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Toms River to test its fields for lead Scare prompts assessment
Asbury Park Press - April 30, 2008
TOMS RIVER -- The Toms River Regional school district has three artificial-turf fields at each of its
three high schools, and there have been no signs that they contain hazardous amounts of lead.
Nevertheless, the district will get an independent assessment, Michael S. Citta, assistant schools superintendent, said at
a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.
Citta spoke in response to the state Department of Health and Senior Services testing artificial-turf fibers from a dozen fields
around New Jersey for the presence of lead.
"The problem (of high lead content) has been seen in nylon fields. Toms River has polyethylene," Citta said.
Of the 12 fields tested by the state -- in which the fiber content was either nylon, polyethylene or a combination of the two -- it
was the two fields with nylon fibers that had the high-lead levels.
Those fields were at The College of New Jersey's Lions' Stadium Field, Ewing, and Frank Sinatra Park between Fourth and
Fifth streets in Hoboken.
The Hoboken City Council was scheduled Tuesday night to award an emergency contract to replace the artificial-turf surface
at Frank Sinatra Park.
The state Health Department is determining if lead from artificial turf can be absorbed by a child as easily as lead in lead-based
paint or contaminated soil.
It says it should have a report by early May.
In the meantime, the department is asking schools and other organizations which have installed artificial-turf fields to conduct
"appropriate testing" to determine the levels of potential contaminants.
Citta said in addition to the a report from the field manufacturer, TenCate Grass, Dayton, Tenn., the district has received quotes
from independent testing companies, including the one used to test The College of New Jersey's fields.
TenCate said that the concentration of lead in the Toms River Regional fields is less than 3 milligrams per kilogram, which is less
than the safe limit of 85 milligrams per kilogram, Citta said.
"But it was decided that we should get independent testing of our fields," he said.
Upon awarding of the contract, the testing should be completed in about seven days, Citta said.
The state Health Department, investigating a contaminated scrap metal facility in Newark in April, conducted a parallel investigation
to determine whether lead from that facility was migrating to a nearby athletic field.
-- Hartriono B. Sastrowardoyo
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