By MIKE CAPUTO
The school board apparently took his vision seriously, as it placed an additional referendum alongside the proposed school budget and a $16 million capital improvement project on the May 20 ballot. The referendum would authorize the district to appropriate $1 million of reserve funds, from the sale of the Number One School, in order to create a synthetic turf field at Lawrence High School, This, at no additional cost to taxpayers. Recent published reports have highlighted opponents who link negative environmental impact studies to the synthetic surfaces more commonly referred to as Field Turf. After reading the reports, Pizzarelli, the district's athletic director, was not only concerned about the referendum, he was angry.
"Would I recommend something that would hurt my grandkids?" said Pizzarelli, who has grandchildren attending school within the district. Pizzarelli also pointed to local school districts who either currently use synthetic turf fields, or are in the process of installing one (or two in the case of Cold Spring Harbor). Across town in the Hewlett-Woodmere district, the public already authorized the installation of a second turf field at the middle school.
Back in April, two fields were voluntarily shut down for an inspection by the New Jersey Department of Health after high levels of lead were detected. After inspecting 12 fields across New Jersey, the state's health department determined that there were trace levels of lead in Field Turf, the brand that Lawrence would install if the referendum were to pass. The high levels of lead found in the two fields in question were older models that utilized nylon fibers, reports said. With regards to the New Jersey investigation, Hewlett-Woodmere school officials initiated a private, independent study of their own field at the high school. According to district officials, the independent laboratory analysis "conclusively found that all tests for elemental lead on the [high school] field have come back negative."
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation is conducting a similar investigation on the artificial surfaces, except that its study is expected to focus on the rubber and sand basis in Field Turf. The same form of recycled rubber is used widely in playground surfaces.
According to Laurie O'Connell, a spokeswoman for the DEC, the study is still in the planning stages, but the agency aims to complete the investigation by the end of the year. The DEC began planning the study last November, in response to the concerns of several lawmakers and environmentalists who reached out to the agency.
The DEC is "addressing the concerns that [turf] is maybe causing some environmental impacts," O'Connell said. "Depending on what the data says and if it is something that there is cause for further action, we will do at that point what is necessary. This is the first step."
Michael Hatten, a school board member and supporter of the synthetic turf proposal in Lawrence, stressed that the district would only implement the product that has been well-researched and supported by scientific studies.
"I just believe that these concerns are associated with the older fields and that the new fields are researched enough, are all over the country and pose no health threat," Hatten said. Opinions on synthetic turf are so mixed that back in March, it led to a first for the current school board. For the first time this school year, a motion was decided by a margin of only one vote. Hatten, who made the motion, urged the school board to add the $1 million synthetic turf project to the $16 million in proposed capital repairs. The motion failed, which kept the synthetic turf proposition separate from the capital reserve project.
School board Trustee Uri Kaufman was one of those who voted Hatten's motion down. He initially expressed concerned that synthetic fields could cause more injuries for athletes. Since then, Kaufman said he is leaning more toward voting for the synthetic field after being reassured by school officials in upstate New York. Various studies have shown that the newer synthetic surfaces have not caused more injuries than natural grass fields. Older artificial fields, like the carpet-like Astroturf, were known to cause career-ending injuries to professional and amateur athletes alike. Most facilities, like Hofstra, who once had Astroturf fields, have since replaced them with the new surfaces.
Pizzarelli said installation of the field would cost about $700,000, with the remainder of the allotted money going to maintenance and other additions to the field. Synthetic turf fields typically have a life-span of eight to 10 years. Although the initial installation price is high, maintenance costs have shown to be significantly lower than natural grass surfaces, said several school officials with synthetic turf fields.
The athletic director has said a synthetic turf field would create more field time for the district's various teams and allow for more usage by the community.
Besides Hewlett and Cold Spring Harbor, there are similar synthetic surfaces in numerous districts across Nassau County, including Garden City, Oceanside, Port Washington and Manhasset. Rockville Centre, Lynbrook, Farmingdale, Wantagh and Long Beach are in the process of installing the fields.
District 15 residents can cast their votes on the synthetic turf and capital improvement propositions, the school and library budgets and the school and library board trustees on May 20.
Comments about this story? Mcaputo@liherald.com or 516-569-4000 ext. 210.
