"'Both' is a really bad answer when it comes to getting anything done, because 'both' often means nobody."
For the thousands of U.S. homeowners who are grappling with the financial and emotional trauma caused by defective Chinese drywall, one thing is now clear: The federal government is woefully unequipped to help them with a product defect as expensive and widespread as this one.
Government agencies lack the authority to force Chinese drywall manufacturers or any other foreign companies to recall defective products, reimburse people for problems those products may cause, or even provide basic information about how they were made. And no single federal agency is officially responsible for regulating residential indoor air quality or determining how it is affected by building products.
Because of these gaps, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency that is leading the federal drywall task force, still has not figured out exactly what is causing the drywall to emit so much sulfur gas that it corrodes electrical wiring and triggers breathing problems, bloody noses and headaches. It also has not fully exercised the powers it does have, including the ability to sue the U.S. companies that imported, built or distributed the drywall in an effort to make them pay to repair the homes.
The government's failure has left the homeowners, many of whom are facing foreclosure and bankruptcy, to fend for themselves.
» Special Report from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and ProPublica.