(12/22/2011) NATIONAL GYPSUM COMPANY: Response of New NGC, Inc. to Report #20111028-FD89B-1211224
New NGC, Inc. d/b/a National Gypsum Company (“National Gypsum Company”) received on December 9, 2011 a report dated 10-28-2011 and bearing Report number 20111028-FD89B-1211224 (the “Report”) concerning a property located at [REDACTED] (the “Property”). The Report indicates that it was completed by [REDACTED](the “Consumer”). National Gypsum respectfully offers the following comments on the Report.
The Report states that the Consumer moved into her home December 1, 2010, and that she has been advised that she had Chinese Drywall in her home. She further describes problems she has experienced with the A/C system and that there have been “numerous replacements throughout the house”. She also describes various health problems that she, her son, her friend and her dogs have had. She states the manufacturer is National Gypsum Company and that the brand name is “National Gypsum Gridmarx Palatka FL”’
The Report does not contain information that could substantiate a conclusion that any National Gypsum Company drywall, if in fact present at the Property, was defective or caused the reported characteristics at the Property, or that other causative factors such as corrosive Chinese drywall have been eliminated. In fact, these types of characteristics and complaints have been associated with defective Chinese drywall and numerous sources unrelated to drywall.
The statements in the Report, describing symptoms that have been associated with defective Chinese drywall, and indicating that “National Gypsum” is one brand of drywall in the home, DO NOT IN ANY WAY implicate National Gypsum’s product as the cause of those symptoms. When a homeowner or someone inspecting a home suspects that it might contain defective drywall, the easiest place to start looking for the brand or source of manufacture is in an attic or closet ceiling, or sometimes a garage area, rather than to pull or cut out wall panels in the living spaces of the home. It is most common, particularly in homes in Florida or in other Southern, humid climates, to find National Gypsum wallboard in the ceilings and attic spaces of such homes, since National Gypsum makes a “High Strength” gypsum board that is resistant to sagging and is often preferred, indeed specified, for residential ceiling applications. Also, usually National Gypsum’s fire-resistant 5/8” Fire-Shield® drywall product (or a similar U.S. competitor’s product) is used and typically required by code for garage applications. To the best of our knowledge, the Chinese manufacturers did not import either of such products, rather only ½” regular wallboard was imported. Thus, if a person complains of the characteristics or symptoms associated with defective Chinese drywall, and they find National Gypsum drywall in their attic or in their garage, they may have defective Chinese drywall in their living area, or other causes for such symptoms may exist in the home. The mere existence of National Gypsum’s product in an attic or garage, or even in other areas of a home, in no way indicates that such product is defective or is the cause of the reported problems.
National Gypsum Company does not have a manufacturing facility in Palatka, FL, rather that is the location of another wallboard manufacturer, [REDACTED]. This portion of the report would seem to indicate that at a minimum drywall other than National Gypsum’s product is in the home, and misleads the reader to believe that all the board is in fact National Gypsum’s produced in Palatka, FL, when in fact it appears at least some board in the home was produced by a competitor of National Gypsum’s. Again, it is typical for more than one type of drywall to be present in a home, including in some instances two or more U.S. manufacturers and also corrosive Chinese drywall.
National Gypsum Company Has Not Manufactured, Imported or Otherwise Distributed Chinese-Manufactured Drywall and Therefore Takes No Responsibility for Any Effects of Such Drywall. All drywall sold by National Gypsum is produced at its own manufacturing plants in the United States. National Gypsum has produced billions of square feet of drywall, and none of it has been shown to cause the types of characteristics reportedly present at the Property. As a practical matter, it is not uncommon for a property to contain two or more types of drywall, possibly including both benign U.S.-made drywall and problematic Chinese drywall. Here, the Consumer herself reports information that tends to confirm there are multiple brands of drywall in the home.
As indicated below in the independent, government-sponsored reports, analytical testing of the drywall in a particular property is necessary to determine whether the drywall in the property is problematic. In addition, a thorough investigation of the particular property is necessary to determine whether any of the numerous other sources of odors and corrosion can be ruled out.
CPSC-Sponsored Report Identifies Elemental Sulfur (S8) as “Sensitive and Specific Marker of Problem Drywall”; Elemental Sulfur Not Detected in National Gypsum Company Drywall. A report sponsored by the Consumer Product Safety Commission states that “the presence of elemental sulfur (S8) in concentrations greater than 10 mg/kg in drywall has been found to be a sensitive and specific marker of problem drywall.” EH&E Report 17402, Problem Drywall Assessment and Indoor Environmental Quality Evaluation, 144 Groesbeek Street and 4 Darden Street, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at p. 73 (Feb. 7, 2011), available at http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/ehefeb2011.pdf. As tests by various agencies (such as the U.S. EPA, the CPSC and Florida Department of Health) have confirmed, elemental sulfur is regularly detected in problematic Chinese drywall and has not been detected in National Gypsum’s drywall. For example,
[F]our samples of U S -manufactured drywall were purchased by EPA from local stores in Edison, New Jersey and included in the analysis . . . Sulfur was detected at 83 parts per million (ppm) and 119 ppm in the Chinese drywall samples. Sulfur was not detected in the four US-manufactured drywall samples . . . The drywall sample manufacturers and product names are as follows: US Gypsum/Hamilton (US); PROROC/Certainteed (US); National Gypsum/Gold Bond (US); GP/Tough Rock (US); Knauf/33928-2005 (China); and MIC/33966-12077 (China).
U.S. EPA, Drywall Sample Analysis (May 7, 2009), available at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/docs/chinesedrywall.pdf.
A study commissioned by the Florida Department of Health reiterated the “distinct difference” between problematic Chinese drywall and American-made drywall:
In summary, the odor that has been described by investigators and homeowners in Florida residences originated from the emission of volatile sulfur compounds. There is a distinct difference in drywall that was manufactured in the United States and those that were manufactured in China. The Chinese samples contained traces of strontium sulfide inclusions and more organic material than the [National Gypsum] Gridmarx sample (United States). However, it is not yet known if either contributed to the odor. The Chinese samples give off a sulfur odor when exposed to extreme heat and moisture.
Unified Engineering, Inc., Report on Florida Drywall Samples (Mar. 17, 2009) (Commissioned by Florida Dep’t of Health), at 5 (emphases added), available at http://www.myfloridaeh.com/community/indoor-air/drywall.html.
The CPSC reported additional testing results showing a “clear distinction” between problematic Chinese-manufactured drywall and American-made drywall:
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff contracted with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) for measurement of chemical emissions from 30 samples of drywall products obtained as part of an investigation of imported (Chinese) drywall. In this report, non-Chinese drywall is referred to as North American or NA. . . . .
While the data provided by LBNL to date are limited and the sample size is small, these data provide important information about chemicals that may be emitted from older Chinese drywall but are not released from NA drywall. Based on these preliminary results, the most salient difference between older Chinese and NA drywall is in the number and amount of reactive sulfur compounds emitted.
CPSC Staff Preliminary Evaluation of Drywall Chamber Test Results – Reactive Sulfur Gases (March 2010), at 2-3 (emphasis added), available at http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/index.html; see also Garland & Greene, Division of Hazard Analysis, CPSC, Statistical Analysis of the Chemical Screening of a Small Sample of Unused Chinese and Non-Chinese Drywall (10/28/09 Draft), at 10, available at http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/TabA.pdf (“[A]ll the measurements of elemental sulfur in non-Chinese drywall samples were non-detects, while in contrast, only one measurement in the Chinese drywall gypsum samples and one in the Chinese drywall paper samples was a non-detect.”) (emphasis added).
Each Property Is Unique and May Have Various Causes of Odors or Corrosion Unrelated to Drywall. As the CPSC has explained, “[a]n elevated rate of corrosion in homes is not sufficient, by itself, to conclude that the corrosion is associated with problem drywall in the home. Outdoor corrosion rates may be the source of indoor corrosion in some of these homes. . . . Or, the corrosion source might originate from something other than the drywall.” CPSC Staff, Summary of Contractor’s Evaluation of Homes Reported to Be Constructed with Domestic Drywall, at 4 (Apr. 15, 2011). “It is possible to misclassify homes because of other possible sources of metal corrosion such as volatile sulfur compounds from sewer gas, well water, and outdoor contaminants that may enter the home independent of the drywall in the home.” Summary of Revision 1 to the Interim Guidance – Identification of Homes With Corrosion from Problem Drywall, August 27, 2010, available at http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/guidance0827.pdf.
The Consumer has been advised by a home inspector that the problems in the home may be caused by gases which were released from ground water. Hydrogen sulfide is known to be present in groundwater drawn from wells in many areas of Florida. Proper treatment, including aeration and chemicals, is necessary to avoid the release of H2S in the home and the corrosion of copper and other metals in the home which H2S can cause. See, for example, Hydrogen Sulfide In Water Systems: What’s That Smell?, James R. Chastain, Jr., PhD, PE, MPH, Consultant’s Update 3rd Quarter, 2008.
In summary, National Gypsum Company has not seen any reliable scientific evidence to support speculation, if any, that National Gypsum Company drywall can cause the characteristics that have been associated with problematic Chinese-manufactured drywall and other sources of odors or corrosion unrelated to drywall. Although the Report regarding the Property apparently notes the mere presence of one or more sheets of National Gypsum Company drywall in the Property, the Report does not contain information that would in any way substantiate a conclusion that National Gypsum Company drywall was defective or caused the reported characteristics at the Property. Without more, the Report is simply a report of odor and/or corrosion and/or alleged health effects from an unidentified source (which may be the groundwater).
If the Consumer has drywall in the Property that bears a National Gypsum Company brand name (all National Gypsum Company drywall is branded), and any information regarding that product that the Property owner believes indicates that the product is problematic, National Gypsum Company encourages the Property owner to contact the company and share the information. National Gypsum Company’s contact information is located at
http://www.drywallfacts.com/contact.htm
and http://www.nationalgypsum.com/contact/default.aspx.