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.
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Related post: Another Chinese Product Problem
Related link: Homeowners say Chinese drywall making them sick

According to a story in the Fort Myers, FL News-Press by Mary Wozniak there have been 50 complaints of drywall from China that emits foul odors and causes “copper coils in air conditioning units and other copper surfaces to blacken.”

The company [Knauf] has three drywall manufacturing sites in China, including Tianjin Co. Ltd. The plasterboard, or drywall, was imported to the United States from Tianjin during the building boom launched by the ravages of Hurricanes Wilma and Katrina in 2005, Knauf said.

Habitat for Humanity, which has seven pallets of this drywall in a warehouse in Lee County, FL, is reporting that it “smells like burned matches, indicating a sulfur compound.”

The News-Press has documented complaints about blackened air conditioning coils, smells and other problems from residents in homes constructed by five builders. But Jack Snider, president of American Management Resources Corporation, an environmental testing company in Fort Myers, estimates at least 10 builders and hundreds of homes across South Florida are involved.

Snider’s company has done air-quality testing of about 25 to 30 homes complaining about the drywall in six South Florida counties in the past three years. They include Lee, Collier, Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, he said.

There are a number of builders unfortunately affected by this, not just a handful,” Snider said. One of those builders, Lennar Homes, asked for a conference call – held Oct. 1 with the Sarasota County Health Department and EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] representatives – to notify it of the problem and discuss it, Niles said.

The sulfur compound emitted by the drywall not only blackens and corrodes coils, it can harm metals such as chrome, brass and silver, said Morgan Beall, who does air-quality testing for American Management Resources.

That means microwaves, lighting fixtures, silverware, and other household items could be affected, Beall said.

It appears that the problem may not be restricted to Florida. According to this article the EPA is now reporting that they are also receiving complaints from Virginia Beach, VA.

The summary of air-sampling results done by an American firm states that the Knauf Tianjin product has “naturally occurring sulfur compounds.”

The main compound identified is hydrogen sulfide, which comes from iron disulfide found in the plasterboard, the report said.

Knauf is investigating.
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Related Links:
In the walls, a new health concern, Sarasota Herald Tribune, January 11, 2009
Chinese drywall emitting strange odors, Environmental Expert.Com, January 9, 2009