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Public commenter raises soil-toxicity concerns; county Soil & Water offers testing partnership
Summary
A new Tippecanoe County resident reported out-of-pocket soil testing that showed high heavy-metal levels in Newton County; the county's Soil & Water Conservation District (Chris Gertz) said the district can support urban soil sampling and may subsidize testing through an approved program.
A recent arrival to Tippecanoe County told commissioners on April 21 that he had paid privately to test soil samples in his former Newton County community and found what he described as extremely high heavy-metal levels. He asked whether Tippecanoe County offers similar testing resources.
Chris Gertz of the Tippecanoe County Soil and Water Conservation District responded that the district works with labs to perform soil testing and that Purdue University’s soil erosion lab is available. Gertz said the district has taken on an "urban soil health" sampling program and that the district’s board approved paying for soil samples for residents who need testing; he described the effort as a partnership to determine what elements to test for and how to proceed.
The public commenter identified himself as Sean Perra and said his samples were analyzed by Element Labs in Fort Wayne. He told the board he would like to work locally rather than escalate the matter to state officials. Gertz invited the commenter to follow up with the Soil and Water office so the district can coordinate sampling and lab submission.
Separately, county staff announced the hiring of Dylan Harmon as a 4-H program assistant and the board recognized volunteer and paid fire departments that staffed Lafayette Fire Department stations for the funeral of Sergeant Robinson.
