Frustration grows: Few answers given at Cape Coral Chinese drywall meeting 
About 250 homeowners whose homes have defective Chinese drywall Monday night pleaded for state and federal government agencies to come up with a protocol to fix the problem so they can rebuild their lives and spare their health. They also sought relief from the Lee County property appraiser for the sinking value of their homes. Residents came from all over Lee County to a meeting in the Cape Coral library. Their homes were built by a variety of builders, but one thing is the same: They are all grappling with trauma to their lives caused by tainted drywall.

Frustration grows: Few answers given at Cape Coral Chinese drywall meeting
By MARY WOZNIAK • This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

 About 250 homeowners whose homes have defective Chinese drywall Monday night pleaded for state and federal government agencies to come up with a protocol to fix the problem so they can rebuild their lives and spare their health.

They also sought relief from the Lee County property appraiser for the sinking value of their homes.

Residents came from all over Lee County to a meeting in the Cape Coral library. Their homes were built by a variety of builders, but one thing is the same: They are all grappling with trauma to their lives caused by tainted drywall.

They didn’t get definitive answers because there are none. But it was clear their impatience is growing.

“When is the protocol going to come out?” asked Chris Ceorge of Cape Coral. “I don’t have a year to wait. At stake is my future financially and my health.”

There is no empirical evidence yet as to what is successful remediation of the drywall, said David Krause toxicologist for the state Health Department.

The state is seeking guidance from the Florida Incident Management Team Task Force on Chinese Drywall.

However, no state entity has the power to enforce guidelines, Krause said.

“That will probably have to come out of the governor’s office,” Krause said.

The meeting was initially called by a group of Aranda homeowners who decided to take action rather than keep stewing about what they say is inaction by building company owner John J. Conti to address the drywall problem.

The meeting was opened to the public when Aranda homeowner Richard Kampf, who organized the session, was inundated with calls from residents with homes built by other builders.

The seat on the panel dais saved for Conti, the president of Aranda Homes, remained empty.

But Louise Maloy said she and her husband Jack were told by an Aranda representative that the builder would take care of its clients who had the drywall “100 percent.” It is unclear how many homes that is.

Maloy said her home was investigated and the builder sent her a letter confirming she had the drywall.

“I said, ‘This does not state that you will take care of it,’” Maloy said. The representative told her that the builder would never write a letter like that, she said.

Pat Cossentino of Cape Coral said the federal government needs to step in to help homeowners with the drywall. “Is this something that could be put forth as a disaster? Federal money could come in,” he said.

The crowd erupted in applause.

Ursula Wilson said she lives in Bell Tower Park with her daughter. Those condos were tented and fumigated by Singerlands, N.Y-based Sabre Technical Services in an attempt to get rid of the drywall’s toxicity.

“I don’t know what the result is,” Wilson said. “We were supposed to get the result 10 days ago and we haven’t heard a thing.”

The company was using chlorine dioxide as the fumigant, Krause the toxicologist said. The effect on remediating Chinese drywall is not clear, he said.

On July 15, the EPA Office of Pesticides, the state departments of agriculture and health and the state attorney general’s office met with Sabre Tech in Tallahassee and asked them about their method. The company is pumping lethal concentrations of the chemical into a home and neighborhood without clear effects, Krause said.

“They need to do a lot more to demonstrate that it works,” he said.

The company said it will no longer do fumigations in Florida until all agencies are comfortable with the method, Krause said.

The tainted drywall was imported from China from about 2004 to 2007. The product emits sulfur compounds that corrodes air conditioning coils and other metals in the home.

Residents who have the drywall complain of numerous health problems, from headaches to nosebleeds.

Diana McGee, regional representative for Sen. Bill Nelson, also attended and got an earful from angry and concerned constituents after the meeting.

Lee County Property Appraiser Ken Wilkinson brought a packet with the letter sent out to homeowners Monday asking for documentation about their Chinese drywall problems.

The appraiser’s office will use the documentation and a survey accompanying the letter to help lower a home’s appraised value.

How much? Wilkinson can’t tell you that.

“We may end up dealing with ‘functional obsolescence,’” Wilkinson said. In appraiser terms, that means if people move out, the structure cannot be used for the function for which it was intended, he said.

The Truth in Millage notices will not reflect any reduction on Chinese drywall because they start printing Aug. 1, Wilkinson said. Residents have 25 days to address questions. Wilkinson wants surveys and documentation back by Sept. 8. Then he may be able to start making appraisal adjustments, he said.

“We are the first state taking the proactive approach,” Wilkinson said.

“Does everyone in here have documentation that their home has the drywall?” Wilkinson asked. Almost every person raised their hands.

The problem is a lot bigger than anyone thought, Wilkinson said. “Why is Lee County always ground zero for this stuff? I don’t get it. But it’s my job and I have to react to what’s going on in the marketplace,” he said.