Field Replacement Plan At Caldwell School Criticized By NJ Sierra Club

CALDWELLS, NJ — A proposal to use state funding to swap a grass baseball field for an artificial one at a school in the Caldwells has gotten a thumbs-down from the New Jersey Sierra Club.

The Township of West Caldwell recently announced that it is seeking funding from the New Jersey Green Acres Program to carry out work at Grover Cleveland Middle School, which is located at 36 Academy Road in Caldwell.

The school is part of the Caldwell-West Caldwell Public School District, which includes students from both towns.

A slate of projects are being proposed. According to a public notice:

“West Caldwell proposes to create the following new facilities at Grover Cleveland Middle School: Replace existing grass/natural baseball field with a synthetic/artificial turf field, create batting tunnel, fenced bullpen, concession stand, coaches box, storage, bathrooms, scoreboard, sports lighting, fencing, and necessary site work.”

According to project documents, the plan doesn’t include removing existing trees. Planners will consider planting additional trees around the perimeter of the field. Use of the synthetic turf field may be limited during “extreme heat events.”

The total preliminary estimated construction cost is $4.08 million. The total budgetary project cost is $5.05 million.

“It is anticipated that the synthetic turf will be provided by Fieldturf and therefore it is anticipated old synthetic turf will be recycled at Fieldturf’s recycling facility located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,” documents state.

CRITICS: ‘NO GREEN ACRES MONEY FOR ARTIFICIAL FIELD’

A public meeting was held to discuss the proposal on Jan. 28 at the West Caldwell Municipal Building. Representatives from the New Jersey Sierra Club were among those to voice their concerns.

Taylor McFarland, a conservation program manager with the nonprofit, said its members oppose artificial turf development – especially when it uses “Green Acres” money to pay for the work.

“West Caldwell’s proposal to rip out their natural grass field and install an artificial turf field will be costly to the environment and people playing,” McFarland said.

“These plastic artificial turf blades contain harmful chemicals such as PFAS that are known to be harmful to human health and the environment,” McFarland continued. “As our climate keeps getting hotter and we continue to experience more and more heatways, it makes no sense to install an artificial turf field that radiates more heat than natural grass – around 20 to 50 degrees hotter.”

“The turf fields don’t last forever and must be replaced every eight to 12 years,” McFarland said. “In the long term, natural grass is a cheaper and safer option.”

“We urge West Caldwell to invest in the health of our children and our environment by using natural grass for its sports field instead,” McFarland concluded.

SUPPORTERS: ‘REPLACE THE FIELD’

According to a statement included with the proposal, arguments for replacing the field include:

OVERUSE – “The existing natural grass field at Grover Cleveland Middle School has been overused and has multiple areas of thinning grass and bare soil under existing conditions. There is a maximum hours per week a natural grass field can be used before the grass starts to die and the field becomes bare soil, which is a safety hazard to users of the field. This value varies but is approximately 20 hours per week.”

MUD AND RAIN – “Unlike natural turf, which can become muddy, uneven, or unusable in adverse weather conditions, synthetic turf provides consistent performance in varying weather conditions. In many cases, natural grass fields cannot be used for multiple recurring days after heavy rainfall events; however, synthetic turf does not suffer this limitation.”

WATER/FERTILIZER – “Synthetic turf reduces the use of potable water for irrigation, which helps maintain groundwater and reservoir levels as well as maintain base flow in natural waterways. Since synthetic turf is not fertilized, it reduces nitrogen runoff to downstream waterways, which results in the reduction of eutrophication of natural waterways.”

MORE USAGE – “Synthetic turf fields allow substantially more hours per week of usage than natural grass fields. In order to match the hours of usage per week of one illuminated synthetic turf field, West Caldwell would need to construct a total three natural grass fields.”

MORE INFORMATION

See West Caldwell’s notice about the proposal here, and Caldwell’s notice here.

Other supporting documents include:

• A concept plan showing the proposed changes
• A preliminary cost estimate
• An environmental impact assessment
• A statement about the proposed synthetic turf field

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