NOT-SO-GREAT WALLS OF CHINA

Consumers, such as Jennifer Belsom, whose homes are lined with noxious Chinese drywall, are angry, helpless and embittered. The tainted drywall has sickened their families and corroded their appliances, yet few sources have emerged to help them tear it out of their homes.

Insurance companies have denied their claims. Builders will not return their calls. Their mortgage lenders offer no reprieve if they want to move out of their house to escape the potential health threat. In the absence of a federal disaster declaration, they cannot obtain a rental voucher or a Small Business Administration loan to help with repairs.

The drywall has thus become a financial catastrophe for residents of greater New Orleans, many of whom exhausted insurance money or personal savings to repair homes after Hurricane Katrina, only to be forced out again by toxic building material many believe contributes to nosebleeds and respiratory problems.

As her baby battled rashes and a continual sinus infection, Belsom and her family moved out of the home they repaired in Meraux and into another they had planned to use as a rental. Belsom is at a loss for what to do with the contaminated property, which she believes is nearly worthless as long as it contains the tainted drywall.

"We just finished using our personal savings to fix it the first time," Belsom said. "It is a very nice house in a nice area. It is our dream home. We put all our heart and soul into fixing it, not to mention all of our money, and we do not have the money to fix it again. We just don't."

Reports began emerging out of Florida late last year that Chinese drywall, much of it imported during the height of the building boom in 2006, emitted sulfur compounds that merged with moisture in the air to form sulfuric acid or other substances that irritate sinuses and corrode air conditioners, copper wiring and household electronics....