Riverkeeper Takes a Stand on Artificial Turf in NYC Parks

On December 13, 2007, Riverkeeper Investigator Craig Michaels appeared before the New York City Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee to testify about the potential environmental and public health impacts of using artificial turf in New York City parks. Unfortunately, despite strong public support for local environmental policy initiatives, artificial turf continues to replace natural grass playing fields, moving New York in the opposite direction of becoming a sustainable city. Mr. Michaels testified that Riverkeeper opposes further installation of artificial turf in New York City parks until a comprehensive study is conducted that addresses the environmental and public health concerns.

Chief among these concerns is the fact that artificial turf exacerbates the City’s combined sewer overflow (CSO) problems. The low water retention rate of artificial turf, which maximizes the recreational potential of such fields, is also a stormwater nightmare. Water glides off of these surfaces with ease and either adds to the City’s already overloaded sewer system, or, in the case of waterfront parks, may simply wash directly into our rivers and into New York Harbor.

Also, in contrast to natural playing surfaces such as grass, synthetic fields not only increase run-off, but this run-off is potentially toxic, as it contains rubber tire crumbs from the fields, which are comprised of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a group of chemicals that includes compounds classified as known or probable human carcinogens.

Mr. Michaels also noted that any proposed installation of artificial turf should be subject to scrutiny under either the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) or the City Environmental Quality Review law (CEQR). The environmental and human health impacts of a single field are localized but surely measurable. In addition, the cumulative effect of the installation of over a hundred of these fields citywide in a short period of time certainly warrants proper environmental review.

Riverkeeper urges the New York City Council to mandate a moratorium on the development and installation of artificial turf fields until the Parks Department, working with other agencies and independent consultants as needed, has conducted a comprehensive study on the environmental and public health effects of artificial turf. Further, the Council should explore methods to convert synthetic fields back to natural grass fields.