The toxic drywall issue has been relatively quiet in the press for some time now. Some guy in Manatee County FL looks to be trying to flip a few contaminated houses (unclear how much he’s repairing them). Habitat for Humanity had a drywall problem in New Orleans. No real big announcements from CPSC of late.
The Times came back to the drywall issue on Saturday, though, and found that the situation remains fairly bleak for many affected homeowners:
But so far the relief has been negligible. Most insurance companies have yet to pay a dime. Only a handful of home builders have stepped forward to replace the tainted drywall. Help offered by the government — like encouraging lenders to suspend mortgage payments and reducing property taxes on damaged homes — has not addressed the core problem of replacing the drywall. And Chinese manufacturers have argued that United States courts do not have jurisdiction over them.
It’s as if we should figure out how to catch these problems before they happen.
