I found this story interesting. Hope it helps....
A prominent local developer is inspecting nearly 60 homes it built in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach because they are suspected of containing Chinese-made drywall that appears to emit a sulfur-based gas.
The Dragas Companies confirmed Monday that the imported drywall was installed by a subcontractor, unbeknownst to the development firm, in some homes at The Hampshires at Greenbrier in Chesapeake and in Cromwell Park in Virginia Beach.
The company said it is paying to fix homes with imported drywall and also helping residents relocate for a few months while the work is being done.
Chesapeake city and health department officials are investigating as well.
"There is general consensus that the gas that is emitted contributes to corrosion of wiring in appliances and may evoke respiratory or (gastrointestinal) complaints in persons who are particularly sensitive (similar to some persons' responses to fresh paint)," Dr. Nancy Welch, director of the Chesapeake Health Department, wrote in an e-mail. She said the high-risk or permanent health effects are unknown.
Chesapeake - as well as some elected officials - learned about the case from Barry Ryan, whose 83-year-old father moved into one of the condominiums at The Hampshires in 2006. By 2008, Barry Ryan said his father, Orville, began to develop rashes and respiratory problems. A doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong.
In an e-mail to state legislators and newspaper editors, Ryan attached two articles detailing allegations that Chinese-made drywall was corroding electrical and mechanical equipment in some Florida homes.
Attorneys have filed class-action lawsuits arguing that defective drywall also has led to problems in homes in Louisiana and Alabama.
The allegations come several years after suppliers began importing more drywall from China in 2006 to meet skyrocketing demand created by the housing boom and rebuilding effort after Hurricane Katrina, according to The Wall Street Journal. On Monday, Florida's health department said preliminary tests showed no specific health hazard from gases from the drywall, the Journal reported.
"I think a lot more studying needs to be done related to long-term health effects," Barry Ryan said Monday in an interview. "It does strike me that there is a large unknown public-health issue."
In a statement Monday, The Dragas Companies said it determined that the imported drywall installed at The Hampshires and Cromwell Park "appears to emit elevated levels of sulfur compounds that may corrode air conditioning coils, and may damage other mechanical and electrical systems over time." The developer said the drywall was imported by a U.S. supplier in 2006 and installed by a local subcontractor without Dragas' knowledge.
In January, Dragas became aware of an issue with imported drywall from one of its subcontractors and "moved immediately to determine if Chinese drywall had been used in any of our properties," according to the statement.
Other Dragas communities built during this time frame had domestic drywall supplied by a different subcontractor, the company said.
Dragas is one of the area's most well-known development companies, providing homes for more than 5,000 Hampton Roads families since it was founded in 1968.
Before the e-mail from Ryan, who is president of a university in California, two other residents of The Hampshires had previously contacted Chesapeake Health Department officials about issues such as odor or eye and throat irritation, Welch said.
In the first case from The Hampshires several months ago, the resident complained of a sulfuric odor in the home, said Robert Smith, Environmental Health Supervisor for the Chesapeake Health Department.
Smith paid a visit to the home and verified that the wallboard in the attic was made in China.
Top city officials are "studying the various jurisdictional and legal questions" surrounding the drywall issue, said Chesapeake spokesman Heath Covey. "Further action will be taken if the situation warrants."
Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com
Published on HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com (http://hamptonroads.com)