Walls of shame

At the end of the day, I'm not saying it's not possible . . . but the product doesn't meet our specifications. They can't sell it on top of the table. It's not for sale at Home Depot.

On July 9, in Judge Eldon E. Fallon's courtroom in New Orleans, Louisiana, a pre-trial conference will commence to consolidate into a class action suit over 100,000 civil cases involving toxic Chinese drywall imported into North America.

Hundreds of millions of sheets of the poisonous drywall were imported into the United States between 2001 and 2007. It has been reported in as many as 14 states, and may have been used in an estimated 100,000 renovated and newly-built homes, with up to 40,000 in Florida alone.

An estimated 929,000 square metres of the Chinese drywall – which emits hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide and other noxious gases – reportedly arrived in Canada through Vancouver during the same period.

“This is the largest construction defect case in the history of the United States and consumers need help now,” said Ervin A. Gonzalez, one of Florida’s leading lawyers, and the legal representative for hundreds of Florida homeowners with drywall woes.

“By consolidating the cases, the Court will allow for the more efficient and effective handling of these claims,” added Gonzalez. “Ultimately it should reduce the expense involved in litigating the cases and should promote global resolutions of these claims.”

Last month, America's Watchdog and its Homeowners Consumer Center, which has been leading a U.S. investigation into the drywall for over five months, announced it was expanding its investigation to British Columbia, and the Western Provinces of Canada.

Thomas Martin, president of America's Watchdog, said the crisis is "the worst case of sick houses in U.S. history."

Added Martin: "It is no longer a question of what Provinces have it, it's now a question of what Provinces have toxic Chinese drywall in the largest number of homes."

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Florida Department of Health are all investigating the extent of the problem.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, the Drywall Safety Act was introduced in April. Currently under study in a House committee, it would mandate a recall of drywall imported between 2004 and 2007.

According to Florida lawyer Gonzales, as early as 2007 many Florida homeowners who moved into their newly constructed, post-Katrina Hurricane houses began to notice strong “rotten egg” odors.

They also noticed that many of their new appliances were failing, wiring was corroding, and they allegedly began to experience headaches, sore throats, nose bleeds and upper respiratory problems.

According to the Chinese Drywall lawsuit, the culprit is alleged to be defective drywall that emits various sulfide gases and/or other chemicals through “off-gassing” that creates noxious, “rotten egg-like” odors, and causes corrosion of metals including those in air-conditioners, refrigerator coils, microwaves, faucets, utensils, copper tubing, electrical wiring, computer wiring, electronic appliances, and other metal surfaces and household items.

The only solution, the suit says, is to “gut” the homes and remove the toxic drywall down to the studs.

“Most homeowners are unable to move out because they cannot afford to pay their mortgages and the rent on another apartment or home,” said Gonzalez. “This is a serious matter that requires immediate attention. We will ask the Court to take prompt action in order to make the responsible parties accountable for the harm that they have caused hundreds of thousands to suffer.”

The homeowners are seeking compensatory damages for the cost of repair and replacement of the homeowner’s houses and personal property as well as relocation costs and other related economic expenses. The lawsuit is also seeking damages for medical monitoring and expenses.

According to Toronto Star legal columnist Bob Aaron, who has been following the case in the U.S. and Canada, the toxic drywall issue is potentially the “biggest environmental crisis to hit North American homeowners and builders in decades.”

China's disturbing history with toxicity has been widely reported. In 2004, 13 infants in China died after consuming fake milk powder; in 2007 China was forced to acknowlege it was using dangerously high concentrations of lead in paint applied to toy exports; and, last year two babies died in China and 10,000 fell ill after consuming melamine-tainted milk, while hundreds of cats and dogs across North America were poisoned after consuming pet food containing the same pre-cursor chemical used in the production of plastics and cleaning products.

One prevalent theory about the toxicity in the drywall is that it was manufactured in gypsum mines in China using fly ash, a by-product of coal-powered electrical generation. Coal fly ash can become airborne and emit toxic sulphur compounds when exposed to moisture.

Chinese drywall was imported into the U.S. at the height of a housing boom. Prices were sky high, and the country was hit by two active hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2005, increasing the demand for home repairs.

Suppliers were forced to look elsewhere for their drywall supply. Drywall, made from gypsum, is regularly imported from Mexico and Canada, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, but during this time frame, the U.S. looked to China to make up for the shortage.

The Gypsum Association told CNN that enough drywall was imported from China to build 30,000 complete homes.

Most of the Chinese drywall, they say, ended up in southwest Florida.

According to experts in the drywall scandal, houses built or renovated with contaminated Chinese drywall cannot be repaired. The only possible fix for affected homes is to have the owners move out for several months, gut the house and rebuild the interior. Anything inside the house that may have been contaminated by the sulphur gases will also have to be destroyed and replaced.

Industry watchers have estimated that as few as three sheets of drywall in a house can be enough to contaminate it to the point of making it uninhabitable.

According to lawyer Bob Aaron, much of the product imported into Canada was used in Metro Vancouver, but some may have reached the Prairies and as far east as Toronto.

But Murray Corey, executive direct of the British Columbia Wall and Ceiling Association, says there is absolutely no evidence that toxic Chinese drywall was ever used in the construction or renovation of homes in B.C.

Corey says the drywall may very well have been shipped through Vancouver enroute to the U.S. “when there was pressure in the market to find drywall,” but strongly doubts it ever entered the supply chain in B.C.

He says drywall used in construction in Canada must meet strict Canadian standards, and have the import paperwork to prove it.

If Chinese drywall was used in B.C. homes and other buildings, it was used illegally on the “black market” by “rogue people” he says.

“We have no evidence of any consequence of it happening here,” said Corey, whose 50-year-old association represents 140 B.C. manufacturers, dealers and contractors who deal exclusively with North American drywall suppliers.

“This is all innuendo and heresay,” he added. “Nobody's brought one shred of evidence forward.”

“At the end of the day, I'm not saying it's not possible . . . but the product doesn't meet our specifications. They can't sell it on top of the table. It's not for sale at Home Depot.

“Nobody can find it. If it's so rampant, how come we can't find it?”
Corey says B.C. homeowners shouldn't start ripping out their walls.

“If it did get into our market here we would be the first people to be concerned about it,” he said. “We would be the first ones to blow the whistle if we found out a truck load of this stuff was finding its way into the building industy here.”

Meanwhile, America's Watchdog and its Homeowners Consumer Center continues its investigation into the toxic Chinese drywall crisis, and what happened to the 929,000 square metres of board that landed in Vancouver.

The full effect of the Chinese drywall crisis in Canada remains to be seen.