Tenenbaum, who took over the Consumer Product Safety Commission in June, pledged to lawmakers from Louisiana and Florida earlier this week that the agency will vigorously pursue its Chinese Drywall Investigation, which homeowners say is corroding metal pipes and making them ill.
Tenenbaum confirmed that an internal commission task force: made an investigative trip to China to meet with government and industry officials, has conducted air sampling field work in 50 homes, and hopes to release a report by late October with initial air sampling test results and a preliminary health assessment.
Tenenbaum indicated that one likely recommendation will be standards for drywall safety, noting that current drywall standards address only “structural integrity”, not toxicity.
Federal Judge Eldon Fallon, who is presiding over all of the Chinese Drywall lawsuits, now centralized to a New Orleans court, also ordered testing. Judge Fallon established an investigation team to test 30 homes across the country for defective drywall, to identify manufacturers listed on the product, and to document damage. If the testing proves effective it will set a standard for all of the Federal lawsuits surrounding the toxic material.
As of September 4, 2009, the CPSC has received 1,192 incident reports relating to Chinese Drywall in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Although the majority of these reports are from Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia, cases have been reported across the South East and beyond.
Signals that indicate that you have defective Chinese drywall include:
· The smell of sulfur and/or ammonia;
· Corrosion of furnace coils, electronic wiring, and other metals such as jewelry; and
· Chronic health problems including sinus problems, throat irritation, scratchy eyes, headache, as well as other symptoms that go away when you leave the home.
What to look for:
· A rotten egg smell, which has been found in some, but not all of the homes believed to contain toxic Chinese Drywall;
· Look for copper turning black;
· Appliances and equipment failing prematurely;
· TV’s, cable boxes, and personal jewelry turning black;
· Remove a switch plate cover off a light switch, get a flashlight and look at the site of the light switch to see if the copper wire is blackened.
· If you hire an inspector, check the inspector’s credentials.
The experienced toxic Chinese Drywall attorneys at the Strom Law Firm LLC can help you uncover and protect your rights if you have been a victim of Toxic Chinese Drywall.
Strom Law Firm is a personal injury and criminal defense law firm centrally located in Columbia, South Carolina. Our firm proudly handles personal injury, criminal defense, defective products, class actions, pharmaceutical liability, toxic torts, medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, workers compensation, social security, veteran’s benefits, qui tam, predatory lending, tax investigations, business litigation, and wills and estates. Our lawyers proudly edit the Columbia, South Carolina Injury Board as well as the Strom Law Blog as a pro bono effort to provide the public valuable information. Our lawyers are licensed in: South Carolina, New York, and Georgia.
