A cannabis testing facility would occupy the top floor of a Freeport Street office building under a plan that will come before civic leaders next month.

Assured Testing Laboratory hopes to build a lab on the third floor of a commercial property at 43 Freeport St. near Glover’s Corner that has been vacant for the past five years.  The lab would test cannabis-based products from licensed suppliers — analyzing items for safe levels of pesticides, heavy metals, mycotoxins, and other properties. 

“All agricultural products require safety testing, and marijuana is not any different,” explained Dimitrios Pelekoud, the CEO and co-founder of the company. “There have been a number of vaping deaths in Massachusetts that have happened because of improper testing, frankly. There are a number of things that could have made their way into these products.”

Dorchester native Andrew McLeod, a consultant on the project, told the Reporter that the testing facility, which will have about 25 on-site parking spots and enhanced security measures, would generate almost $500,000 annually in jobs for roughly 15 employees, which the team plans to hire locally. Five jobs will be offered at $25 an hour and ten will be available at $15 per hour. 

The company said that workers at the lab will only test cannabis products from Massachusetts growers. The total amount of samples to be tested on site at any given time would not exceed 20 ounces (1.25 lbs.), which double the state legal ownership limit of 10 ounces per household. 

The team intends to file plans with the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal (ZBA) and receive a hearing in the coming weeks and then start making the rounds with nearby Dorchester civic associations, beginning with the Columbia/Savin Hill Civic Association at its general membership meeting on Mon., March 2.