Concerns spur additional air quality testing at courthouse, judicial center

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http://www.ljworld.com/section/citynews/story/107814

Concerns spur additional air quality testing at courthouse, judicial center

By Mark Fagan, J-W/6News/World Online Reporter

Tuesday, October 1, 2002

County officials are ordering a new round of tests to sniff out

possible air-quality problems at the County Courthouse and Judicial

and Law Enforcement Center.

The pending tests - expected to be conducted within three or four weeks -

are in response to complaints from dozens of county employees in the two

buildings, both of which have been undergoing renovations in recent months.

Monday morning, the Kansas Department of Human Resources sent an industrial

hygiene supervisor to walk through the halls and get a sense what might be

causing complaints about headaches, dizziness and other problems among

employees in the building.

But after the state supervisor spent more than an hour looking for signs of

trouble - such as mold on the walls - and suggesting that no tests were

necessary, county officials said they wanted samples taken and test results

analyzed - just to be certain.

" He said there was one area that he saw some moisture in, but he didn't see

any visible mold growth at that point and that it would be better if they

just took care of the problem, " said Rudy Leutzinger, administrator for

industrial safety and health at the Kansas Department of Human Resources.

" We've come in and taken a look at it, with regards to testing.

" But normally, if there's no reason to do testing, we wouldn't normally

recommend that they do. "

Bill Bell, the county's director of buildings and grounds, accompanied

supervisor Verle Cornish on the tour and is recommending that more than a

dozen sites inside and outside the two buildings be tested.

The cost for each sample tested is expected to range from $200 to $500.

County officials have maintained that the employee complaints resulted from

materials disturbed as part of the renovations, such as dust kicked up

during replacement of carpets.

County Commissioner , who once served as director of

environment for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, searched

the buildings - and climbed into air-handling equipment - in August for

signs of air problems, but found none. Just to be safe, he ordered air

filters be replaced twice as often as normal.

The state's upcoming tests will be supervised by the Kansas Department of

Human Resources and sent to a private lab for analysis. The department

typically handles complaints about suspected " sick buildings " and other

air-quality issues in public buildings about once a week.

With more than 130 county employees having signed petitions accusing the

county of allowing molds and other unsafe conditions to exist in the two

buildings' air systems, Bell wants to make sure his coworkers aren't being

exposed to any long-term problems - whether they're related to mold,

humidity, temperature or anything else.

" I really don't expect them to find anything major, but we won't be

satisfied until we know that our buildings are clean and that they're safe

for the employees, " Bell said.