Letter to the Editor: Artificial Soccer Turf Is Cause for Concern

Editor's note: The following letter was written by Willistown resident Jeannette Lindvig, who lives near the Greater Chester Valley Soccer Association fields.

The Greater Chester Valley Soccer Association is petitioning Willistown Township for permission to build Astro-turf soccer fields on Willistown Township land that the GCVSA leases from Willistown township on Line Road. After attending the Zoning Hearing Board meeting, I came away with some major misgivings about the GCVSA, and many questions about Astro-turf.

1. If other municipalities are removing old astro-turf fields because these fields have proven to be toxic, why would we assume that "Astro-turf" has solved the decomposition/pollution problem with this new version? Have long-term studies been done on its safety and lack of environmental impact?

2. Why does the GCVSA want to spend half a million dollars constructing artificial turf fields on land that belongs to the township? Might the goal be to assume ownership of the land in the future? Plastic soccer fields will be no use to anyone else.

3. If Astro-turf does turn out to be an environmental nightmare, what prevents the GCVSA from walking away from this super-fund site and asserting "The Astro-turf fields belong to Willistown township?" Willistown residents would be liable.

4. Once the land is scraped clean and these fields are created, will they ever be anything in the future other than plastic athletic fields? Does Willistown want to own astro-turf fields, adjoining the headwaters of Ridley creek and the Natural Lands Trust property?

5. What is the life expectancy of an Astro-turf field, and who pays for its removal when it is "used up" or decomposes?

6. Would Willistown approve creating a landfill on this spot for old automobile tires (rubber tire "crumbs"), with a base of gravel, and covered over with a thin veneer of plastic grass? That is the composition astro-turf.

7. Have we any data on the number of car trips to and from the Line Road fields on soccer days? Astro-turf all-weather soccer fields will only increase available soccer play time, and so increase the wear and tear on our roads, and further challenge the quiet rural nature of Willistown. Neil Davis (the paid head of the Greater Chester Valley Soccer Association) asserted that the "Soccer fields have no impact on the township." I know this statement to be false - both as a road-walker and as a resident who has occasionally made the mistake of driving down Line Rd on soccer days.

Neil Davis also said "The soccer fields bring money into the area. People spend money on food, shopping, hotels, etc." Where do people buy food, shop for anything, or spend the night in Willistown?

Willistown is already bearing the lion's share of GCVSA's negative impact: extreme traffic and noise. I see no positive motivation for Willistown to choose to increase existing traffic and noise problems, to add potential groundwater pollution to the mix, and to forfeit the integrity of the riparian wetlands bordering the headwaters of the Ridley Creek. What would be our township's net gain?

GCVSA is a big hungry giant, trying to take small bites we won't notice. Stadium lights, and then a huge indoor arena are next. Bite by bite...bit by bit.

The construction of Astro-turf fields on Willistown township's property is a lose, lose, lose proposition.

—Jeannette Lindvig, Willistown