April 30, 2014:  

To the Editor:

I would like to comment on the article written two weeks ago about the Bronxville Board of Education's proposal to install a synthetic turf on Hayes Field.

While I understand and appreciate the efforts to ensure safe and reliable fields for our children to use every day, I suggest spending no additional money, but instead allowing the flood mitigation team to replant the field with natural turf on top of the new state-of-the-art drainage system underneath it.

It is important to be aware of potential health risks associated with artificial turf. There has not been enough detailed data to prove that synthetic fields are unsafe . . . they are innocent until proven guilty . . . but health experts have pointed to a couple of red flags to note in the research that has been done so far:

1. Risks associated with toxic ingredients:  with wear and tear, the components of the fields break down and release dangerous chemicals into the air and ground.

2. High temperatures:  synthetic fields hold heat better than blacktops. Temperatures can rise to 173° F on a hot day in the summer.

It is also important to keep in mind that synthetic fields need to be replaced every ten years. They are very expensive to install, they are also very expensive to dispose of--and they ruin the soil beneath them if a community wishes to revert back to natural turf.

The synthetic field that Bronxville School currently has (a type that New York City no longer installs due to health safety concerns) will need to be replaced in the next few years.

This fall residents will be voting whether or not to use funds to pay the high cost of installing synthetic turf on Hayes Field and committing to spending millions of dollars on future synthetic fields. I prefer the alternative of spending no additional money and seeing how the fields hold up with natural turf atop the new drainage substructure.

Gretchen Pingel 

Bronxville, New York 10708
April 25, 2014

Editor's note:  MyhometownBronxville does not fact-check statements in letters to the editor, and the opinions do not necessarily reflect the thinking of its staff. Its objective in publishing letters to the editor is to give air to diverse thoughts and opinions of residents in the community.