The day before Christmas, I ran into a story about contaminated drywall causing health problems. Chinese Drywall. The Sarasota, FL Herald Tribune has an in-depth report:
Ground zero in drywall dispute
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.
Lennar, a Miami-based company that is this region's largest builder, would not discuss any pending repairs, residents' health problems, or any other aspect of this story. Company officials said they stand by an earlier statement that the drywall is not a health risk and that Lennar is responding promptly to owners.
Residents of Montauk Point have seen their air-conditioners fail on a regular basis -- so often that the presence of a white HVAC repair truck became a running joke in the neighborhood. Metal within their homes corroded and turned black: piping, electrical wiring, even silver jewelry.
Electronics also began to fail and short-circuit. Residents say they have gone through multiple televisions, computers and cable boxes. Light switches stopped working altogether, or only intermittently.
"I'm on my third TV," said homeowner Dan Tibbetts. "Everything just dies."
A number of the homes are supposed to be repaired by Lennar in coming months, which could involve ripping out all the drywall and other guts of the house. It is still unclear at this point, though, whether the wiring and electrical systems will be replaced.
The builder is stonewalling saying that there is not a health issue. The number of people involved is not really large enough to do a class-action suit. The situation sucks -- these people were moving into their brand new home and had to deal with this. All of the health issues immediately resolve themselves when the people move away. Talk about a bad way to save a dollar. If the builder was more forthright, it would be possible to track where the drywall came from and prevent it from being installed somewhere else...
