[StBernard] Louisiana launches drywall hotline, online survey to help quantify drywall problems

[Westley Annis]

Louisiana Encourages Homeowners with Contaminated Drywall to Report Problems
to the State

Louisiana launches drywall hotline, online survey to help quantify drywall
problems

 

BATON ROUGE, La. - The state of Louisiana continues an outreach effort to
gather data about homes affected by contaminated drywall, which can emit
chemicals that cause corrosion of copper and metal tubing and electrical
wiring, by launching a hotline today where homeowners can report problem
drywall incidents.

 

Louisiana homeowners who suspect that they have contaminated drywall,
regardless of if they live in homes rebuilt after the 2005 storms, can
contact the state in two ways:

 

*           Completing the online form at lra.louisiana.gov/drywallform 

*           Calling the state's Contaminated Drywall hotline at
1-866-684-1713 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. on Saturday. 

 

"Because of the large scale of the rebuilding effort from hurricanes Katrina
and Rita, our fear is that many homeowners who rebuilt in the aftermath of
the storms could find themselves with contaminated drywall in their homes,"
said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority.
"We believe this problem is much larger than what has been reported and is
much bigger than Louisiana, so we will use the data we gather on homes to
continue to make the case for direct federal aid to homeowners, including
the possibility of using existing disaster programs for temporary housing
and rebuilding assistance."

 

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has requested reports from each
governor about the level of contaminated drywall problems in their states by
December 16, 2009. The Louisiana Recovery Authority, working with other
state agencies to compile a comprehensive list of homes with problem
drywall, will provide this information by this deadline and continue to
update the CPSC regularly as homeowners continue to report problems.
Homeowners who previously completed the online form at lra.louisiana.gov do
not need to contact the state again.

 

CPSC reports show that as of December 3, only 415 homeowners had reported
having contaminated drywall in Louisiana. Hundreds of homeowners already
have contacted Louisiana state agencies, and the state is concerned the
problem is being underreported in Louisiana. In total, the CPSC has reports
from 2,276 homeowners in 32 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.
Louisiana residents represent 18 percent of this total, making the state
second only to Florida in reported incidents of problem drywall.

 

The state will use the data collected from its outreach efforts to make the
case for federal aid directly to homeowners. The state will not share the
data with any private group or with homeowners' insurance companies. But it
could be shared with other state and federal agencies responding to the
drywall problem.

 

LOUISIANA'S AID FOR HOMEOWNERS:

 

The LRA's Board of Directors unanimously approved a plan to devote $5
million to assisting Road Home applicants now affected by contaminated
drywall. The plan awaits federal approval by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development.

 

Under the plan, once the federal government has released its testing and
remediation protocol for dealing with these drywall problems, Louisiana will
use $5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds allocated
after hurricanes Katrina and Rita to aid homeowners in the Road Home program
who now have contaminated drywall problems.

 

Because of federal regulations governing how Louisiana uses its CDBG funds,
they can only be used to help existing applicants to the Road Home program.
However, the state encourages all homeowners to report their drywall
problems to the state.

 

The Road Home program has provided more than $8 billion in rebuilding aid to
125,707 applicants since 2006. 

 

SIGNS A HOME MAY HAVE CONTAMINATED DRYWALL:

 

The federal government has not yet come up with a standard test for
determining if a home has contaminated drywall. In November, the CPSC
announced that there was a "strong association" between homes with the
problem drywall and the levels of hydrogen sulfide in those homes and
corrosion of metals in those homes. The federal government is still
investigating the possible health effects on homeowners.

 

However, homeowners believe to have contaminated drywall in their homes have
reported:

 

*           Corrosion of copper pipes, plumbing fixtures, or electrical
wires at light switches or receptacles; 

*           Failing air conditioner evaporator coils; 

*           Odor of sulfur, which would smell like rotten eggs, matches or
fireworks; 

*           In addition, some drywall is labeled as being "Made In China" on
the back. However, not all Chinese drywall is defective. 

 

Some homeowners with contaminated drywall also have reported health
problems, including nose bleeds, headaches, coughs, upper respiratory or
sinus issues and rashes.

 

Homeowners experiencing health issues they think are connected with
contaminated drywall in their homes should see a doctor or health provider.

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CONTAMINATED DRYWALL:

 

*           United States Consumer Product Safety Commission:
http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/
<http://lra.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=emaillist&task=addMessageClickThru&m
sgid=723&uid=kEdvmUfD&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecpsc%2Egov%2Finf
o%2Fdrywall%2F>  

*           Louisiana Office of the Attorney General:
http://www.ag.state.la.us
<http://lra.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=emaillist&task=addMessageClickThru&m
sgid=723&uid=kEdvmUfD&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eag%2Estate%2Ela%
2Eus>  

*           Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals:
http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/page.asp?id=205&detail=8921
<http://lra.louisiana.gov/action.cfm?md=emaillist&task=addMessageClickThru&m
sgid=723&uid=kEdvmUfD&encoded=1&redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Edhh%2Elouisiana%
2Egov%2Foffices%2Fpage%2Easp%3Fid%3D205%26detail%3D8921>  

 

Created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita in 2005,
the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is the coordinating and planning body
leading the most extensive rebuilding effort in American history. The
central point for hurricane recovery in Louisiana, the LRA works closely
with the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness
(GOHSEP) and partners with state and federal agencies to oversee more than
$20 billion worth of programs, speed the pace of rebuilding, remove hurdles
and red tape and ensure that Louisiana recovers safer and stronger than
before. 

 

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