Schools are caught in the middle
The newest generation of artificial turf comes with a cushion of recycled tire crumbs and, in some cases, a thick layer of contention.
Industry representatives say the turf – in place at dozens of fields throughout the Philadelphia area – is safe. But some parents are not convinced and have mobilized against it.
In Burlington County, Evesham Township residents last week turned in more than 2,500 signatures aimed at forcing a referendum that would keep synthetic grass off their recreational fields.
“This stuff has ground up rubber tires in it, and it’s toxic, and they’re letting little children play on it,” says Karen Borden, a concerned mother and blogger leading the petition drive. “It’s crazy.”
In Delaware County, some Radnor residents are rejoicing after the school board recently agreed to toss out plans to install the turf at a new middle school.
The school was designed as a green facility with a grass roof and other planet-saving features and would have looked foolish with a fake field, residents argued at several board meetings.
Across the country, similar scenarios are playing out in town halls and school districts as people debate the safety of the new covering, which industry officials say is being laid atop fields at a rate of 800 a year. In San Carlos, Calif., placard-carrying parents recently marched against a turf project, and New Haven, Conn., residents voted down a multimillion-dollar turf proposal.
AstroTurf, when it was introduced in the the 1960s. was mostly nylon and plastic and was criticized as causing more sports-related injuries because of its hard surface. The more advanced product, which came on the market roughly five years ago, addresses that issue but is raising health and environmental concerns.
Scientists with the nonprofit Environmental and Human Health Inc. in Connecticut released a report last year calling for a moratorium until more studies can be performed.