Seeking the science of Chinese drywall

TAMPA - Emotions out, science in -- those are the ground rules for a Chinese drywall symposium taking place in Tampa this week.

"This is not a forum for grievances or personal attacks," said David Krause, the Florida Department of Health's Chinese drywall point man. Krause said the goal is a "calm, cool discussion."

More than 300 people packed into a conference room Thursday.

"We're very encouraged by the turnout and hopeful that we'll learn quite a bit," said James Poole, a Tampa researcher who has been looking into why the drywall corrodes metal and makes some homeowners sick.

Part of the symposium looks like a grade school science fair, with the results of various experiments displayed on poster board. In some cases, the conclusions conflict, suggesting a simple solution is elusive.

"In terms of a quick fix, no," said Poole.

Representatives from various insurance companies were in the crowd, even though insurers have recently denied claims and have been backed up by the Florida Office of Insurance regulation.

"The claims be covered under a liability policy or a builder's umbrella policy, so insurance may be involved on another level," said Lynne McChristian, a spokeswoman for the Insurance Information Institute.

Builders were also common in the crowd.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Tampa home builder Steve Carter.

Carter said he was attending for an education, since 25,000 Florida home might have been built with Chinese drywall.

"I don't think we've seen the tip of the iceberg, just from my gut feeling," he said.

Others in the audience included lawyers, collecting potential evidence for a mounting load of Chinese drywall lawsuits, and several entrepreneurs.

"We just started six month ago in this," said Albert Freeland of Drywall Detectors, LLC. Freeland's company charges homeowners $500 to X-ray their walls.

"Everybody's just trying to figure out what's going on," he said. "There's a solution. We're going to find it."