KTBS 3 News | Shreveport, LA: ArkLaTex News - LRA Board Advances Aid for Road Home Applicants with Contaminated Drywall

Posted: Oct 26, 2009 11:30 AM

The Louisiana Recovery Authority's Board of Directors Wednesday approved a plan to reserve $5 million in federal recovery funding for victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita who rebuilt under the state's Road Home program and now are affected by contaminated drywall in their homes.

Under the plan, once the federal government has released its testing and remediation protocol for dealing with these drywall problems, Louisiana will use $5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds allocated after hurricanes Katrina and Rita to aid homeowners in the Road Home program who now have contaminated drywall problems.

"The problem of contaminated drywall is a national problem, not a Louisiana problem, and we need federal action before the state can move forward to aid Road Home applicants. Without federal guidance on how to test for this drywall and how to remediate a home affected by it, we have no way to effectively move an aid program forward," said Paul Rainwater, LRA executive director. "Our action today allows us to start the state and federal approval process for our plan, which can take several weeks or months, so that we are ready to aid homeowners when the federal government puts forth testing and remediation protocols."

The Road Home program has provided more than $8 billion in rebuilding aid to 125,164 applicants since 2006. Numerous homeowners across the country, including Louisiana residents who rebuilt their homes after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, are affected by contaminated drywall, which can cause health problems and severe damage to air conditioners and other appliances.

Following board approval, the public now can comment on the plan. Citizens, community leaders and elected officials can access the plans and submit comments online by visiting http://www.doa.louisia na.gov/cdbg/dractionplans.htm and opening "Action Plan Amendment No. 37." A copy of the plans can be requested by calling (225) 219-6900.

The public can submit comments several ways:

Using the online form at http://www.doa.louisia na.gov/cdbg/dractionplans.htm;
Emailing them to ocd@la.gov;
Mailing them to Disaster Recovery Unit, P.O. Box 94095, 70804-9095, Attn: Paul Catrou;
Faxing them to the attention of Paul Catrou at (225) 219-9605.
The board will take up final approval of the action plan amendment at its November meeting, before forwarding it for approval to the Louisiana Legislature and, then, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for final approval.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CONTAMINATED DRYWALL:

United States Consumer Product Safety Commission:
http://www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall/
Louisiana Office of the Attorney General:
http://www.ag.state.la.us
Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals: http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/page.asp? id=205&detail=8921