Official: Rumors unfounded Anonymous letter made claims about field at rec center BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer MANALAPAN - Township health officer Dave Richardson said rumors of historic pesticide contamination on a football field at the Manalapan Recreation Center posing a health threat to people who use the field are just that - rumors. According to Richardson, there is no cause for concern and soil testing of the football field is neither necessary nor recommended. Richardson said he looked into the matter after Township Committeewoman Susan Cohen came to him with concerns that had been raised in an anonymous letter she said she had received. The football field in question is in a part of the recreation center that borders Route 522 directly across from the municipal building. The property that is now the football field was turned over by the township to the Manalapan Pop Warner youth football organization several years ago. Before that, the field had been used as a soccer field for almost 20 years. Cohen told the News Transcript she received an anonymous letter last month that made allegations that there is historic pesticide contamination on that particular field and that the contamination poses a health threat to children who play on the field. The recreation center was constructed on former farmland. Cohen shared the fact that she had received the letter with her fellow members of the Township Committee. She told a reporter it was her understanding that she was not the only member of the governing body to have received the same anonymous letter. Richardson said although he cannot document any soil testing as ever having been performed at the recreation center before that particular field was constructed, he said nonetheless that there is no imminent health danger. Remarking that much of Manalapan historically has been farmland, Richardson said, "The football field is one postage stamp of a public field we don't have any information on, much like every other township property people congregate on." Richardson said testing property can be a costly enterprise and not something to be undertaken without due cause. He said the state Department of Environmental Protection has criteria for when pesticide testing and remediation is warranted and said the field that is the subject of rumors at the recreation center does not meet the criteria. Richardson said that since there has been no "evidence of raised cancer rates in the area or of other diseases associated with this type of contamination - we're not seeing anything that suggests there is a problem." He explained why the possibility of past pesticide use at the site was not a cause for concern. After observing that the field has been in use for more than 10 years, Richardson's conclusion of the matter was, "I believe the field has been developed so that if there were pesticides in the field - the turf has created a natural barrier that protects" people who are using the field. Also, according to Richardson, "there is a difference between turning over agricultural fields for residential use and for recreational use." He said recreational use is more sporadic and does not compare with the intensive, daily use of residential development. Cohen said since Richardson is the expert in the field, she was satisfied to defer the matter to his experience and expertise.