Residents inhabiting a dozen Southwest Florida homes are being relocated so the builder, Lennar Homes, can rip out Chinese drywall that corrodes interior fixtures and may cause long-term health hazards.

Lennar is paying all costs of relocation for the residents, including lodging, and some have already moved, according to a statement from Darin McMurray, Lennar division president.

In addition, Lennar Homes has identified 80 of its homes in Southwest Florida that appear to contain the suspect drywall and is investigating 40 more, McMurray said.

Large residential construction companies wouldn’t be taking these steps if the problems weren’t real.  This story continues to develop.

From the Sarasota Herald-Tribune:

MANATEE COUNTY – As the investigation into toxic Chinese drywall continues, a single street in Manatee County appears to be ground zero for the largest cluster of problem homes.

Within the Lighthouse Cove subdivision of Lennar’s Heritage Harbour development, sits a quaint street of two-story homes called Montauk Point Crossing. Today, it is a virtual ghost town.
At least six families have already moved out of their homes, either at Lennar’s expense or their own. At least two more are planning their exits as soon as possible.

The residents, many with small children, are experiencing an outbreak of the same chronic symptoms — respiratory problems, painful sore throats, headaches and nosebleeds — which they attribute directly to the drywall chemicals filling their homes.

More links:
Concern about drywall grows
Drywall problems could lead to new laws

The company is conducting a thorough investigation and cooperating with builders that have contacted it. Studies and testing by nationally recognized experts are ongoing.  The testing has confirmed that copper has blackened and may be caused by low levels of naturally occurring sulfur gases. The low levels of gases do not present a health risk to persons within the residences.

Knauf Tianjin is assessing remedial options to correct conditions that are identified with respect to its plasterboard, with the least intrusion for homeowners.  The company remains committed to the health and safety of the ultimate consumers of its products in the construction industry.

From today’s (January 15, 2009) the News-Press, Fort Myers, FL, Cape Coral drywall comes up clean:

Knauf claims the Tianjin product is made from natural, not synthetic gypsum and the drywall that causes corrosion is unmarked and comes from another, unknown Chinese manufacturer.

The Tianjin drywall is safe, the company said.

However, health standards are only for eight hour-exposure in the workplace, not residential or chronic exposure, health officials say.

There seems to be some confusion here concerning health standards, and now there is an “unknown Chinese manufacturer” in the mix.
________
Regarding the concern over drywall in three schools and two public facilities in Cape Coral, here, all were checked for tainted Chinese drywall and were found to have used drywall from North America.

The reason I am banging on this one so hard is not only because the drywall exported to Florida in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma was made in China, but rather I am asking the bigger question of how much of this very same drywall may have been distributed throughout China in the middle of the frenzied building boom. In Florida some have been forced to move out of their homes, and one company has already started replacing drywall in homes they built.

Knauf, founded in 1932, is a large multi-national producer of building materials headquartered in Iphofen, Germany with a worldwide presence in 58 countries and five locations in China. The Australian Chamber of Commerce page reveals that the plant in Tianjin is mainly involved with the production of a variety of wallboards (drywall), as well as drywall finishing materials: joint compound, tape, angle beads, etc. According to the WSJ article

Knauf Tianjin hired experts in 2006 to investigate complaints about an odor and found “no health concerns related to the odor or any emissions in the residences.”
…
Knauf Tianjin said the drywall is made of naturally mined gypsum. After investigating drywall odors, the company said it switched mines and installed a monitoring device to detect gases.

If there were “no health concerns related to the odor” then was switching mines done solely on marketing concerns? Hard to sell board that smells like rotting eggs or, more accurately, hydrogen sulfide. Though another question that needs to be asked is if the smell alone is indicative of a health concern: hydrogen sulfide is a toxic, flammable gas considered to be a broad spectrum poison, meaning that it can effect “several different systems in the body, although the nervous system is most affected. The toxicity of H2S is comparable with that of hydrogen cyanide.”

While the troubles in Florida are, indeed, of great concern, what about here in China? Did Knauf eat the loss and not distribute the toxic board locally, or was it distributed and installed after experts had ruled that there were “ho health concerns?” These are questions that someone should be asking. I am not exaggerating when I say that there are hundreds of thousands of new housing units in Tianjin alone over the last five years. What about Beijing?

There is another aspect to this story that will probably go unreported because it’s impossible to quantify: how much damage was done to workers who handled and installed this damaged board? I know from experience that when drywall contracting crews are handling/installing board, dust masks are often ignored, especially in hot weather, even while the dust is being produced by cutting the sheets to fit. But this falls into the great zone of unknowing. I also imagine that many of the crews who handled this product during installation in the States were minorities and, possibly, undocumented workers, the worldwide ‘expendables.’ We live with this sort of thing here in China, where the unprecedented building boom with very little regulation (when was the last time you saw an inspector on a remodeling project) has destroyed many migrant workers’ lives.

When there are boatloads of money to be made there’s no reason to rock the boat, at least from the profit seekers’ POV. And so we learn to swallow euphemisms like ‘collateral damage,’ which makes victimization appear morally acceptable. But it won’t be addressed here until there is enough uproar raised elsewhere, until someone will be forced to deal with it in China. Are there complaints coming in from homeowners now? Good question.

While Knauf is under the gun in Florida, what are they under here locally or nationally? So, to all those journalists in Beijing who are looking for a story to chase, allow me to give you a nudge: “Just follow the links.”

Jacksonville-based builder is investigating whether controversial Chinese drywall was used to build three Cape Coral charter schools, two parks and a waste-water treatment facility.

The Haskell Co., which builds projects in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, responded Tuesday to Cape Coral Mayor Jim Burch’s call for an investigation into the construction of all city buildings during years the drywall was imported to the U.S.

“I have growing concern that the Chinese drywall problem could present serious economic and health challenges to Lee County,” Burch wrote in a Monday memo to City Manager Terry Stewart.

“The one action we can take would be to investigate all new construction of city-owned and/or operated structures during the time that this product was utilized,” Burch wrote.
The mayor said he was concerned whether the product was in Cape Coral charter schools.

These complaints have been coming into Knauf since late 2006, though it appears now to finally be getting more national (US) media exposure. The WSJ wrote it up January 11, 2009, and MSNBC picked up this story from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune (January 12, 2009).

“The builders are in fear right now; they want to keep it as quiet as possible,” said Mike Foreman, a Sarasota construction consultant who has been investigating the drywall issue. The damage to houses is considerable and very expensive to fix, he said.

“What’s really the concern is what the long-term effects are on piping, wiring, everything that has been exposed,” Foreman said. “Now you’re talking about starting to have failures. It’s not enough to just rip it out without addressing all these other components.”

Corroding wires could pose an increased risk of electrical fire, for example.

“The builders know this could be huge, there is no doubt they’re worried,” Foreman said.

Many builders who have been contacted refuse to speak. Besides the health and safety concerns, there are other serious questions being raised by homeowners who see themsleves as being stuck with unsellable homes at a time when homes are already hard enough to sell.

Lennar Coproration, the area’s largest home builders, has already begun to remove drywall from some homes. This one may get a lot bigger, though it is getting absolutely no coverage in China, which is not a surprise. Image is, of course, everything, and no one wants to hear another “Made in China” horror story. But this one is already being told, and it appears to be just a matter of time before it gets more attention.
________
Related post: Another Chinese Product Problem
Related link: Homeowners say Chinese drywall making them sick