Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor
An Oct. 9 NBC News report citing health concerns from playing sports on synthetic crumb rubber fields prompted Glens Falls resident John Fair to again question the safety of Glens Falls High School’s Putt LaMay Field.
“I’m not here to puff my chest out and tell you I told you so,” Mr. Fair told the Glens Falls City School Board of Education Monday night. He began raising concerns about the field years ago.
“You guys have a big problem,” he said.
“I don’t know how you’re going to handle it, but you’ve got to get that turf tested…and you’ve got to set up a committee with experts, not coaches, to find out what you’ve got first, and then go in and figure out how you’re going to fix the problem.”
Jenkins: We’re alert to the issue
No board member responded at the meeting. But when The Chronicle previously contacted superintendent Paul Jenkins, he said had seen the NBC News report and forwarded the link to board members.
“It’s a pretty scary report, but I haven’t seen any other reports,” Mr. Jenkins said.
He confirmed that the Glens Falls field is a FieldTurf crumb rubber field like the ones featured in the NBC News report.
“Every field is different depending on how much fill is used,” Mr. Jenkins noted. “The report talked about the rubber crumbs flying up, but that doesn’t happen on our field. Our blades are very tight, and there is less fill.
“John Fair called me when he saw the report. He was on the original committee, and I know he had some concerns then.
“Obviously we are going to continue to look into it and make sure it is nothing harmful for our student-athletes or our community. We will definitely continue to watch it.”
Industry: Studies show no ill effect
The NBC News report cited a college soccer coach in Washington State who said she knows 38 soccer players, 34 of them goalies, who have been diagnosed with cancer. All played on synthetic fields, though the coach, Amy Griffin, acknowledges her list is not scientific.
The Synthetic Turf Council said there is no evidence the fields could be dangerous.
“We’ve got 14 studies on our website that says we can find no negative health effects,” Dr. Davis Lee, a Turf Council board member, told NBC News. “There’s certainly a preponderance of evidence to this point that says, in fact, it is safe.”
Mr. Fair said he was part of a 2007 committee that looked at the options the school district had after voters approved building the new field in May of that year.
Others on the Athletic Field Committee, which was chaired by then-superintendent Tom McGowan, were athletic director Chip Corlew, Jim Girard, Dan Hall, Jim Clark, football coach Pat Lilac, Bill Mason, former school board president Devin Spencer, Deb Cappezutti, Pat Wright, Frank Shields, Hank Pelton, Kurt Conduzio, Kevin Sullivan, Nick Taylor, Gene Figler, Tim Graham and Jason Collier.
“At that point, I knew nothing about it,” Mr. Fair said. “I just started turning over stones.” He said he contacted government officials, doctors, citizens’ groups and engineers, collecting documents about the chemical makeup of these fields.
“All of the reports went to the school board,” Mr. Fair said. “The committee voted to send its approval to the board, but I said no, unless we told the public of the limitations of the field.”
Mr. Fair said before the field was installed, “I went to Tom McGowan and asked for an eight-ounce sample of material that could be tested. I was told no.”
Reached by The Chronicle, Mr. McGowan said that in answer to Mr. Fair’s request, “I told him the field is not ours yet; I can’t give you a sample.” He said Mr. Fair didn’t request it again.
The field was installed and teams have been playing on it since 2008.
Mr. Fair said at Monday night’s meeting, “No one on the board has ever called me and said, ‘Hey, let’s get a cup of coffee and go over those reports.’ You can’t shake your heads and say you didn’t know about it. You knew about it, and you didn’t do anything about it.”
Prior to the meeting, Mr. Fair told The Chronicle that he wants the field “torn up and removed. I don’t think it’s safe. I’ve never walked on it, and I will never walk on it. This isn’t about me. It’s about the safety of our children.
“I’m elated that maybe the public is starting to listen and take a hard look at it, as I have been doing for years.”
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