Carbon County is working to fix a mold problem it discovered in one of its offices.

On Thursday, the board voted to ratify a proposal from Seitz Brothers of Tamaqua for the remediation of mold spores found in the county controller’s office. The cost for the remediation is $8,946.

County Controller Robert Crampsie said that there had been some ceiling leaks, which he thinks is coming from the HVAC unit. The controller’s office is located on the second floor of the three-floor administration building.

When staff removed the ceiling tile in the affected area, the ceiling above it, which is a drywall-type ceiling, Crampsie said, was black in areas and looked off, so he reported it to the commissioners.

“The commissioners thought it needed immediate attention,” he said, adding that Seitz Brothers, who specialize in mold remediation, came in and tested the air quality in the office and the ceiling in question. The affected areas are located in the outer office as you walk into the controller’s office, as well as the accountant’s office.

Tests confirmed the presence of mold, so now Seitz will come in, remove the parts of the old ceiling that are affected and complete a remediation of the office.

Crampsie said that he is hopeful that when the project is being completed, the source of the leak will be found and repaired so this doesn’t happen again.

“I’m glad the commissioners acted as quickly as they did, because we are talking about health concerns for people who work in my office,” he said.

Officials hope that the project will take place over the weekends.

“We don’t want anyone getting sick down there,” Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said, adding that the county will also need to look at replacing the administration building’s roof in the very near future as well.