Soil Sample Collection Sample Clauses

Soil Sample Collection. Each soil sample will be a homogenization of mineral soil (vegetative matter will be removed) across the specified sampling interval collected with a decontaminated hand auger or shovel and hand trowel, as deemed appropriate. Homogenization of the sample interval will be completed by hand mixing using new, disposable nitrile gloves in a new, disposable food-grade polyethylene container. In areas where cobbles are encountered within the sampling interval, it may be necessary to enlarge the sampling station location with a pick-axe or pry bar to achieve the specified depth. In such a case, once the desired depth is achieved, the soil sample will be collected from a freshly scraped section of the sampling station sidewall to ensure that representative in-place soils from across that depth interval are sampled. Extreme care to avoid incorporation of shallower soils as may slump down the sampling station sidewall into the lower-depth sampling intervals will be made. In certain cases it may be necessary to declare sampler refusal in very dense substrate prior to achieving the targeted sample depth.