Federal legislation that sets aside $4 million in federal funds to study the effects of the mineral pyrrhotite on concrete aggregate has advanced in the U.S. Congress.
Democratic U.S. Joe Courtney, whose eastern Connecticut district includes homeowners with basements crumbling because of pyrrhotite, expects the House of Representatives will vote in the coming days on an appropriations package that includes the National Institute of Standards and Technology allotment.
The agency is expected to develop a cost-effective method of testing at-risk homes and other structures for the presence of the mineral.
The legislation also requires NIST to create a risk-rating scale so homeowners, businesses and local governments have a better understanding of how much pyrrhotite poses a danger to a foundation's structural integrity.
The problem has also arisen in Massachusetts.
