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EAST ORANGE, NJ — Residents near a small neighborhood park in New Jersey woke up earlier this month to the roaring sound of heavy machinery: A grassy field they’ve been begging authorities to fix for years has finally got a face-lift.
Then they learned the details.
Field and rows of more than a dozen trees Columbus Park In East Orange, a busy city in northern New Jersey, artificial turf was being bulldozed to make room for a soccer and baseball field and a rubberized running track. The plans also call for a playground and fixed exercise equipment, as well as 40 new saplings.
Many of the nearby residents, whose courtyards are directly adjacent to the park, are outraged, joining their colleagues in a growing number of towns across the state and country in trying to curb the use of an once coveted product as an all-weather substitute. for difficult-to-maintain turf areas.
Elsewhere in New Jersey, similar battles are taking place on turf. maple wood, Westfield and Princeton.
Some towns in Connecticut are concerned about the potential presence of chemicals. may pose health risks, Have forbidden grass alleged user rubber crumb Made from recycled car tires.
Synthetic turf has also raised concerns about injuries. Inside gender discrimination caseMembers of the United States women’s national soccer team objected to the need to play on it regularly. (Elite international men’s soccer matches are almost exclusively grass.)
After the remnants of Hurricane Ida unleashed widespread flooding and caused more deaths in New Jersey than any other state, the argument against eliminating absorbent turf areas like those in Columbian Park took on new urgency. People, President Biden warned As he visits the violent towns in the region, he must respond to a new reality: a warmer future with more frequent, intense storms.
“Things Are Confused Here” Marjorie PerryA developer and builder living in East Orange had this to say about the storm. “It looked like Niagara Falls.”
“We need to cultivate or protect our green spaces,” he added. “If we don’t, the flood will be a normal repeat.”
East Orange residents, who oppose removing grass and trees from Columbian Park, said they were concerned that placing grass would increase heat levels in the neighborhood, contribute to flooding, and add chemicals to the air that could harm people’s health.
“Removing our only green space and cutting down healthy old trees by replacing natural grass with artificial turf will create a ‘heat island’,” he says. online petition As of Friday, it had been signed by more than 250 people.
City officials defended the decision to use artificial turf, saying it was a safe and cost-effective way to rehabilitate the dilapidated park, expand access to residents of all ages, and eliminate the annual maintenance cost of turf fields.
“Management is committed to making this park a state-of-the-art green space and playground,” Mayor Ted R. Green said in a statement. “We have consulted with key experts in this field and our park plans have been finalized to follow best park practices, with the health and safety of our children considered a top priority.”
Evidence regarding the possible risks posed by artificial turf is insufficient.
in 2007 a climate researcher at Columbia University synthetic turf in New York City 60 degrees warmer than grass, with surface temperatures reaching 160 degrees Celsius on summer days.
About a decade later, the Environmental Protection Agency began examining artificial turf made with crumb-rubber infill. concluding While “chemicals are present”, human exposure “appears to be limited due to those released into the air”.
But the agency acknowledged the findings were incomplete, prompting three US senators — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — to seek more money from last year’s federal budget to complete the assessment.
“Communities and parents deserve to know if the chemicals used in these products have synergistic effects and are present at levels that pose a health risk,” Senators, all Democrats, said. Wrote.
Parks inspector Dennis James said at least six of the 17 trees felled in East Orange had died or died. He said the rest were removed during the construction of turfgrasses because their root systems would become unstable and a potential safety risk.
Officials said the city is in the process of phasing out all natural grass areas.
Some residents who own homes near Columbian Park said they welcome any development in what they describe as a long neglected and underutilized park.
“We were begging them—begging—to do something with this park,” said Lawrence Sweatte, whose home directly overlooks the park. “I see some trees over there that should have been knocked down a long time ago.”
But Danielle Spooner, who lives across the street from the park and walks her dog there regularly, said the city ignored the environmental impact of the project.
While it was cut behind trees and loudly echoing across the block on a weekday recently, Ms. Spooner said she was concerned about the health hazards of turf and less obvious effects: insects, milkweed and bird death.
“Something like this is very valuable,” said Ms. Spooner, 31. “Taking it from us – it actually feels like an attack.”
Many residents said they were aware that the park would eventually be overhauled, but did not know that the grass would be used or that so many trees would be cut down.
The mayor’s spokesperson, Connie Jackson, pointed out that park renovation, including mentioning turf, was discussed at a community meeting in February. According to the records, the City Council approved the $4.8 million construction contract in July.
But many neighbors told residents of the 42 single- and multi-family homes adjacent to the park that they were not informed that the project was imminent or that it involved adding turf.
“There are no pamphlets,” said Carter Mathes, a former member of the city’s open space advisory board, whose backyard ends in a park. “No reach. No information.”
East Orange, a city of approximately 70,000 inhabitants,overloaded community” by the state due to its 18 percent poverty rate and high proportion of minority residents. (About 85 percent of residents are Black and 11 percent are Hispanic. census figures.)
A environmental justice law The agreement that government Philip D. Murphy signed a year ago was aimed at protecting neighborhoods already disproportionately damaged by pollution. It requires the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to: consider available strains on public health before allowing it in places labeled as overloaded like East Orange.
“The hypocrisy of the state’s purported commitment to environmental equality sounds like a joke at this point – or at least cynical,” said Mr. Mathes, who teaches African-American literature. Rutgers University and launched an online petition.
Sheila Y. Oliver, deputy governor of New Jersey, longtime East Orange resident; her name adorns a front $41 million new elementary school ie next to the park.
While the new park will not be controlled by the Board of Education, students from the school will be allowed to use it, Jackson said. Ms. Oliver declined to comment on the park’s renovation.
Christopher Coke, former director of public works at East Orange, said at the community meeting in New York that “improving the park is important in a city where young people don’t have many choices about where to spend time.” February.
The basements of many homes throughout the park were flooded by the tornado, which has been linked to the deaths of at least 30 people in New Jersey.
Beekeeper and master gardener Royston Allman, who lives about five blocks from the park, said he fears the lawn will increase flooding and harm air quality.
“It’s really simple,” he said. “Just drop the grass, leave some trees.”
Residents said they had repeatedly requested to meet with city officials to discuss the project change, as they noticed that the contractors had started work.
After most of the trees were cut down, Mr. Mathes said they were offered a meeting date: 6 October.
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