Clarkson looks to replace playground equipment

Clarkson officials have taken a proactive stance on testing of playground equipment in the town park.

"There has been swab testing on the equipment and soil sample testing of the area around the equipment," Dave Goodwin, highway superintendent said. "The test results came back at levels well below the 7.5 percent threshold limits."

Supervisor Paul Kimball said the town erected the mostly wooden playground more than 17 years ago when the equipment was made of pressure treated wood. Prior to that, he said, the equipment was made from old telephone poles. "We have been on a cycle of sealing the playground equipment every two years," he said.

Kimball said the commissioning of the testing was done after officials read in the newspaper of a playground showing high levels of arsenic in the soils around pressure treated wooden equipment. "We knew we wanted to get our playground tested," he said.

The town has more than $50,000 in a Green Acre Trust fund that is earmarked for playground equipment and park betterment projects. "A lot of the equipment is 17 years old and in need of replacement and I suggest we look into it," Kimball said.

Board members approved a resolution authorizing having manufacturers come in and prepare estimates for the replacement of several pieces of the playground equipment. "We’d like to see some stuff put in for the tots… the younger kids," Kimball said.