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Town Hall Meetings Tackle Tainted Drywall |
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Date: Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Reported By Shelley Brown (FOX 8 News)
Hundreds of people packed Mandeville City Hall Wednesday evening for a town hall meeting aimed at tackling tainted Chinese drywall problems.
State Senators A.G. Crowe (R-Slidell) and Julie Quinn (R-Metairie) ended up hosting two town hall meetings due to larger, unexpected crowds. People showed up armed with questions and ready for answers. "All the time we're living in these places we are not getting well, and it's not good for our health so we need something now. We need direction. We need funding," said Barbara Manuel, a resident of Violet in St. Bernard Parish.
Sen. Quinn told the crowd, "I was really floored to learn the federal government does not test any product that comes into our country except for food and drugs. Everything else is buyer beware." Quinn told the crowd she even talked to one victim of tainted Chinese drywall who said he "considered suicide for life insurance because he doesn't know what else to do to provide for his family."
Many families who rebuilt after Katrina are being forced out of their homes again from tainted drywall made in China. The sulfide compounds found in the drywall are harmful to their homes and their health, but many families cannot afford to continue paying a mortgage and rent while the drywall problem is solved.
Sen. Crowe informed people about a couple of action plans through the Louisiana Recovery Authority. The LA legislature, at the end of the 2009 legislative session, approved a bill that sought a minimum of $5 million through the LRA to provide assistance to people impacted by the toxic drywall. Crowe said the LRA is looking to provide an additional $20 million, and he said that would cover those who were Road Home applicants and those who lost their homes in Katrina, but did not qualify for Road Home money.
Paul Rainwater, who heads the LRA, told Fox 8 News Wednesday, so far the money has not filtered down from the federal government. He said HUD has not identified an acceptable testing protocol to determine whether a home has been built with the tainted drywall. The Louisiana Home Builders Association is currently working to develop a testing protocol to help speed up the process, according to Rainwater.
St. Tammany Parish Tax Assessor Patricia Schwarz Core also told people who live in St. Tammany Parish that having tainted Chinese drywall qualifies them for a reduction in their property tax assessment.
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