More problems with Chinese drywall surface - South Florida Business Journal:

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Lennar is the second homebuilder to acknowledge problemsin Miami-Dade. Soutjh Kendall Construction in Homestead acknowledged the complaints in its Keys Gate subdivisiomn earlierthis week. (Clickk to read related story.) "We are workingf closely with our homeowners, but until we concludd our research, it is too soon to discusss any details," Lennar said in a written responsd to a request seeking specifics about thehomesw affected. On Tuesday, Lennar said it has identified aboutg 80 homeson Florida’s west coast that are believef to have been builtg using Chinese drywall.
The nation’s second-largest homebuilder (NYSE: LEN) has set up a special task force toaddress homeowners’ concerns and fix the The drywall problem comes as slumping demandc and credit woes have drive homebuilders to economic crisis. It is also the latesrt example of problems with products imported from including lead in toys and melaminrein milk. The latesyt issue is a concern becausw the drywall reportedly causes odors that some homeownersz complainsickened them. Homebuildersx and suppliers have known about concerns relatex to Chinese drywall for at leastthrew years, but construction experts said they had questions aboug some of the fixes and the testing methodology.
A leading drywall manufactureer is Knauf PlasterboardTianjin Co., which has acknowledgedx isolated complaints related to the product. The company said some sulfutr odors could be associated with mined gypsum rock. There is no indicationj at this point that Lennare hasused Knauf's drywall in any of the homes it has In a 2006 test Knauf ordered to determine whethe r Chinese drywall produced chemical at harmful levels, a toxicologist said he was told to test air in partially completed homes in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area. One house had no fronrt door, which would allow fresh air into the said Dr.
Phillip Goad, a toxicologist hireds by Chinese drywallmanufacturer “There was no air conditionin g running in the home at the time,” said who works for Arkansas-based Center for Toxicologyy and Environmental Health. "It did not have a frong door installed, so there coulxd have been extra air exchangd from theoutdoor air." The Florids Department of Health said it is tracking more than 50 complaintd about foul odors, sickness and corrosion to air conditioners in occupied homes that may be connecteds to Knauf drywall in the There were 15 new complaints to the state this In many of those cases, humidity and air conditioning also were reportedc as possible factors.
Knaug has said it is concerned abourt thehealth complaints, but has found no evidencre of any sulfur vapors that could cause health problems. In the 2006 Goad said Knauf told him to test air qualitu after complaints ofa “rotten egg-type surfaced in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area. The exact location of the testds wasnot disclosed. He said he had not investigatee the conditions tied to homeowners complaints and had not triede toreplicated them. Goad said he was givem no information about who made the complaints on theunoccupiexd homes. He said additional tests in by , also showed no sulfudr vaporsof concern, but he could not providde details about those tests.
A construction consultanf who is analyzing drywall complaints in Sarasota for some homeownerswsaid Goad’s 2006 tests seem to be missing importantg elements. The consultant, Michael Foreman of Foreman Associatesin Sarasota, said in response to a reporter’s “There was no one living in those The air conditioners weren’t turned on. They ran them befor anyone wasliving there. The houses weren’t even complete. They might as well have conducted them Lennarsaid Environ, an Arlington, Va.-basesd testing firm it hired to conduct air sampling in its found sulfur compounds “far beloq even the most stringent government health and safetu standards.
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