Neither sports field at Jefferson Village School has yet been approved as safe for play, but soil testing will be the next step following metal detections and visual inspections of the fields on Aug. 23, according to AOS 93 Superintendent Steve Bailey.
The Jefferson School Committee voted earlier this month to cordon off the fields because of glass found on the softball infield and shards of glass and pottery, lighters, nails, and other items found on the baseball field.
The fields were installed by subcontractor George C. Hall & Sons, of Rockland, as part of the construction of the new school, but how and when exactly the fields became contaminated and the extent of the contamination has so far not been determined, nor which party is responsible for remedying the situation.
To date, the school committee has chosen to pursue a collaborative approach with the contractors to investigate and remedy any issues.
By vote of the committee, the fields at the school are to remain cordoned off until cleared by safety inspections. Roughly 18 people including Bailey, the entire school committee, representatives for both general contractor Bowman Constructors and George C. Hall & Sons, and others participated in the first such inspection on Aug. 23.
Armed with orange flags, the crowd fanned out to roughly five feet apart as they traversed the fields looking for contaminants and marking them with the flags.
The inspection of the softball field did not include the infield where the glass had been found, and the visual inspection of the outfield only yielded parts of a ball which officials said likely was struck by a lawn mower.
The visual inspection of the baseball field, however, was less promising. Over 60 orange flags dotted the field after the inspection, marking places where shards of glass, pieces of seashells, oversized rocks, and other items were discovered.
Kevin Bowman, of general contractor Bowman Constructors, walked the fields with a large wheeled magnet to locate magnetic materials on the surface but none were picked up by the magnet.
Roughly half a dozen “old, old, old nails” were found below the surface of the ground on the softball field by a metal detector, and five pieces of metal were found below ground in the baseball field, according to Bailey.
Even though little has been found in the softball outfield, approval for use is awaiting the results of soil testing, Bailey said.
Approval has been granted from the state to use some of the construction funds from the school project to pay for soil testing, which will likely occur sometime during the week of Aug. 26, he said.
The soil testing will include checks for glass particulates as well as analysis of the soil’s organic makeup to verify that it met specifications for the project, Bailey said.
It will take approximately 10 to 14 days for soil testing firm R. W. Gillespie & Associates to come back with results, Bailey said.
