Gainan’s Heights Flowers and Garden Partners with RiverStone Health to Provide Free Soil Lead Testing for Community
Gainan’s Heights Flowers and Garden is partnering with RiverStone Health to offer free soil testing for lead. Melissa Henderson, director of health promotion at RiverStone, explains that lead naturally occurs in soil in small amounts but is more prevalent in communities with older homes built before 1978. Children are particularly at risk of lead exposure, which can cause growth and developmental issues.
The event on Saturday will provide quick and efficient real-time soil testing using an X-ray machine brought by the state. The process only takes about 5 to 10 minutes, ensuring timely results to identify any potential lead contamination. Cynthia Jessee, a member of the Songbird Community Garden, emphasizes the importance of testing the soil to ensure safety for growing vegetables and other activities.
The testing will commence at 9 a.m. and continue until noon at Gainan’s in the Heights, where participants can bring up to five bags of dry, debris-free soil in separate quart-sized plastic bags. This partnership aims to address the uncertainty surrounding lead in Yellowstone County’s soil by providing a free resource for individuals who want to test their soil for potential contamination.
