Courthouse employees seek assistance with possible air quality issues

    GRUNDY CENTER — Several members of the Grundy County Courthouse staff met with the Board of Supervisors Monday to seek assistance with possibly serious air quality issues in the basement.
    The group spoke serious illnesses that have befallen staff that has worked in the courthouse basement and sought assistance in testing for and possibly alleviating the concerns. County Sanitarian Carie Sager, speaking for a group that included County Treasurer Brenda Noteboom, County Assessor John Freese and Custodian Mark Jungling, said she has had respiratory issues since she worked in the basement and that when she spoke with others they reported similar symptoms.
    She said she used money from her department’s budget to test for formaldehyde and found levels nearly three times that which is considered healthy by the federal government. She then purchased an air purifier that is effective against formaldehyde and that has helped. She said she also brought the air purifier to the driver’s license side of the basement and that it improved issues there as well. When she moved the purifier back to her office she said the issues returned to the driver’s license office.
 
For more of this story see the July 16 Grundy Register.