Twenty-five rural water wells in Louisa County will be tested for any general contamination problems, Louisa County Supervisor Brad Quigley said Tuesday.
Quigley and Louisa County Public Health Service Assistant Administrator Heidi Pallister discussed the program during the board of supervisors regular weekly meeting.
According to Pallister, who spoke during a department heads session of the meeting, the county is planning to initially test 25 private wells under a state grant program.
She said the testing would include looking for neonicotinoids because of their possible link to honey bee colony collapses.
Quigley agreed with that idea and said he would stop at the local office with his request.
“I’m the only one who can do it and it takes a while,” she said.
In other discussions during the department heads session, Louisa County Engineer Larry Roehl reported he had agreed to join other Iowa county engineers in assisting the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) operations in Puerto Rico.
There will be no charge to the county, he told the board.
Louisa County Assessor Cathy Smith told the group that the Iowa Department of Revenue had ordered an 8 per cent equalization for commercial property in the county.
Later in the supervisors’ meeting, Louisa County General Assistance Director Cyndi Mears, Louisa County Mental Health and Disabilities Director Bobbie Wulf and Louisa County Sheriff Brad Turner provided their regular monthly reports.