Especially if you’re new to gardening or have a new garden plot on an old urban lot, you might be concerned about contaminants in your dirt.
Take some to the Allegheny County Conservation District free soil lead screening from Wednesday through Saturday, April 19-22. Soil samples will be accepted and tested for lead, which can be hazardous when inhaled or ingested, at five locations around the city.
The twice-a-year testing, offered in partnership with Grow Pittsburgh, requires preregistration via this link. ACCD will contact registrants with detailed instructions on how to collect, label and drop off soil samples.
The drop-off locations are:
East End — Garden Resource Center, 147 Putnam St., Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday).
South Side — ACCD office at The Highline, 317 E. Carson St., Suite 199, Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday- Friday).
Central — Phipps Conservatory, 1 Schenley Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday).
North Side — Food for the Soul Community Urban Farm, 1707 Fulton St., Pittsburgh, PA 15233 (9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday).
West End — Farmer Girl Eb Shop, 1 Noblestown Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15220 (11 am. to 7 p.m. Wednesday- Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday).
Results and information on how to understand and act on them will be sent to you within two weeks.
For more, contact Hayly Hoch at hhoch@accdpa.org or call 412-241-7645, ext. 8009.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
