Noxious chemical or biological substances could cause permanent injury or death. Asbestos, toxic mold, benzene, mercury, lead, and many others are among those that can cause life threatening injuries. Americas Watchdog is digging for your solution.

A victory for tainted wallboard victims in Florida. Last Friday, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury awarded Chinese drywall plaintiffs, Lisa and Armin Seifart, $2.4 million for their home damage in the first U.S. jury trial involving defective Chinese drywall.

The jury deemed Miami-based Banner Supply Co. was 55 percent responsible and Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., not part of the suit, 35 percent at fault.

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The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission has finally released the names of drywall manufacturers whose wallboard emitted high levels of hydrogen sulfide in testing conducted by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). There is a strong affiliation between hydrogen sulfide and metal corrosion.

Of the products tested, all top ten reactive sulfur-emitting drywall samples were made in China. Some of the Chinese drywall had hydrogen sulfide emission rates 100 times greater than non-Chinese drywall samples.

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U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon has finalized judgments against Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. Ltd. and Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. in the anxiously awaited Chinese drywall litigation in New Orleans federal court. Under federal rules, the drywall manufacturers have 30 days to appeal the judgments. If no appeal is made, the judgments stand.

Both judgments in the multidistrict litigation, signed Monday and filed with the court yesterday, were test trials called ‘bellwether’.

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U.S. District Court Judge Eldon E. Fallon has ruled the owners of seven Virginia homes contaminated with toxic Chinese drywall deserve $2.6 million. Judge Fallon, overseeing Chinese drywall multidistrict litigation (MDL) in New Orleans, also ordered that plaintiffs’ homes be gutted down to the studs and that the owners should be compensated for personal property impaired by drywall gases, relocation costs, and loss of enjoyment and use of their home.

The “bellwether” or test case trial and this decision could affect how future lawsuits by thousands of other homeowners are resolved.

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It’s inevitable this would happen. New Chinese drywall guidelines compiled by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Department of Housing and Human Development (HUD) are frustrating for homeowners who have already completed home repairs. What if the work did not comply with the new federal remediation process?

Since late 2008, the CPSC has received over 3,000 reports from residents in 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico regarding toxic Chinese drywall. Gases emitted from the wallboard are blamed for significant property damage, including HVAC systems, smoke detectors, electrical wiring, metal plumbing components, and other household appliances. These gases also produce a sulfurous odor that permeates homes, and cause metals, including air conditioning coils and even jewelry, to corrode. People living with Chinese drywall complain of eye, respiratory and sinus problems that could be associated with the gases.

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Yesterday, a Louisiana family’s Chinese drywall nightmare was described during opening statements in the first contested Chinese drywall trial in New Orleans federal court.  This test trial case, known as a bellwether, is intended to help ascertain property damage issues in other cases against manufacturers.

More than 2,000 families currently have claims pending in the Chinese drywall multidistrict litigation before U.S. District Judge Eldon Fallon. This first bellwether case was filed on behalf of Tatum and Charlene Hernandez of Mandeville, Louisiana, and names Knauf Gips and Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co. as lead defendants. Judge Fallon presides without a jury.

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Since nine people living in Chinese drywall tainted homes have died from various maladies, some lawmakers want an explanation.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune wrote the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) said among the Chinese drywall complaints it has received, deaths were reported, although presently, there is no substantiated scientific evidence linking the deaths to the drywall.

Most deaths were among  young and elderly persons with established medical problems. A 9-year-old boy from St. Rose, Louisiana, died from an asthma attack in 2008. In 2006, his home had been renovated with Chinese drywall and his symptoms reportedly worsened after the project was completed.

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is advising homeowners how to identify metal corrosion and other indicators of problem drywall. The guidance recounts visual signs of metal corrosion, evidence of drywall installation in the relevant time period, and identification of other validating evidence or characteristics.

HUD and CPSC’s two-step guidance requires a visual inspection that must indicate blackening of copper electrical wiring and/or air conditioning evaporator coils; and the installation of new drywall (for new construction or renovations) between 2001 and 2008. To view the full text of this guidance, visit HUD’s website or CPSC’s website (both documents PDF).

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