Virginia Injury Lawyer Blog

Warner, others tour Chinese drywall-tainted homes in Hampton Roads

A group of lawmakers and federal officials trekked through toxic Chinese drywall-laden properties in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake Monday in an effort to learn more about a growing problem, the Associated Press reported. 

The drywall sickens residents and corrodes household metal – from wiring to pipes to appliances. No one knows how many homes contain the tainted drywall, and no one knows how much it will cost to replace the drywall – or whether it will be cheaper to simply demolish newly-built homes and condominiums. 

One homebuilder, Helen Dragas, told lawmakers Monday that her company – The Dragas Cos. – is spending more than $5 million, or $70,000 per unit, on repairing 73 condos it built in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. 

Dragas spoke with Sen. Mark Warner, U.S. Rep. Glenn Nye, U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott, and Inez Tenenbaum, chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The group inspected three homes built by Dragas at the Hampshires in Greenbrier, The Virginian-Pilot reported. 

Tenenbaum told the newspaper that while her agency is in the midst of a $3 million investigation of Chinese drywall, it doesn't have the money to help builders or homeowners. That, she said, will have to come from Congress. 

While Tenenbaum spoke highly of the Dragas effort, the newspaper reported, she did not give their work the agency's imprimatur. 

 "I'm not going to make any presumptions just on a tour," Tenenbaum told the Pilot. "We're waiting for the science to inform us of what the issues are." 

 

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