Mt. Lebanon commissioners stand firm on artificial turf
Mt. Lebanon commissioners endured a fusillade of criticism at the Oct. 27 meeting, as residents once again took to the microphone to protest the municipality’s installation of artificial turf at Middle and Wildcat fields. Despite the opposition, commissioners steadfastly refused to reconsider the project.
By now, most of the opposition’s arguments are well-worn: potential health risks from crumb rubber infill components; the possibility of increased flooding in nearby neighborhoods; and whether the $750,000 municipal share of the project couldn’t be put to better use elsewhere – such as funding improvements to local roads.
Opponents of the turf project, which broke ground earlier this month, were energized by a rally on Oct. 26 and an NBC News story probing possible links between artificial turf materials and cancer.
Still, the four commissioners who backed the project stood firm.
When a resident asked Steve Silverman, Dave Brumfield, John Bendel and commission president Kristen Linfante whether they still felt it “wise” to move ahead with the project, all four said yes. Kelly Fraasch, who has opposed the project from the start, reiterated her no vote.
Brumfield said that increased media attention notwithstanding, he didn’t feel the NBC story warranted halting the project. “A lot of you who haven’t researched this issue as much as we on the commission have probably found it quite frightening,” he said. “But this is not new information to us. We’ve seen over a dozen studies that have said turf is safe.”
He added that it would be up to individual families to decide whether to use the turf.
Commission president Linfante invited municipal engineer Dan Deiseroth to address flooding concerns.
He explained that the turfed fields will include a filtration system that will store water beneath the field for a period of time before allowing it to leave the site. According to Deiseroth, the system has been designed to hold all the rainwater from a two-year storm event. He said state regulatory authorities had approved the design, and that it would actually improve storm water management in the area compared to present conditions.
“Currently, the soil allows very little infiltration of water,” he said. “The area was filled a long time ago and at this point the underlying soil will not accept water.”
Linfante added that although the design includes a zinc filtration system, the level of zinc contained in turf materials does not pose a threat to humans. Rather, the filtration system is designed to protect nearby aquatic life.
She said that the turf product Mt. Lebanon selected satisfied standards set by both the Environmental Protection Agency and California’s stringent Title 22 regulations.