HAMDEN — There’s a turf war going on in town.
A new field is badly needed at Hamden High School and town officials have proposed upgrading the current dilapidated grass field to a synthetic rubber field, but not everyone is on board with the plan.
“The project is ready to go, it complies with all legal requirements, and it is sorely needed by the town,” said Anne Catino, an attorney representing the Hamden Board of Education.
Town officials claim an artificial field is standard practice these days and provides more bang for the buck, allowing for more teams from multiple sports to use the field at any given time.
“It can be used for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, so that management of all the sports can be accomplished more readily,” said Catino.
But some community members say the turf is dangerous.
“They are not safe for the athletes to play on,” said Nancy Alderman, president of Environmental and Human Health Inc. “The problem is that the ground up tires have and there are 40,000 of them in every field have a great deal of carcinogens and toxins in them.”
In a Tuesday night public hearing in front of the Hamden Planning and Zoning Commission, arguments were made from both sides, each with their own evidence or dismissal of the claims that the turf is dangerous for kids.
“We have publicly stated that if anyone could produce one single report that these fields are unsafe, we will pull the project,” said James Pascarella, president of the Hamden Legislative Council.
No decision was rendered at the P&Z meeting. The debate has been continued to another hearing scheduled for late in February.
