“Same difference.”
The officer wrote something down.
The Homeowner looked at the bucket again.
What had begun as disgusting vandalism suddenly felt different.
The Fire Marshal asked him:
“Any unusual dumping around your property?”
The Homeowner thought.
“No.”
Then stopped.
“There’s a drainage easement behind the neighborhood.”
“Yes?”
“Sometimes there’s a smell.”
“What kind?”
“Animal waste.”
“Maybe fertilizer.”
“When?”
“Mostly after rain.”
The Fire Marshal nodded slowly.
“Have you reported it?”
“HOA.”
The HOA President looked toward him.
The Homeowner saw it.
The instant reaction.
Too quick.
The Marshal saw it too.
“When?”
“Three times.”
“What happened?”
The Homeowner laughed without humor.
“She told me it was normal agricultural runoff.”
The Fire Marshal looked toward the HOA President.
“Is that true?”
She crossed her arms.
“There are farms within five miles.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
“Yes.”
“I told him runoff can happen.”
The Homeowner shook his head.
“You told me county inspectors had already checked it.”
The HOA President stared.
The Fire Marshal asked:
“Did they?”
“I assumed they had.”
The Homeowner laughed once.
“You said you spoke to them.”
She snapped:
“I speak to many departments.”
The Fire Marshal raised one hand.
“Stop.”
She did.
The temperature seemed colder suddenly.
Another vehicle arrived.
White county truck.
Environmental Health.
The Homeowner watched two inspectors step out.
One carried sample containers.
The HOA President looked toward the street.
Then toward her SUV.
She was no longer thinking about the chimney.
The Environmental Health inspector approached the bucket.
Read the label.
Then said:
“Same supplier.”
The Homeowner heard.
The HOA President heard.
“What supplier?”
she demanded.
The inspector did not answer her immediately.
He looked toward the Fire Marshal.
“Where was this found?”
“On the roof.”
The inspector stared.
“Roof?”
The Fire Marshal pointed.
“She allegedly poured contents into the chimney.”
The inspector looked at the HOA President.
Then at the Homeowner.
Then back.
“That’s going to complicate sampling.”
The Homeowner asked:
“Can somebody tell me what this is?”
The inspector nodded.
“Maybe.”
“We have to test it.”
“But the container itself appears to come from a batch associated with a waste-transfer contractor currently under review.”
The Homeowner’s stomach tightened.
“Hazardous?”
“We don’t know yet.”
The HOA President interrupted.
“It’s pig manure.”