The synthetic crumb rubber turf approved earlier this year to be used to refurbish the Hamden (CT) High School baseball field is out, and instead, a mix of cork and coconut, along with a “shock pad” said to reduce the risk of concussions, will be used to resurface the field.
“We looked at the football field that was renovated with artificial turf because it had been unsafe,” Mayor Curt Balzano Leng said. In that case, the same synthetic turf was used, and initially was approved for the baseball field, but town officials had vowed to keep looking for an alternative because there were objections to the crumb rubber turf from some that feel it’s not safe for kids to plan on.
During the public hearing held by land-use boards on the replacement of the baseball field, several spoke out against it, including Nancy Alderman of Environment and Human Health Inc., a consortium of Yale University medical experts who promote the possibility of the dangers of using artificial turf, including anecdotal evidence of higher cancer rates in student field hockey players, especially those who play goalie. While that evidence hasn’t been universally accepted, the federal government, led by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., commissioned a new investigation into the issue, which is now ongoing.
The decision was made to go with the crumb rubber for the baseball field, but the investigation into alternatives continued, Leng said, which he did with Legislative Council President James Pascarella and Board of Education Chairman Adam Sendroff, both who were involved in the initial investigation into what turf to install on the field.
“We said we would still dig into the options available,” Leng said. “Safety and health are both of our priorities, and the question is what is the best and safest thing we could use on the field.”
The new turf that will be used on the field is called “GeoFill” and is made up of a totally organic mix including coconut husks and cork shavings, Leng said. “But it’s the bottom part that is the most important piece of the puzzle,” he said, referring to the white “shock pad” installed below the fill that provides extra protection against concussions. “It improves concussion-fall ratings significantly even to the point where years and years down the road, when the fill on top of it is not as new, it will still have protection because of the shock pad itself,” Leng said.
The pad alone is expensive, Leng said, at $200,000 for the size of the field, but the cost of the Geofil material is half the price of the crumb rubber turf, which makes up for the expense, he said. Overall, the new turf field will cost about 7 percent more than the crumb rubber field would have cost, he said. The Geofil also feels more like actual dirt that the synthetic field, and stays much cooler when temperatures rise, he said.
“Artificial turfs get extraordinarily hot,” he said. “It can be uncomfortable for players to play on them, and it also can be dangerous.” But because this fill is organic, it absorbs moisture and stays about 40 degrees cooler than the synthetic field, he said. “The quality of our fields, the safety of our athletes and the health of our community are the most important factors in determining how Hamden will proceed with renovating our fields,” Leng said.
With an option of a turf that provides better protection from falls, a more natural feel and eliminates the use of chemicals, the decision to go with the GeoFil turf was an easy one, Leng said.
The baseball field has severe drainage problems, Leng said, which will be corrected during the project. As a result, the field will no longer be solely for the baseball team but will function as a multi- purpose field, with other high school teams able to utilize it. Space has always been a problem at the high school, as its teams have been forced to use fields at the town’s elementary schools because there hasn’t always been fields available for use at the high school. Once this field is finished, it will be used by several teams, eliminating the need to bus the student off of the high school campus.
“I am very pleased with the decision to move forward with the Geofill system,” Pascarella said. “Overall playability and safety has always been my priority in advocating renovating these fields, and this will be a top quality turf field for Hamden’s athletes and allow for more outdoor plans for multiple sports.”
“We are very pleased that Mayor Leng disregarded the EPA’s flawed studies and chose to rely on scientists, environmentalists, coaches and concerned parents,” said resident Lauren Garrett, an outspoken critic of the crumb rubber synthetic turf who lobbied for a different turf to be used. “This decision sets a precedence that Hamden will use safe products to protect children.”
In the future, municipalities that chose to install the crumb rubber turf will be spending money to get rid of it when it’s definitively proven to be dangerous to student athletes, Garrett predicted.
“In the near future, municipalities will be removing toxic crumb rubber infill at a huge expense,” she said. “Hamden’s Curt Leng is looking out for taxpayers by installing a safe product.”
The new turf proposal will have to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission again for approval, Leng said.
The synthetic crumb rubber turf approved earlier this year to be used to refurbish the Hamden High School baseball field is out, and instead, a mix of cork and coconut, along with a “shock pad” said to reduce the risk of concussions, will be used to resurface the field.
“We looked at the football field that was renovated with artificial turf because it had been unsafe,” Mayor Curt Balzano Leng said. In that case, the same synthetic turf was used, and initially was approved for the baseball field, but town officials had vowed to keep looking for an alternative because there were objections to the crumb rubber turf from some that feel it’s not safe for kids to plan on.
During the public hearing held by land-use boards on the replacement of the baseball field, several spoke out against it, including Nancy Alderman of Environment and Human Health Inc., a consortium of Yale University medical experts who promote the possibility of the dangers of using artificial turf, including anecdotal evidence of higher cancer rates in student field hockey players, especially those who play goalie. While that evidence hasn’t been universally accepted, the federal government, led by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., commissioned a new investigation into the issue, which is now ongoing.
The decision was made to go with the crumb rubber for the baseball field, but the investigation into alternatives continued, Leng said, which he did with Legislative Council President James Pascarella and Board of Education Chairman Adam Sendroff, both who were involved in the initial investigation into what turf to install on the field.
“We said we would still dig into the options available,” Leng said. “Safety and health are both of our priorities, and the question is what is the best and safest thing we could use on the field.”
The new turf that will be used on the field is called “GeoFill” and is made up of a totally organic mix including coconut husks and cork shavings, Leng said. “But it’s the bottom part that is the most important piece of the puzzle,” he said, referring to the white “shock pad” installed below the fill that provides extra protection against concussions. “It improves concussion-fall ratings significantly even to the point where years and years down the road, when the fill on top of it is not as new, it will still have protection because of the shock pad itself,” Leng said.
The pad alone is expensive, Leng said, at $200,000 for the size of the field, but the cost of the Geofil material is half the price of the crumb rubber turf, which makes up for the expense, he said. Overall, the new turf field will cost about 7 percent more than the crumb rubber field would have cost, he said. The Geofil also feels more like actual dirt that the synthetic field, and stays much cooler when temperatures rise, he said.
“Artificial turfs get extraordinarily hot,” he said. “It can be uncomfortable for players to play on them, and it also can be dangerous.” But because this fill is organic, it absorbs moisture and stays about 40 degrees cooler than the synthetic field, he said. “The quality of our fields, the safety of our athletes and the health of our community are the most important factors in determining how Hamden will proceed with renovating our fields,” Leng said.
With an option of a turf that provides better protection from falls, a more natural feel and eliminates the use of chemicals, the decision to go with the GeoFil turf was an easy one, Leng said.
The baseball field has severe drainage problems, Leng said, which will be corrected during the project. As a result, the field will no longer be solely for the baseball team but will function as a multi-purpose field, with other high school teams able to utilize it. Space has always been a problem at the high school, as its teams have been forced to use fields at the town’s elementary schools because there hasn’t always been fields available for use at the high school. Once this field is finished, it will be used by several teams, eliminating the need to bus the student off of the high school campus.
“I am very pleased with the decision to move forward with the Geofill system,” Pascarella said. “Overall playability and safety has always been my priority in advocating renovating these fields, and this will be a top quality turf field for Hamden’s athletes and allow for more outdoor plans for multiple sports.”
But Joshua Elliott, who is locked in a primary battle with Pascarella for the Democratic nomination for the 88th District state House of Representatives seat, said Pascarella has flip-flopped his position. He said in stories that appeared in the Register in January and February, Pascarella defended the use of crumb rubber.
“As Legislative Council President, Jim Pascarella, earlier this year, lobbied hard for and won approval to continue using the less expensive crumb rubber synthetic at Hamden High School despite ardent pleas from concerned parents, scientists, and environmentalists who warned him about the serious health risks,” Elliott said in a release. “He stated in the New Haven Register: ‘Our students have been using that artificial crumb rubber field for over 13 years, so we are not exposing them to anything other than what they have been playing on for the last 13 years.’ This week, he’s reversed course, stating ‘safety has always been my priority.’ While I’m pleased he finally made the right decision, I wish he had made it sooner. Hamden deserves a representative with the judgment to take the concerns of Hamdenites seriously.”
“We are very pleased that Mayor Leng disregarded the EPA’s flawed studies and chose to rely on scientists, environmentalists, coaches and concerned parents,” said resident Lauren Garrett, an outspoken critic of the crumb rubber synthetic turf who lobbied for a different turf to be used. “This decision sets a precedence that Hamden will use safe products to protect children.”
In the future, municipalities that chose to install the crumb rubber turf will be spending money to get rid of it when it’s definitively proven to be dangerous to student athletes, Garrett predicted.
“In the near future, municipalities will be removing toxic crumb rubber infill at a huge expense,” she said. “Hamden’s Curt Leng is looking out for taxpayers by installing a safe product.”
The new turf proposal will have to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission again for approval, Leng said.-by Kate Ramunni, New Haven Register