One Homeowner's Tragic Odyssey After Unwittingly Buying Newly-Constructed Home Built With Chinese Drywall

In Norfolk, Virginia, The Virginian-Pilot reports on the story of a local resident who suffered the great misfortune of buying a new home that was doomed by the toxic building material known as Chinese drywall. An excerpt:

• [Michelle] Germano's father, an Italian immigrant, built an apartment on the back of a service station he owned on East Ocean View Avenue between 18th and 19th Bay streets. She lived there with her family after she was born in 1950, but bars and strip clubs eventually moved in and changed the character of the neighborhood.
  
  "My dad loved Ocean View, and he would say before he died 34 years ago, 'Ocean View is going to come back,' " Germano said.
  
  Germano served in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps and then held executive positions in health care and recruiting industries in New York, Washington and Connecticut.
  
  In the late 1990s, she went through a second divorce and lost her job in 2001. Her robust income dropped by two-thirds, and she used up most of her savings.
  
  After saving enough for a down payment, she decided in June 2006 to act on her younger brother's encouragement and a "spiritual instinct" to return to Ocean View.
  
  "I picked Harbor Walk because it was a community," Germano said. "I felt it was a nice place to settle, walk my dog and feel a sense of community. I felt I had come back home."
  
  Chinese drywall ruined lives across the country, but it took years before anyone realized it was the root of seemingly unrelated problems.
  
  Germano's air-conditioning system failed about a year after she moved into her condo. Months later, a second AC unit failed, as did her television, radio, computer, telephones and hair dryer. Her refrigerator broke six times, and it was eventually declared a lemon by Sears, she said.
  
  In May 2008, she began to have health problems.
  
  Germano worked full time from home for Grayling Associates, a Bloomfield, Conn.-based company that recruits executives in the financial services industry. She's currently a vice president.
  
  She said she spent some days in bed because her body felt paralyzed by pain. She also had severe gynecological, breathing and eye problems.
  
  Germano's medical records, which she released to The Virginian-Pilot, document extensive trips to specialists over the years, numerous tests and attempts to identify what was causing her pain.
  
  On January 29, 2009, Germano saw a news report about Chinese drywall, and the pieces started to fall into place. Experts had begun to realize the walls were releasing hydrogen sulfide and other sulfur compounds, especially when humidity rose.
  
  Hydrogen sulfide, known as "sewer gas," is colorless, flammable, poisonous and pungent. It smells like rotten eggs or burned matches, but after exposure over time, it can become difficult to detect the odor.
  
  The highly corrosive gas is produced by the breakdown of organic materials, and it pools in low-lying areas because it's heavier than air. It can turn copper wires black and render them useless - even if they're protected by plastic coating. It fries essentially anything that runs on electricity.
  
  Homeowners noticed that jewelry, dishes, utensils, faucets and light fixtures were turning black and couldn't be polished. Some were pitted, as if something were eating away at them.
  
  Germano said she lost nearly $250,000 in furnishings and personal belongings.
  
  Hydrogen sulfide is quickly absorbed by the lungs. Extremely high concentrations can kill a person instantly.
  
  Studies haven't been done on the health effects of prolonged exposure to lower concentrations. Families in homes built with Chinese drywall have complained about serious health problems from kidney cancer to chronic bladder infections.
  
  Several families interviewed by The Pilot lost pets while living in the toxic homes, but studies haven't explored the effect of hydrogen sulfide on animals.
  
  Germano's dog, Spirit, grew weak and had a hard time breathing in the house, she said. She started drinking muddy water outside rather than the fresh water Germano provided inside.
  
  After several visits to the vet, Spirit was diagnosed with kidney disease but improved after moving out of the condo.
  
  The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted a study of Chinese drywall but didn't believe it had enough evidence for a recall. Another study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the drywall could cause such problems as headaches, nosebleeds and breathing difficulty, but the CDC didn't research more serious health problems.
  
  Most physicians won't link Chinese drywall directly to the most serious health problems, either. Still, Germano and many other families who breathed the gases for years said their symptoms improved or went away after moving out.
  
  When it became clear in early 2009 that Harbor Walk's developer was not going to repair her condo, Germano moved into a rental and filed a lawsuit through Norfolk attorney Richard Serpe.
  
  Serpe eventually became the lead attorney in Hampton Roads handling Chinese drywall cases.
  
  Germano's suit, filed along with a handful of other homeowners', sought restitution from developers, builders, the supplier who imported the material and the Chinese manufacturer. Harbor Walk Development LLC was among the defendants named in the suit.

For more, see Condo association files 2nd suit against woman forced to move due to Chinese drywall.