Turf field coming to Riverhead High School this fall
Construction is underway to install a crumb rubber turf field at Riverhead High School.
Superintendent Nancy Carney provided an update for the $1.2 million voter-approved project at Tuesday’s school board meeting, saying that fencing was recently installed and the field’s topsoil is being removed. Grass seed will eventually be placed over the cleared areas, she added.
In an email Wednesday morning, Ms. Carney said the turf field will be completed this fall.
Following the update, Calverton resident Sal Mastropolo expressed concerned about the district’s choice of turf field.
“Kids breathe in the crumb rubber dust and some of the articles I read suggested that they should shower and don’t even bring their clothes inside after they play on those fields,” he said.
School board president Sue Koukounas said the board based its decision off studies conducted by the New York State Education Department, which she said netted inconclusive results about whether crumb rubber is harmful.
“There is no true concern with the rubber fill,” she said. “The voters approved the turf field and all the specifications that were under it, and we have to follow through with that.”
Photo credit: Barbaraellen Koch
