The Turf War Returns

Tweet today re reported cancer links in children & adolescents who play on synthetic turf with rubber crumbs. Study cited seems to be from 2017.  

https://twitter.com/drkohilathas/status/1699765979671097492?s=46&t=YnjD_gvARSeTWLlnA3BVPg

WkngMom said:

Tweet today re reported cancer links in children & adolescents who play on synthetic turf with rubber crumbs. Study cited seems to be from 2017.  

https://twitter.com/drkohilathas/status/1699765979671097492?s=46&t=YnjD_gvARSeTWLlnA3BVPg

Do all synthetic turf fields use rubber crumbs?  Has the current technology changed to reduce/eliminate this threat?

Turf proposals rejected by wide margins in Westfield and Scotch Plains.
https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/elections/2023/11/07/nj-election-2023-scotch-plains-westfield-turf-fields/71494266007/?fbclid=IwAR3EyAxGVUrqRiMWZOM6L5eJVU0FA9kPTGxvq-BYEi4x77o6sjjCmy4c0Hc

Field maintenance at DeHart is on the agenda for this evening’s TC meting. 

joan_crystal said:

Field maintenance at DeHart is on the agenda for this evening’s TC meting. 

That’s great. In the run-up to the turf referendum, the winning side brought up several methods used by other communities that had success maintaining safe, durable grass fields. I’m eager to hear which methods the town has tried in the two years that have passed and whether they’ve been successful.

chalmers said:

joan_crystal said:

Field maintenance at DeHart is on the agenda for this evening’s TC meting. 

That’s great. In the run-up to the turf referendum, the winning side brought up several methods used by other communities that had success maintaining safe, durable grass fields. I’m eager to hear which methods the town has tried in the two years that have passed and whether they’ve been successful.

Any approach involves less available field time.

DeHart park fields have totally sucked with the rains the past month. There is a permanent puddle in the baseball infield, which I suspect is either from a leaking pipe in the sprinkler system, or the outsourced field maintenance crew leaves the sprinklers on their regular schedule even when there are torrential rainstorms that week. The rest of the field is soggy, and there were tire tracks in the muddy field... I'm guessing from a seeding vehicle.

sprout said:

DeHart park fields have totally sucked with the rains the past month. There is a permanent puddle in the baseball infield, which I suspect is either from a leaking pipe in the sprinkler system, or the outsourced field maintenance crew leaves the sprinklers on their regular schedule even when there are torrential rainstorms that week. The rest of the field is soggy, and there were tire tracks in the muddy field... I'm guessing from a seeding vehicle.

The field doesn't drain properly (or at all). There are puddles even with normal rain.

The puddle on the infield (and damp grass) was after a sunny warm week, before the next weekend rains started. It should have dried out from the top by then, even if it didn't drain out the bottom.

The sprinklers haven’t been shut down yet. It’s ridiculous. Then they drive unto the field because they don’t want to walk in the mud. I feel as if the dpw just doesn’t care about dehart. These guys don’t even live in maplewood anymore so who cares? 

I had heard the maintenance was outsourced, not DPW. A while ago the sprinklers turned on while we were playing (maybe in the spring or summer) and it took a lot of extra coordination from the Rec dept to get them turned off (or maybe they couldn't be turned off because they couldn't reach anyone at the outsourced company... it's been a while, I don't actually remember the end of that sprinkled practice. I do remember that the sprinklers turned on at one end... then moved to another set of sprinklers every few minutes. And one sprinkler was set to nicely water the baseball infield, and give it that permanent puddle.

Two years after the referendum, it seems like the town hasn't moved very far on improving the field, or even assessing what the problem is. Looks like chemical pesticides are coming back, though.

https://tapinto.net/towns/soma/sections/sports/articles/maplewood-town-committee-discusses-state-of-dehart-field?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=New%20Proclamations%20Bring%20Inclusivity%20and%20Awareness%20to%20Issues&utm_campaign=New%20Proclamations%20Bring%20Inclusivity%20and%20Awareness%20to%20Issues&fbclid=IwAR2y6FP2lcpsX7VkipI-VISC3AVjSDUxHiLPMs2JGDJ_iV03-mqRSwAqRhw

TC discussion of the DeHart field starts at 38:40.

The next time you hear the term "chemical", don't run and hide, but calmly ask for specifics.

https://extension.psu.edu/understanding-synthetic-natural-organic-and-chemical-pesticide-designations