A petition in Woodbridge is trying to stop the installation of an artificial turf field at Amity High School more than six months after school district voters approved the idea during a referendum.

Construction is set to start next month to turn the football field and surrounding track into an artificial turf stadium. Amity parent Chandra Prasad is part of a group of Woodbridge residents concerned about potential health and environmental risks that could come with upgrades to the Amity High School athletic complex.

"This isn't in our best interests, the best interests of our children and the community," she says. "It's not a safe choice for our water and soil."

The petition points to artificial turf studies citing the presence of synthetic chemicals that can cause serious health problems and leach into groundwater. It also alleges the field's infill would be from pulverized rubber tires.

"We have the undisputed presence of toxins and carcinogens; things you don't want your kids around," Prasad says.

 

Superintendent of Schools Jennifer Byars says athlete safety has been on the forefront of board members' minds during the project.

"We selected what we thought was the absolute best product," she says. "It’s the same field that they constructed the Yale Bowl out of, it’s the same field that the Patriots use at Gillette Stadium."

Byars says parents had the chance to make their voices heard before the vote in December. Amity is a regional school district, and though the referendum failed in Woodbridge, it passed in Orange and Bethany.

Prasad believes voters didn't have all the information. She says recommendations from a state task force didn't come out until the end of last year.

"The board of education and my entire staff, athletic director, administrators were committed to doing what is best for kids," says Byars.

Byars says the upgrades to the athletics facilities are the first in about 30 years.