By Doug Miller
But whatever Hennessy's motives, he convinced enough of his fellow council members to pull the item off the council's agenda at the last minute Tuesday night.
A resolution before the council would have extended the contract of Cameron Engineering of Woodbury to cover the cost of overseeing the project's engineering, and hire the low bidder, Custom Clay of Old Bethpage, to install the artificial turf. Cameron's total price tag on the project would come to $108,000, and Custom Clay would get $1,269,500. The money would come out of last year's $5.5 million infrastructure bond. The project seemed jinxed from the beginning.
Ed Ryan of the LandTek group of Amityville, a self-described "sour-grapes losing bidder," accused Custom Clay of not following the bid specifics as written by Cameron Engineering, and said he had planned on protesting the bid. According to Ryan, the request for bids called for the winning contractor to have already completed 10 similar projects within a 50-mile radius, but Ryan said Custom Clay had built none. A Custom Clay official who refused to give his name said, "No comment."
Should the city go forward with the project at a future date, Long Beach's new fields would not bear any resemblance to the old AstroTurf, which was essentially a green plastic mat over a concrete surface. FieldTurf is similar to what is used at Giants Stadium, a combination of artificial grass and a layer of soft rubber pellets that is more forgiving to athletes' joints, the project's supporters said.
John Cameron, president of Cameron Engineering, said he did not believe FieldTurf presented any health threat. "I haven't seen any real scientific evidence that there's an issue," he said in a phone interview on Tuesday. "People who play on them love them."
In addition, Cameron said, the city would find its new fields exceedingly durable, providing more hours of use with minimal maintenance. Democratic Councilman Rob Tepper said he also supported the project, and in doing his own research had visited John Burns Field at Massapequa High School. "It's very durable and, in any case, it's safer than traditional surfaces," Tepper said.
City Council President Leonard Remo said he was not convinced that grass was any healthier overall. "We do know that fertilizer leaches into the groundwater, so pick your poison," he said. "There's pros and cons to everything."
Hennessy was not artificial turf's first local critic. According to Herald Senior Editor Scott Brinton, Hewlett High School first went with FieldTurf in 2003, but since then battles have been waged in several South Shore communities. Projects in Bellmore-Merrick and Baldwin have been blocked because of residents' concerns about safety and health issues, including the claim that the soft rubber pellets interwoven into the surface are actually a carcinogen. The Lynbrook and Rockville Centre school districts are bracing for battles of their own.
One of the most vocal opponents of the Lynbrook project, Brad Keifer, appeared before the Long Beach City Council to warn members off the project. The rubberized pellets are made from recycled auto tires, Keifer said, which are a health hazard by themselves. "You wouldn't allow a landfill to be built next to your school," he said during the good and welfare portion of the meeting. "I'm not saying don't do it. I'm saying wait and find out more."
His comments were echoed by Republican coalition Councilman Tom Sofield, who took a shot at his Democratic opponent in November's election. "Studies have indicated the potential health risk with this type of surface," Sofield said. "So we have decided to complete our due diligence before moving forward. Unfortunately Mr. Tepper chose to ignore the concerns and attempted to push the issue despite these serious concerns. Thankfully the other members of the council agreed with Jimmy and I and take these concerns seriously."
City Manager Edwin Eaton said he had studied the issue's cost-benefit implications rather than its potential health concerns, and confessed that he had been unaware that there were any such concerns. "I don't want to minimize them, I just wasn't aware of them," Eaton said. Hennessy cited the research of Environment and Human Health Inc., a Connecticut environmental lobbying group that called for a moratorium on FieldTurf projects on Aug. 17, claiming the rubber in the field emits hazardous fumes. The moratorium was backed by Connecticut's attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, last week. At the end of the meeting, Eaton invited Custom Clay officials to come to the podium to address the health issues that had been raised. They refused. Instead, Ryan, the losing bidder, defended his products. "It's the sod growers and the landscaping industry generating all of this talk."
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