Drywall Task Force Requested by Florida Senator

Florida Senator Dave Aronberg (D-Greenacres) has asked Governor Crist to create a special task force to address the ever-growing concerns over Chinese drywall. Chinese-made drywall has been linked to seeping gases that can corrode electrical wiring, metal pipes, blacken jewelry and metal wall fixtures, and are the suspected cause of a host of health problems. The long-term exposure risks to the drywall are still unknown. The governor must sign off on the task force before it can be created.  Senator Aronberg feels the task force should focus not only on protecting consumers who have bought homes with defective drywall, but also address the needs of the builders and domestic manufacturers of the drywall, as both could suffer as a result of the problem.

"Everyone is walking around on egg shells right now because of the potential litigation and the potential to have 400 different ordinances conflicting with each other across the state," Aronberg said of builders and manufacturers. "We want to make sure the homeowners are protected, but the building industry also needs to be protected from further collapse. This is a problem they did not seek. This is a problem caused by a product from a foreign country."

Meanwhile, the Florida Health Department announced that it will shortly begin unprecedented, complex air quality testing in homes around the state.  Estimates indicate that the toxic drywall by by in more than 100,000 homes across the U.S., and more than 35,000 in Florida alone.  The Health Department has logged 265 complaints so far.