China drywall in Berrywood

Local News

May 23, 2009

By Jeremy Pittari Picayune Item Sat May 23, 2009, 07:06 PM CDT

PICAYUNE — More reports of homes in Pearl River County with Chinese drywall used in their construction have been recorded in Berrywood Estates.

Eddie Raffo, a Berrywood homeowner, said he has become aware that his home contains the drywall, which has caused damage to two air conditioning components and his electrical wiring.

A number of the residents in that subdivision relocated to Picayune when Hurricane Katrina damaged their homes in St. Bernard Parish, La., said Raffo’s son, Chris.

“All these people were hit with tragedy, now they’re hit with this,” Chris Raffo said.

Mary Raffo, Eddie Raffo’s wife, said her son-in-law came to look at the air conditioning after the second time it needed new condenser coils. While in the attic, he decided to look under the insulation where he found the Chinese drywall. Since that time she said three other people have asked her son-in-law to look in their attics. The same drywall is said to have been found in those homes as well.

Fortunately the air conditioner was under warranty when the coils needed to be replaced. The coils needed to be replaced first time was about a year ago, and now a year later, they needed to be replaced again.

Blackened copper also is evident in the wiring of the home. Raffo expects to have to tear out all the old drywall and replace it.

Other electrical problems also have surfaced since moving into the new home, which was built after Katrina. Their three year-old television is showing signs of breaking and their stereo system no longer plays CDs.

Eddie Raffo said he does not smell the signature odor of sulfur in the living space of the house, but when he goes into the garage, he does.

Co-owner of Berrywood Estates Janice Berry McQueen, said in a telephone interview a couple weeks ago that she had received no calls about the problem.

“You just blind-sided me with this,” McQueen said. “I haven’t been notified by anyone that there’s a problem with this.”

She said if the drywall was in the homes, she would work to remedy the situation.

“I’m not just going to let my people suffer,” McQueen said.

A call to McQueen on Friday for an update on the matter was not returned.

Reports by The Associated Press state that there is the possibility of adverse health effects from the fumes emitted from the drywall. The report states that in two samples taken from Chinese drywall found in a Florida home show that not only does the drywall contain sulfur, it also contains “two organic compounds associated with acrylic paint.” Those same compounds, found in testing by the U.S. Environmental Agency, were not found in four samples of drywall produced in the United States.

Chinese drywall also was found to have higher amounts of strontium than American drywall, the report states. Strontium is used in the production of ceramics, pyrotechnics, fluorescent lights and medicine. Health hazards form the presence of the substances found in the drywall were not detailed on the report, the story states.

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