Chinese drywall thrown in landfill

NORFOLK, Va. - A local drywall distributor is taking drastic steps to clear his name and warehouse. This all comes just one day after Norfolk City Council voted unanimously to ban Chinese Drywall from building projects.

10 On Your Side brought this issue to light in our investigation into the drywall aired in March.  Homeowners say it caused a rotten egg smell in their homes.

Sam Porter of Venture Supply in Norfolk spoke only with WAVY.com about his decision to dispose of all Chinese drywall in his warehouse.  Porter says it cost more than a million dollars to buy the drywall and have it shipped to his company years ago.  Now all of that money is literally being thrown away.

"This has just become a disaster," says Porter.

Stack by stack, tens of thousands of sheets of Chinese drywall was loaded onto trucks at Venture Supply in Norfolk on Wednesday.

"Apparently the city of Norfolk has banned the distribution of Chinese Wallboard. So, we're going to go ahead and dispose of it in a DEQ certified landfill," says Porter.

Speaking only with WAVY.com, Sam Porter says he has no choice but to throw away the drywall sparking so much controversy.

"...that way if somebody says that I have it, that I'm selling it, that I'm distributing it, it's not true because it's not going to be here."

Instead it will be in the John C. Holland Landfill in Suffolk.  It's a landfill certified by the Department of Environmental Quality to dispose of Chinese Drywall.

"It's over a million dollars worth of inventory going right to the landfill," says Porter.

Since our investigation began in March, many homeowners told us that "inventory" caused a rotten egg smell in their homes and copper wiring in their walls to corrode.  That's why Norfolk City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to pass an ordinance banning Chinese Drywall.

"The building inspector, before they paint of plaster can have another level of inspection and have it certified that it's not Chinese drywall," says Norfolk Councilman Barclay Winn.

Winn says council wants to protect consumers from being taken advantage of by businesses knowingly selling the now questionable product, something he doesn't believe Porter intended to do.

"He has a good reputation as a business person. He's doing the right thing because there's no use for it and I'm hoping the building industry will support him by ordering through him when building comes up to help him recover," says Winn.

While Porter needs help, so do many homeowners who say they've paid thousands to repair the damage to their homes.  Because of that, several lawsuits have been filed.