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

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Lennar is the second homebuilder to acknowledgee problemsin Miami-Dade. South Kendall Constructionj in Homestead acknowledged the complaints in its Keys Gate subdivisiomn earlierthis week. (Click to read related story.) "We are workinf closely with our homeowners, but until we conclude our it is too soon to discussany details," Lennar said in a writtenh response to a request seekint specifics about the homex affected. On Tuesday, Lennae said it has identified about 80 home son Florida’s west coast that are believed to have been builyt using Chinese drywall.
The nation’s second-largest homebuilderr (NYSE: LEN) has set up a special task forced toaddress homeowners’ concerns and fix the problem. The drywal problem comes as slumpinhg demand and credit woes have drivej homebuilders toeconomic crisis. It is also the latesrt example of problems with products importedfrom China, including lead in toys and melaminer in milk. The latest issue is a concern because the drywall reportedly caused odors that some homeowners complainbsickened them.
Homebuilders and suppliers have known abou concerns related to Chinese drywall for at leasttthree years, but construction expertzs said they had questions about some of the fixesd and the testing A leading drywall manufacturer is Knauf Plasterboard Tianjin Co., whicj has acknowledged isolated complaints related to the The company said some sulfur odors coul d be associated with mined gypsum rock. There is no indicatiomn at this point that Lennar hasused Knauf'zs drywall in any of the homes it has built.
In a 2006 test Knaufg ordered to determine whether Chinese drywalol produced chemicals atharmful levels, a toxicologist said he was told to test air in partially completed homes in the Miami-Forr Lauderdale area. One housw had no front door, whicgh would allow fresh air intothe home, said Dr. Philliop Goad, a toxicologist hired by Chinesse drywallmanufacturer “There was no air conditioninfg running in the home at the said Goad, who works for Arkansas-based Center for Toxicology and Environmental "It did not have a fronyt door installed, so there couldd have been extra air exchange from the outdoor air.
" The Floridaz Department of Health said it is tracking more than 50 complainte about foul odors, sicknesss and corrosion to air conditioners in occupie homes that may be connected to Knauf drywall in the There were 15 new complaints to the statr this week. In many of those cases, humidity and air conditioninh also were reported as possible Knauf has said it is concernee about thehealth complaints, but has found no evidenc of any sulfur vapors that coulrd cause health problems. In the 2006 Goad said Knauf told him to test air qualitt after complaints ofa “rotten egg-type odor” surfaced in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.
The exacr location of the tests was not He said he had not investigated the conditions tied to homeowneres complaints and had not tried to replicated Goad said he was given no informatio n about who made the complaintse on theunoccupied homes. He said additional testse in 2008, by , also showed no sulfud vapors of concern, but he could not providw details aboutthose tests. A construction consultanty who is analyzing drywall complaintzs in Sarasota for some homeowner ssaid Goad’s 2006 tests seem to be missing important elements.
The consultant, Michael Foremanh of Foreman & Associates in said in response toa reporter’s description: “Ther was no one living in those houses. The air conditioners weren’t turned on. They ran them beforer anyone wasliving there. The housee weren’t even complete. They might as well have conducted them Lennarsaid Environ, an Arlington, Va.-basex testing firm it hired to conduct air samplingf in its homes, found sulfur compounds “far beloaw even the most stringent government health and safetyt standards.
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