Reports of Chinese drywall received from U.S. territories; Florida protocol offers hope August 17, 2009

As recently reported by Thechinesedrywalllawyer.com, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has released an updated supplemental status report which is aimed at providing consumers information regarding the current and upcoming investigations surrounding the influx in consumer issues with potentially defective drywall from China.  In case you missed it, view the report here.

The CPSC stated in its report that the exportation of Chinese drywall reaches further than solely the continental United States – Saipan, Guam, and American Samoa also were included in the report as locations where residents have filed reports with the agency.   28,778 sheets were imported in to the three above mentioned locations during 2006.   Diligence, however, is within the purview of the agency – the CPSC has indicated that investigators intend to visit on-site locations in China starting today – Monday August 17.

Once defective drywall is conclusively present, “step 2,” i.e., eradication, has been an issue of some debate.   The Florida Professional Coalition for Chinese Drywall has recently released a draft system of procedure, which was presented during The Indoor Air Quality seminar, at Broward College this past week.  Florida has been the source of an exceedingly high number of reports to the CPSC, and the proposed system has been welcomed news in an area of haze and confusion.  Notably, the coalition’s system is said to be flexible, capable of adapting new procedures, and able to incorporate new insight as research dictates as such.

Homeowners in Virginia have the opportunity to attend a free town-hall style informational session, hosted by respected attorney Richard J. Serpe.  At the meeting, Mr. Serpe will discuss relevant topics concerning:

• Local investigations,
• Remediation updates,
• Court hearings and the Virginia class action,
• Upcoming scientific testing of Virginia homes.

This meeting will be held Monday, August 24 from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Mary D. Pretlow Anchor Branch Library, and will take place at 111 W. Ocean View, Norfolk, Virginia 23503