Douglas County officials are ordering a new round of tests to sniff out possible air-quality problems at the Douglas 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.

¢ 6News video report: State officials to test air quality

County Commissioner Charles Jones, 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.