I am the Mayberry Road area resident Amy White quoted in The Chronicle’s piece on nitrates on Fords Prairie (“High nitrate levels in water draw concerns of Centralia area residents,” Dec. 13).
There are a few items mentioned in the story that that your reporter misunderstood me on. Firstly, city water has been doing the investigation, not me. The city and the county could certainly have shared more information with residents about their investigation with the initial three requests to test our wells, rather than issuing the generic “please just test” notice we all received.
I really shouldn’t have had to call all over creation just to find out what was behind the request.
Secondly, the euthanasia of the flock in 2004 was carried out on just the breeding flock of 2,200 birds, not “tens of thousands” as your reporter understood (see “Pheasants to be exterminated,” The Chronicle, Dec. 18, 2004). The farm produces 40,000 to 45,000 birds annually, most of which are released on hunting sites.
Next, I also stated that I hadn’t yet found a reference stating that the euthanized birds were indeed buried on the 240 acre grounds of the game farm, but that I recalled hearing a radio broadcast on the subject.
Lastly, your reporter misquoted me as saying I had “observed … other questionable farming practices.”
The “questionable farming practices” quote was made by city water staff who are working with the Bob Oke Game Farm on this issue and who were also quick to praise the game farm staff for working with the city on the issue.
I have not observed any farming practices whatsoever at the game farm and have no opinion but I do vividly remember the destruction of the flock as it occurred one month after I bought my house on Fords Prairie, and I worried about the aquifer then.
I’d also like to point out that this is an issue of concern to all Centralians, not just Fords Prairie residents, as the contamination has also reached the Fords Prairie production well and endangers the aquifer for all Centralians.
Amy White
Centralia
