To all of our friends and partners in California impacted by the devastating wildfires, Merit Laboratories is here to support you.
When wildfires ravage communities, natural landscape, and places we call home, the impact is major. Lives are interrupted while homes, schools, and businesses are destroyed. Another significant impact of wildfires is environmental contamination.
The environmental impact of the 2025 California wildfires is widespread. Environmental cleanup efforts from wildfires are with precedent. Following the Northern California wildfires in 2017, which impacted a 245,000-acre path of destruction over a 24-day period, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers went to work to begin a cleanup program that continued through 2018.
To support USACE efforts, Merit Laboratories performed analytical laboratory testing on more than 4,000 soil samples over multiple sample collection events that lasted several months. All soil samples analyzed by Merit Laboratories were completed following an expedited 24-hour turnaround time (TAT) for heavy metals.
In Phase I of the cleanup process, household hazardous waste was removed by the EPA in Sonoma and Napa Counties and by the California Department of Toxic Substances in Lake and Mendocino Counties. After the household hazardous waste was removed, the USACE and its contractors were able to oversee the second phase of debris cleanup by removing all fire-related debris and the top 3 to 5 inches of soil to remove potential contaminants.
After debris removal was complete, soil samples were collected and sent to Merit Laboratories for analytical testing. The USACE used the analytical data to determine if contamination was successfully removed, eventually allowing property owners to obtain approval from their local governments for rebuilding.
With this experience supporting wildfire cleanup efforts, Merit Laboratories is available to help where needed to rebuild the areas impacted in beautiful Southern California.
Merit Laboratories is one of the nation’s leading environmental testing laboratories, analyzing air, soil, wastewater, groundwater, drinking water, and other sample matrices for a diverse range of analytical parameters.