast say it corrodes wires and pipes inside walls, and it makes people sick. Some senators want to impose a trade ban on all drywall from China. But the problem is a little more complicated than that. From Shanghai, here's Marketplace's Scott Tong.
Scott Tong: The suspicious drywall has turned up in 13 states. Homeowners there complain of asthma, headaches and persistent cough.
Yesterday, EPA investigators reported high levels of strontrium inside the drywall. That's a metal used to make TV screens. And they found sulfur. But so far, health regulators haven't the levels to be hazardous.
In Beijing, officials are also cooperating. But many trade and export veterans in China think it's premature for a blanket ban. The manufacturer is a German conglomerate that owns factories in China.
Chris Dockter exports building materials from China to the U.S.:
Chris Dockter: In a lot of cases, it's not intent to defraud anyone, as much as it is they have a shipping date that they have to ship. And the only supplier they have, you know, is in the case of drywall, pulled their gypsum from a mine that also has some sulfur content.
The mineral gypsum is the main ingredient in drywall. Much of the material used to build American homes is actually sourced locally. Chinese imports only surged temporarily during the building boom after Katrina.
In Shanghai, I'm Scott Tong for Marketplace.
The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission released a report linking Chinese drywall to high levels of hydrogen sulfide and metal corrosion in homes. Hundreds of homeowners have filed suit over defective Chinese drywall, and all pending federal cases have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation underway in New Orleans. An agreement has been reached and victims whose homes were built with wallboard manufactured by Knauf must sign on to the omnibus class action against Knauf by December 2, 2009. This is a hard deadline that will not be amended to add additional claimants. Eligibility involves proof that the home in question was constructed with wallboard made by Knauf Plasterboard. Parker Waichman Alonso LLP is the first law firm to file a federal Chinese drywall lawsuit and is offering assistance to any homeowner interested in joining the Knauf Plasterbaoard lawsuit. Free consultations are available at www.yourlawer.com or by calling 1-800-LAW-INFO (1-800-529-4636).
This part of the story was really funny: "And the only supplier they have, you know, is in the case of drywall, pulled their gypsum from a mine that also has some sulfur content."
Gypsum is calcium sulfate. If the mine didn't have sulfur in it, it wouldn't be gypsum!
Should we assume that they found sulfur in other forms than bound up in the gypsum molecule?
