Schuylkill County officials are wrapping up work on cleaning the air handling ducts at the courthouse after employees expressed concern about air quality.

The commissioners agreed to pay a few thousand dollars extra after the contractor doing the work discovered there are actually more air handlers in the courthouse than initially thought."The contract with Air Care was to clean the ducts. In the process of doing that, they discovered more ducts than we thought we had," county administrator Gary Bender said. "We want them cleaned as well."Air quality at the courthouse, which was built in the 1930s and renovated about 30 years ago, has been brought up on multiple occasions by employees.Since May, a contractor has been cleaning all the air ducts in the courthouse and testing the building's air quality.In May, the county hired Air Care and Restoration Inc. to clean all the ducts in the building after concerns from employees in the sheriff's office and clerk of courts office. The project was estimated at $104,375.The additional work will cost $14,845, bringing the total cost of the contract to just over $119,000.Bender said that Air Care is wrapping up their work on the project. But in the process, they discovered approximately six ducts that they had not accounted for when bidding out the project.Bender said that all the work will be wrapped up in about a week. The work has been done at night after the courthouse closes for the day to minimize disruption.In April, Sheriff Joseph G. Groody presented the county commissioners with petri dishes that he said showed evidence that the air quality in his office was sickening his employees.Air Care was contracted to do a test of the air quality at that time. An Air Care official told the commissioners in May that the amount of mold in the air in the building was actually less than the air outside.Air Care has also been retesting the air quality in the building after each duct is cleaned. Bender said none of the tests have revealed unsafe levels.