Volunteers worked on homes no matter what

It seems strange that in a society where religion is not allowed to cross certain boundaries with government, government can cross boundaries into religion.

After the flood of 2008, I was in charge of “mucking out” our church and many church members' homes in our devastated neighborhoods. None of the hundreds of volunteers asked me if there was any toxic substances, faulty electrical wiring, gas leaks, unapproved tools or weapons of mass destruction present at the site that they needed to be aware of - or if the food we fed them was FDA approved.

These people came, some from even thousands of miles away, simply because they wanted to help.

Recently, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said every home volunteers worked on or will work on should be investigated to see if anything potentially hazardous existed or exists.

Will we need to track down all the volunteers and inform them they have the right to contact a lawyer? Will volunteers stay away because of all the hoops they may have to jump through before they are allowed to care?

I understand the need to protect public safety and, somewhat, to inspect homes waiting to be repaired, but I don't understand going back in time to look at those already repaired or in the process.

Mark Minger

Cedar Rapids