Week 5 (part 2) - Soil Testing

Time in: 3pm
Time out: 4pm

Since I live in Pasadena, I wanted to find the closest soil testing lab to my place. Turns out there's one just a few blocks away, on N. Lake Ave called Sassan Geosciences Inc. I gave them a call and asked for a quote. Depending on what I wanted them to test for, the quote started off with a "few hundred to fifty thousand dollars".

The closest soil lab I found near Pierce is Brownfield Subs Lab. Here is the address: Pierce is Brownfield Subs Lab Canwood St.Agoura Hills, CA 91301 (818)597-1448

Of course, I'm sure there are also soil testing labs located in several universities in the California area. It was difficult, however, to figure out which ones tested for the public and at a reasonable rate.

Through an Eaton Canyon bird walk I took a few weeks back, I had the pleasure of meeting a very friendly woman who works for NASA. She helps with environmental restoration and clean up with land that dealt with rocket testing. I asked her if she can suggest any labs or sites she uses. "For environmental samples," She replied, "We are required to use laboratories approved by the California Department Public of Health (CDPH) and the Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP). The website provides an Excel spreadsheet of approved laboratories."

Although the Univeristy of Rhode Island is nowhere near Pasadena, Ca, I came across a pdf file of theirs which was chalk full of information on their URI soil testing lab. It gave me a general idea on what labs do and it was very easy to understand.

And of course there was the National Sustainable Agriculture InforService (ATTRA) another slew of good information. Their labs focus on "a range of soil testing labs and supplies that support the special analytical needs of farmers using organic or sustainable production methods."