Earlier today, workers with the county sanitation department, the state health department, and the Centers for Disease Control appeared here to take samplings and conduct a free well water analysis as part of a CDC program. They’ll be testing our water for 33 chemicals plus bacteria and who knows what else.
We were selected because of our location–they’re trying to spread out the samplings over the county–and because our well is relatively new.
I hope they don’t discover that our water is deadly or anything.
The analysis would cost $800 if we were paying for it. Then they gave me a $20 Wal-Mart gift card for participating in the program!
While they were taking water samples from an outdoor faucet, three chickens climbed up in the back of their vehicle, which they had left open. The girl from the CDC put her hands over her face and cried, “I hope my samples aren’t contaminated!”
Tip: When visiting a farm, never leave your vehicle open.
Local, State, and Feds Descend on Farm
Aug
27
27
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karen daniel says:
I have white Leghorns, Turkens and Cochins. Seeing your pictures make me realize I need to get some Barred Rocks again. 😛 Hubby will be so glad I found your blog!! Heh heh
On August 27, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Gen says:
that’s funny! (chickens)
On August 27, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Merlin says:
OH MY WORD!!!!! :shocked: :bugeyed: :hole:
On August 27, 2010 at 1:57 pm
susan says:
Chickens are so nosy!!! :happyflower:
On August 27, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Christine says:
ROTFL! They’ll find your water is safe but they’ll require you to put up a “beware of chickens” sign. LOL
On August 27, 2010 at 2:10 pm
whaledancer says:
Good deal: save $820 and have your water tested. But it sounds like the girl from the CDC hasn’t spent a lot time around farms (or she wouldn’t have left the back of the car open). This is probably quite an adventure for her.
Any idea why they want to check the water all over the county?
On August 27, 2010 at 2:22 pm
Suzanne McMinn says:
I don’t know. I don’t think it’s just our county. I think it’s some kind of general rural project to analyze well water and that it involves other counties, maybe all over the state. (And maybe not just our state, either.) It’s spearheaded by the feds, so I think it’s an overall type project.
On August 27, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Debby says:
That is so funny. :chicken: Thanks for sharing.
On August 27, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Jo says:
Oh gosh, chickens ARE nosy! :chicken: Whatever we are doing outside, they must come check it out or if we have a door open, they feel the need to peek into that too. So funny. 😆
On August 27, 2010 at 2:45 pm
~ jackie says:
LOL Too bad they couldn’t have done some soil samples for you while they were at it. [Most crop problems / issues / failures are usually related to soil issues such as poor soil.] 🙂
On August 27, 2010 at 2:56 pm
kellyb says:
At our house we say “Chicken see, chicken do”. They are the nosiest creatures around. Dh left the back door open and sure enough, two of our hens decided to come into the kitchen for a visit. Most of the time they make me laugh. We’ll take chairs into the yard and watch their antics. We call it “chicken TV”.
I’d say the young lady is new to the farm.
On August 27, 2010 at 3:01 pm
rmsrosedawson says:
Makes me wonder what they are REALLY looking for….do they want to shut down your farm for some lame reason? Are they looking for salmonella because of the big egg factory bruhaha? On the other hand it’s probably because of the oil drilling and production that went on years before and they’re trying to see if there’s any residue contamination still left. Please keep us informed. It’s hard for me not to be suspicious of ‘big government’.
On August 27, 2010 at 3:21 pm
BuckeyeGirl says:
It’s not a nefarious conspiracy. We’ve had people checking wells in the area too though it’s been years ago. It was to check that the water table hasn’t become contaminated by either farm run off (large farming with lots of fertilizer or animal run off, not a few goats and a cow!) or mining or oil drilling either. If one well in an area has some problems, they can tell it’s an isolated issue, if several wells have problems, they can tell if it’s nitrates from fertilizer, petroleum related chemicals from oil drilling, or chemicals/mineral run off from mining operations. A whole aquifer can get ruined from large farming/mining industry and yes, they may want to control that but it makes sense to me. I don’t want our well ruined that way.
On August 27, 2010 at 4:15 pm
rileysmom says:
She’ll never leave her vehicle open again!! :no:
Did the chickens leave her any “presents?”
On August 27, 2010 at 4:48 pm
DonnaTN says:
Are you sure that your chickens aren’t terrorists trying to subverte the entire well checking project!
On August 27, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Johanna says:
She’s lucky it was chickens and not those little goats!
On August 27, 2010 at 5:51 pm
princessvanessa says:
Dad has his private community well tested each year and he pays for it. One year it showed some water contamination but it was because the outside faucet (where they want to draw from) must have had something that transferred into the sample. After dad did a thorough cleaning of the faucet (including a bleach water soak/fresh water rinse) a second sample was drawn and it came out fine.
Just letting you know in case the sample shows any contamination…not to panic, the faucet could be the culprit.
Glad you are getting yours done for free….sweet!
On August 27, 2010 at 5:55 pm
VaGirl2 says:
I’m thinking when the Feds, State and Local descend on your farm…might not be a good thing. Hope I’m wrong. Ask Georgia if she pulls out the shotgun when they come a’callin’…
On August 27, 2010 at 7:43 pm
greensborodailyphoto says:
Once we had a cat get relocated five miles away because a worker left his van open. Fortunately, a really nice woman rescued him and her neighbor saw a sign we posted near the church of a friend, “Old, neutered, yellow tabby cat missing.” A week later, someone called. You’re lucky your chickens didn’t get relocated. Actually, have you inventoried them since the visit?????
On August 27, 2010 at 8:27 pm
chershots says:
Hmm … leaving the back end of the vehicle open sounds like a common case of “book smart” and “common sense” FOULISH! lol
On August 27, 2010 at 8:37 pm
BuckeyeGirl says:
Hey, I left a front door open one time and found three chickens inside arguing about who was going to work the pedals and who was going to steer!
On August 27, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Lauren says:
You’re in W.Va. Water, heck, they were looking for the still!!!lol
On August 27, 2010 at 11:10 pm
Patrice says:
The above comment was by Patrice, not sweet innocent daughter, Lauren who probably has no idea what a still is! Perhaps she saw one on a rerun of Andy Griffith Show. Next time I need to see who is logged on my computer before I post a comment!!!!!!
On August 27, 2010 at 11:13 pm
Kathi says:
Visitors to our place always seem to leave their car windows open – our cats are in their vehicles within minutes.
On August 28, 2010 at 8:53 am
lisa b says:
you have had quite the day :purpleflower:
On August 28, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Patrice says:
I actually had to chase the UPS truck down the driveway to have him let our senile cat out!
On August 28, 2010 at 9:00 pm
glenda says:
That’s a great gift. When we had the dairy, the county or state tested our well water on a routine basis. It was good then. We haven’t tested it since.
It’s a good feeling knowing the water is safe.
On August 29, 2010 at 7:02 am
Miss Becky says:
what a great deal to get your water tested regarding all those chemicals. I hope your tests come out very clean. :yes:
On August 29, 2010 at 12:20 pm
Sue, a Florida Farm Girl says:
Rural wells are tested all over the country, I think. I know Mama’s was checked by the “health” department about every 5 years in NW Florida. Just to make sure of good drinking water.
On August 29, 2010 at 10:19 pm
JoLinda says:
For some reason when I read the title all I could hear was Jeff Foxworthy giving Farm News in one of his funny voices.
On August 31, 2010 at 8:55 am
lavenderblue says:
Scariest words in America: “I’m from the Government and I’m here to help.”
On September 4, 2010 at 6:08 pm