HomeMy WebLinkAboutPB Packet -7-2-24 Meinig SEQR supplimental info
DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING
215 N. Tioga St 14850
607.273.1747
www.town.ithaca.ny.us
TO: Planning Board Members
FROM: Christine Balestra, Senior Planner
DATE: June 25, 2024
RE: Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Sports and Recreation Center Project SEQR
Discussion - Involved Agency Letter to Lead Agency
Enclosed please find additional materials related to the Cornell Meinig Fieldhouse project, dated June
10, 2024, along with a draft letter to the City of Ithaca Planning & Development Board (Lead Agency in
the environmental review of the project).
Background:
The Town Planning Board received a packet of materials for the Meinig Fieldhouse project, including
a Full EAF Part 1, at the sketch plan review meeting on January 16, 2024. The Board issued
concurrence with the City of Ithaca Planning & Development Board (PDB) to be the Lead Agency in
the environmental review of the project at that meeting.
The City PDB formally declared themselves the Lead Agency in the New York State Environmental
Quality Review (SEQR) process on January 23, 2024.
The Meinig Fieldhouse project was removed from the February 20, 2024, Town Planning Board
agenda at the request of the applicant.
The Town Planning Board met on May 21, 2024, to review revised application materials, which
included a larger, multipurpose outdoor synthetic playing field located adjacent to the proposed
Meinig Fieldhouse, and a relocation of the field hockey field to the Ellis Hollow/Game Farm Road area
in the Town of Ithaca. The Board discussed the segmentation relative to the SEQR process and
decided to forward the staff memo from the May 21, 2024, meeting to the Lead Agency (City PDB).
Planning staff forwarded the staff memo to the Lead Agency on May 22, 2024.
The Lead Agency informally determined on May 28, 2024, that SEQR segmentation was appropriate
for the project (final decision will be included in the SEQR resolution for the July 23, 2024, City PDB
meeting).
The Lead Agency will hold a public hearing on June 25, 2024, and will make a determination of
environmental significance on July 23, 2024.
The purpose of the July 2, 2024, meeting is for the Town Planning Board to discuss the additional project
materials, and to consider the questions and discussions laid out in the draft, attached, comment letter
that will be sent to the City PDB. Please feel free to contact me by phone at (607) 273-1721, extension
121 or by email at cbalestra@town.ithaca.ny.us if you have questions before the meeting.
Att.
Cc: Elisabete Godden, Project Manager, Cornell University Facilities and Campus Services
Kimberly Michaels, Director of Landscape Architects, TWM, a Fisher Associates Landscape Architecture Studio
Lisa Nicholas, Director of Planning and Economic Development, City of Ithaca
Leslie Schill, Director of Campus Planning, Cornell University, Office of the University Architect
Meinig Fieldhouse
Indoor Sports and Recreation Facility
Supplemental Information
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY
June 10, 2024
TWM - A Fisher Associates Landscape Architecture Studio
Fisher Associates, P.E., L.S., L.A., D.P.C.
1001 West Seneca Street, Suite 201 Ithaca, New York 14850 ph: 607.277.1400
www.twm.la | www.fisherassoc.com
June 10, 2024
C.J. Randall, Director of Planning
Department of Planning, Town of Ithaca
215 North Tioga Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Director Randall,
Attached please find response to questions regarding the Meinig Fieldhouse / Alumni Fields project for
Cornell University. Thank you for all your time, attention, and dedication to date.
Included with this letter is the following:
1) General project comments
2) Responses to City of Ithaca FEAF assessment form questions
3) Responses to City of Ithaca Planning Board questions raised during the May 28th, 2024 meeting
If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to call. We are hoping to
discuss the following responses at your June 18th meeting.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Michaels
Director of Landscape Architecture
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Responses to Questions ................................................................................................... 01
General Comments ........................................................................................................................................... 01
Responses to FEAF Assessment Form Questions ............................................................................................ 01
Responses to Planning Board Questions ......................................................................................................... 03
Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 06
Appendix A: Red Tail Hawk Impact Letter, Cornell Lab of Ornithology ............................................................. 06
1
General Comments:
Fire Access Plan
The fire access plan has been reviewed and approved by the City of Ithaca Fire Department.
Responses to FEAF Assessment Form Questions:
Question 1: What is the total area to be excavated and maximum depth?
Response:
Construction will require 3,600 CY of cut and fill for building foundations which will remain on site. No soil
materials will be leaving the site. As a result of the change in the scope of the Alumni Field work, an
additional 3,500 CY of imported aggregate will be required. The maximum depth of excavation will be eight
(8) feet. Please see page 5 of the April 19th “Additional Materials” submission for additional information
relevant to excavation and site preparation.
Question 2 & 3: Where is the site demolition plan including the removal of trees?
Identify trees to be removed with DBH’s.
Response:
The site demolition can be found on sheet L1-01 in the Cornell ISRC Permit Plan Set submitted April 19th for
the May 2024 Planning Board Meeting. Sheet L1-01 identifies trees to be removed from the project site.
Sheet C101 identifies existing tree sizes in diameter at breast height (DBH).
Question 4: “The area of impervious surface will increase from the existing 2.3 acres to proposed 5.6
acres, for a net increase of 3.3 acres of impervious surfaces. What is the discrepancy?”
Response:
Currently, the existing conditions of the site comprise of 4.07 acres of impervious cover, which is greater
than the value of 3.3 acres noted in the original submission. This change in existing impervious cover can be
attributed to how the natural turf field is classified. For the original submission, the natural turf field was
considered as pervious cover. However, since the submission, we have come to understand that the
NYSDEC considers natural turf fields as impervious cover if the field has underdrains and low soil infiltration
capability. The existing onsite natural turf field does have underdrains and infiltration tests have resulted in
extremely poor rates. For these reasons, the natural turf field is now considered as impervious cover and is
responsible for the discrepancy between submissions. The overall increase in impervious cover between the
pre-development conditions and the post development conditions can be attributed to the addition of the
fieldhouse building, multi-purpose recreational field, and fire access & pedestrian pathways.
Question 5: Provide details for the Rain Garden.
Response:
A bioretention filter is a stormwater management practice designed to treat, filter, and reduce stormwater
runoff. This system features a shallow, vegetated basin filled with engineered soil media that facilitates
pollutant removal through physical filtration and chemical adsorption. The filter typically includes a specific
soil mix containing sand, along with vegetation that aids in nutrient uptake and enhances soil structure. It
improves water quality by capturing sediments, nutrients, and other contaminants, thereby lessening the
environmental impact of stormwater runoff. Drawing C105 shows the layout, size, and orientation of the filter,
L5-1 illustrates the vegetation to be installed, and detail #4 on C202 provides a filter cross section.
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Question 6: Confirm that the existing trees to be removed are red oak.
Response:
There is one (1) 6” red maple to be removed. That tree is on the Northeast corner of Bartels Hall. The
remaining 17 trees to be removed within the project boundary are red oaks. Please see sheet C101 in the
Cornell ISRC Permit Plan Set for tree sizes and locations of existing trees. Please reference sheet L1-01 for
tree removals.
Question 7: Where are tree preservation plans?
Response:
No tree protection is included in the project plans because there are no trees to remain within the area of
construction or close to the edge of construction.
Question 8: Provide an expert opinion on the construction and Red-tailed Hawk Nesting season.
Response:
Please see Appendix A: Letter from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Question 9: Provide information on the demolition and disposal of existing and proposed artificial turf.
Response:
The existing field hockey artificial turf field has been used and maintained for 16(sixteen) years. It is at the
end of its useful life. Unfortunately, there are no processing facilities in the United States that will process
this type of turf.
The proposed synthetic turf fields with rubber and sand infill can be recycled at the end of its 8-10 years as a
field. During the field removal process, the infill will be extracted and either reused in the replacement field or
recycled at a turf processing facility. At the facility, the sand and rubber infill are extracted from the turf,
separated, and recycled as infill for future fields. Turf options for recycling include repurposing for use in
other sports facilities or conversion to mixed polymer plastic products. The performance shock pad will be
used for two to three synthetic turf cycles and can be recycled by the manufacturer for use in future shock
pads.
Removal of recent synthetic turf projects at Cornell included the following:
1) The Schoellkopf Synthetic Turf Replacement project from 2016 included sand and rubber infill reuse
that was extracted from the existing field and used on the new field. The turf was repurposed by
Artificial Grass Recycling Corporation.
2) Portions of the outfield synthetic turf, from the Hoy Baseball Field 2023 project, were reclaimed and
used in the indoor hitting facility at Booth field. The turf and rubber and sand infill were sent to
ReTurf, an artificial turf reuse company based out of Statesville, North Carolina.
Question 10: Provide justification and mitigation for variances (lot coverage and height) needed from the
Town.
Response:
The town of Ithaca does not have a zone aligned with Higher Education or Institutional uses. Because of the
limitations of the low density residential zone, Cornell needs to obtain the following variances for nearly every
project in the Town of Ithaca.
3
The campus is mostly zoned as Low Density Residential, and the regulations for planning low-density,
single-family homes do not reflect the type of development typical for a campus. The two zoning variances
from the Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals are required for the proposed project because Cornell’s
campus is zoned Low Density Residential in the Town of Ithaca. The project will require an area variance due
to the height of the Meinig Fieldhouse. The peak of the sports complex roof is approximately 56 feet from
average grade. The Town of Ithaca’s Zoning Code§270-59 generally limits building height to 38 feet below
interior grade or 36 feet below exterior grade (which ever is lower). The proposed building height is lower
than the surrounding campus architecture, and no private neighbors will be impacted by the height of this
development.
The proposed project will require a second variance from the Town of Ithaca Zoning Board of Appeals due
to an exceedance of allowable lot coverage as specified in the Town of Ithaca’s Zoning Code §270-61, which
permits a maximum lot coverage of 10%. The proposed project will be constructed on Town of Ithaca tax
parcel 67.-1-12.3, which is 31 acres in total size and includes approximately eight (8) buildings. Existing
structures on the parcel exceed the maximum 10% (3.1 acre) lot coverage allowance at 3.12 acres;
therefore, an area variance is required.
Responses to Planning Board Questions:
Question 11 & 12: “Where does Cornell send its artificial turf to be recycled?”
“What is the recycling process for artificial turf?”
Response:
Please see response to question #9.
Question 13: “Are there any alternatives to artificial turf (other than natural lawn) that could be used for the
indoor facility?”
Response:
Synthetic turf is the only option that would meet the performance, safety, and durability requirements for an
indoor facility to support the needs of Cornell University.
Question 14: “Aren’t there more injuries with artificial turf? Isn’t this a concern for student safety?”
Response:
The synthetic turf system is designed to mimic a good quality natural grass field including performance and
safety parameters set forth by One Turf Concept for shock absorption, vertical deformation, rotational
resistance, Impact Attenuation (HIC), and Surface Hardness (Gmax). The proposed turf system includes
rubber and sand infill, turf fiber, and a shock pad.
Question 15: “Will there be intercollegiate sports on these fields?”
Response:
The club and intramural teams will have games with other universities on this field.
4
Question 16: Your revised submission had a slight increase in impervious surface from previous submission
why is that?
Response:
Please see response to question # 4.
Question 17: “How much will this field be used?”
Response:
It is projected that both the indoor and outdoor facility will be used extensivly throughout the year. The indoor
facility will be open year round. During the spring and fall semesters, the field will be used every hour from
6am-1am daily. In summer, the field will be open Monday - Friday for approximately six hours. The program
for this project serves approximately 4,470 students. The graphic below illustrates the projected use by
groups:
In addition to the sports groups above, the field will be utilized for special events such as: Student-run
alternative events to drinking, movie night, varsity sport clinics, ROTC-Training, Tae Kwon Do Tournament,
Club Olympics, COE teambuilding, WLax Dodgeball Tournament, and Engineering and Biology Class
projects.
The multi-purpose outdoor field will be open year round. During the spring and fall semesters, the field will
be used every hour from 6am -11pm daily. During the the summer, the field will be used every hour from
10am-6pm daily. The program for this project serves approximately 4,470 students The graphic on the
following page illustrates the projected use by groups:
5
In addition to the sports groups above, the field will be utilized for special events such as: Varsity sport
clinics, ROTC-Training, Club Contests/Events, and COE teambuilding, Sorority/Fraternity Fundraisers,
Academic Department Teambuilding Events.
With a natural turf field, there is a projected loss of at least 80 playable days due to the weather. With an
average daily use of 17 hours, there is a potential loss of 1360 playable hours.
Question 18: “Why is artificial turf justified/necessary for this project?”
Response:
A synthetic turf field for both the indoor facility and the multipurpose field meet the intense space demand for
the project serving the greatest number of students in central campus. A natural turf field will not meet the
program requirements. Synthetic turf satisfies the purpose, need, and benefit for the facilities.
6
Appendix A: Letter from Cornell Lab of
Ornithology
June 6, 2024
City of Ithaca Planning Board:
I have been asked to comment on the Meinig Fieldhouse construction at Cornell
University and its potential impact on the family of Red-tailed Hawks that have
nested at the site since at least 2012.
The plans for construction include preserving the pole across from Fernow Hall
where the hawks have nested in 2018–2024 as well as in 2012 and 2015. The hawks
also perch on the adjacent pole to the east, which will remain standing.
The pole next to Weill Hall, where the hawks nested in 2013, 2014, and 2016 is
slated to be removed. We recommend that it be left standing as long as possible
during construction as an alternate nesting site given the disturbance expected near
the Fenow pole. Although it would be ideal to retain both nesting poles long term, we
understand that the pole at Weill Hall will be in the footprint of the new field.
Disturbance close to the nest should be minimized to reduce the chances of
disruption or abandonment. Nesting typically occurs February through June. During
those months, the contractor should coordinate with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
advisory team to identify workarounds where possible and adjust if needed based on
the hawks’ behaviors.
The design team has specified bird friendly film in the base bid; bird friendly glass will
be presented as an alternative. More than 10 Red-tailed Hawks have been injured or
killed in window strikes on Cornell’s campus since 2012. In the U.S., at least a billion
birds are estimated to die in window strikes each year. Using bird friendly film or
glass will be important to ensure birds can see the glass and avoid colliding.
I’d like to thank the Planning Board and the project team members at Cornell and
Sasaki for assessing the impact of construction on the hawks and seeking options to
support their continued safe nesting on campus.
Sincerely,
Miyoko Chu, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Communications
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
:fCityofIthaca’FULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIllProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24PROJECTDESCRIPTIONTheapplicantproposestoconstructtheMeinigFieldhouse,anindoorsportsandrecreationcenterofapproximately90,000SFontheexistingRobisonAlumniFieldswhichiscomposedofnaturalgrassandartificialturffields,sidewalks,spectatorviewingareas,andparkinglots.TheMeinigFieldhousewillaccommodateafieldthatwillbeprogrammedtosupportNCAArequirementsforwomenandmenlacrossecompetitions;avarsitysoccerpitchand/orvarsityfootballfieldforpractices;andthefacilitywillhostcampusrecreation,club,andintramuralsportteams.Theproposedbuildingwillalsoincludeamechanicalroom,restrooms,atrainingroom,andstorageonthegroundfloor;twoteamrooms,restrooms,anareaforelevatedfilmingandmechanicalspacesonthesecondlevelmezzanineaccessiblebybothstairsandelevator;andoneachlevelanareaforalimitednumberofspectators.Sitechangesincludeconstructionofamulti-purposefield,proposedlandscaping,lighting,andbikeracks.Theprojectislocatedincentralcampusandthelimitofdisturbanceisproposedtobeapproximately7acresintotal,with5.8acresintheCityand1.2acresintheTownofIthaca.TheprojectsiteislocatedintheU-iZoningDistrictintheCityofIthacaandwillrequirenovariancesandislocatedintheLow-DensityResidentialZoningDistrictintheTownofIthacaandwillrequirevariancesinthetown.ThishasbeendeterminedtobeaType1ActionundertheCityofIthacaEnvironmentalQualityReviewOrdinance§176-4B.1(b),(n),and8(a),andtheStateEnvironmentalQualityReviewAct(“SEORA”)§617.4b.(11)andissubjecttoenvironmentalreview.IMPACTONLANDTheprojectislocatedonataxparcelintheCityofIthacaapproximately147-acresandlocatedonaparcelintheTownofIthacaapproximately31acres.Thelimitofdisturbance,andtheprojectsiteitselfisapproximately7.3acres,with5.8acresintheCityand1.2acresintheTown.Theprojectsiteisapreviouslydeveloped,relativelyflatsitelocatedintheCornellUniversitycentralcampus.TheprojectsiteisboundedbyTowerRoadonthenorth,WeillHallonthewest,BartelsHallandparkinglottothesouth,andtheRobertJ.KaneSportsComplexFieldontheeast.Thesitecurrentlyhasablackchainlinkfencealongtheentireperimeterenclosinganopennaturalturfarea/grassyplayingfieldsinthewesternportionandanexistingartificialturffieldhockeypitch,RobisonAlumniFields,ontheeasternportion.Projectimplementationwillrequirethedemolitionofthegrassfieldsandtheassociatedutilities,theartificialturffield,andinfrastructure.Constructionisexpectedtolastapproximately16months.Astheexistingconditionsincludeafieldhockeypitchandtheapplicants’previoussubmissionincludedaproposed77,354SFfieldhockeyfieldwithamenities,andnowtherevisedprojectscopeincludesaproposed92,098SF{93,098SFwithperimetercurb)multi-purposesyntheticturfathleticfieldthatwillsupportavarietyofsportsactivitiesformuchoftheyear,CityPlanningstaffhasrecommendedtheenvironmentalreviewbesegmentedbecauseafutureportionofthisproject,thereplacementofthefieldhockeyfieldwilltakeplaceentirelywithintheTownofIthaca,andthetimelineforconstructionofthenewfieldhockeyfieldhasnotyetbeenestablished.ThepermissiblesegmentationwillbeincludedintheC/SEQRdeterminationresolutioninwhichtheLeadAgencywilldetermine.Theproposed90,000SFbuildingwillbelocatedintheSEsectionoftheapproximate305,000SFprojectsite,withabuildingfootprintapproximately2.1acresThetotalareaofdisturbancefortheproposedbuildingand1
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIIIProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24associatedimprovementsis7.3acres,Theareaofimpervioussurfacewillincreasefrom4.07acresto5.79acres,foranetincreaseof1.72acresofimpervioussurfaces,Accordingtotheapplication,nomaterialwillberemovedfromthesite(3600CVcutandfill);allexcavatedmaterialswillremainonsite.TheAlumniFieldworkwillrequireanadditional3,500CVofimportedaggregate(SupplementalInformation,June10,2024,submittedbytheapplicants).IntheReportonCornellUniversityIndoorSportsandRecreationCenter&FieldHockeyPitchdatedFebruary2024andpreparedbyH&AofNewYorkEngineeringandGeology,LLP,theengineersdeterminedthesitetobe“generallyfavorableforsupportingnewbuildingloadsonconventionalspreadfootingfoundationsfoundeddirectlyonnaturallydepositedsoils.”Thereportspecifiesthedesignfortheshallowfoundationsoftheproposedindoorsportsfacility.Asfortheartificialturf,atthetimeofthereportitwasproposedtobeafieldhockeyturf,theyrecommendedremovalofexistingtopsoildowntosubgradeelevation,thenusingalargecompactionrollertoprepare“firm,dryandstablesubgrade,”and“maintainingadryandundisturbeddesignsubgrade”duringtheconstructionoftheartificialturffieldandforthepermanentcondition,“Ataminimum,thesub-turfdrainagesystemsmustbedesignedsuchthatthesystemisentirelyandatalltimesabovegroundwaterlevel.”Theengineersdetailedthesystemassuch:PendingfurtherdiscussionswithSasakiregardingfinalsurfacegradingandestimatedrunoffvolumecalculations,werecommendosub-turfdrainagesystemdesigncomprisedofolayerofdouble-washed,AASHTONo.57crushedstone(Sasakitodetermineminimumthicknessrequired)withperforatedHOPEpipes(sizedbySasaki)embeddedwithinthecrushedstonesoastoeffectivelycollectandtransportbygravityanyaccumulatedrunoffwaterthatfiltersfromtheturflayerabovetoanappropriatelysizedon-sitecollection/groundwaterrecharge/infiltrationsystem(ordirectdischargeintoapermittedstormdrain).Priortoplacingthecrushedstoneandperforatedpiping,andtofacilitateverticaldrainageofstormwater,anonwovengeotextilefabric(Mirafi160Norsimilar)shouldbeplacedontopofthepreparedandapprovedsubgrade.TheLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatbasedontheinformationabove,nosignificantimpacttolandisanticipated.IMPACTONGEOLOGICFEATURESThesiteisinapreviouslydevelopedareaatCornellUniversitywithnogeologicfeaturespresent.TheLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatbasedonthisinformation,nosignificantimpactongeologicfeaturesisanticipated.IMPACTONSURFACEWATERBioretentionFilter-collectswaterfromhowmuch/what%ofroofisitcollecting?Thesitedoesnotcontainsurfacewaterfeatures.Thenaturalturffieldsgenerallydraintowardsthewestover<2%gentleslopesandtheartificialturffield/fieldhockeyfieldgenerallypitchestothesouth.2
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIllProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24Theproposedbuildingisapproximately90,000SFandreplacesanexistingartificialturffieldhockeyfieldandassociatedamenities.Asyntheticturffieldof93,098SFwithperimetercurbisproposedtothewestofthebuildingandwillbebuiltinasamulti-purposeathleticfield,AccordingtotheFEAFIsubmittedbytheapplicant,thenetchangeinimperviousmaterialswillbeanincreasefromtheexisting2.3acrestoproposed5.6acresimpervioussurfaces.Atotalincreaseofapproximately1.72acresofimpervioussurfaces.Theapplicantspropose,“Stormwaterdrainageimprovementsinsupportoftheproposedbuildingandartificialturffieldwillincludeasystemofdrainageinlets,manholes,underdrains,roofleaderconnections,andswales.Drainagepatternswillremainconsistentwiththeexistingconditionstothemaximumextentpossible.”(SitePlanReviewApplicationReport,12/15/23).Aswell,theReportfurtherelaboratesthestormwatersystems:Runofffromtheproposedbuildingandartificialturffieldwillbeconveyedtoasinglebelowgradedetentionsystemwiththerequiredvolumetodetainthe1%chancestormevent.Thissystemwillusemanufacturedchamberunitsencasedinanenvelopeofstoneandbelocatedunderneaththeturffield.Diversionstructureswillbeplacedupstreamofthedetentionsystemtodirectrunofffromlawfloweventstothesystem’spretreatment“isolatorrows”.Higherfloweventswillbypasstheisolatorrowsandenterthesystemdirectly.Anoutletcontrolstructurewillbeinstalleddownstreamofthesystemtoensuredischargeratesdonotexceedtheexistingconditions.Waterqualitytreatment,includingboththerequiredwaterqualityvolume(Way)andrunoffreductionvolume(RRv),willbeprovidedbymeansofinfiltration.PermeabilitytestingwillbeperformedinaccordancewiththeNYSDECStormwaterDesignManuaLAbioretentionfilterlocatedintheopenspacenorthofthebuildingwillprovideadditionalWQvtreatmentaswellascontributeto(RRv).AdditionalWQvwillbeprovidedbyaHydrodynamicSeparatorwhichwilltreatrunoffcollectedfromadjacentimperviousareas.AlloftheproposedpermanentstormwatermanagementpracticeswillbelocatedwithintheCityofIthaca.Theapplicantsareproposinga2,295SFbioretentionfilterwithaforebayapproximately850SFinthenorthwestcorneroftheprojectwhichwillcollectsomestormwaterfromtheroofofMeinigFieldhouse.Thefilterwillremovepollutants,slowdownandcoolthestormwater.Thetotalareaofdisturbanceisgreaterthan1acre,sotheprojectteamwillsubmitaFullSWPPP,includingerosionandsedimentcontrolpracticesduringconstructiontotheCityofIthacainordertocomplywithNYSDECregulations.Therefore,basedontheinformationaboveandcompleteadherencetoanacceptedSWPPP,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatnosignificantimpacttosurfacewaterisanticipated.IMPACTONGROUNDWATERTheproposalisaprojectinapreviouslydevelopedareaofnaturalandartificialturfandassuchdoesnotincludeoperationalactivitiesthatimpactgroundwater.Theaveragedepthtothewatertableontheprojectsiteisapproximatelygreaterthan24ft.3
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIllProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24ReportonCornellUniversityindoorSportsandRecreotionCenter&FieldHockeyPitchdatedFebruary2024andpreparedbyH&AofNewYorkEngineeringandGeology,LLP,groundwaterwasencounteredintwoofthetenborings,located14-10.4ftbgs,locatedapproximatelyat860-864.6elevation,Attheothereighttestboringlocations,“groundwaterwasnotencounteredtothebottomofthetestboring(approximately12to20ftbgs).”Theengineersfurtherstated,“Locallyperchedgroundwaterlevelsmaybeencounteredatotherlocationsacrossthesiteassociatedwithtrappedstormwater.”Anygroundwaterencounteredduringexcavationwillbehandledinaccordancewithallstateandlocallaws.Theengineersalsodetailthesub-turfdrainagesystemsinthereport,seealsoImpactOnLand.TheLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatbasedontheinformationabove,nosignificantimpacttogroundwaterisanticipated.IMPACTONFLOODINGTheprojectsiteisnotlocatedinafloodzone,anditisnotnearanywaterbodythatmaycontributetoflooding.TheLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatbasedontheinformationabove,nosignificantimpactonfloodingisanticipated.IMPACTSONAIRAccordingtoinformationprovidedbytheapplicant,constructionisprojectedtolastapproximately16months.Excavationandpreparationoffoundationsadditionallycreatethepotentialforincreasedairbornedustanddirtparticles.Impactstoairqualitywillbelimitedtotheperiodassociatedwithconstructionactivities.Duringconstruction,theapplicantwillemploythefollowingapplicabledustcontrolmeasures,asappropriate:•Mistingorfogsprayingthesitetominimizedust;•Maintainingcrushedstonetrackingpadsatallentrancestotheconstructionsite;•Re-seedingdisturbedareastominimizebareexposedsoils;•Keepingroadsclearofdustanddebris;•Requiringconstructiontruckstobecovered;and•Prohibitingburningofdebrisonsite.TheLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatwiththemitigationmeasuresduringconstructionidentifiedabove,nosignificantimpacttoairisanticipated.IMPACTSONPLANTSANDANIMALSTheprojectsiteisinapreviouslydevelopedarealocatedsouthofTowerRoadandisborderedbyWeillHallonthewest,BartelsHallandaparkinglottothesouth,andtheRobertJ.KaneSportsComplexFieldontheeast.The7.3-acreprojectsitehasanexistingartificialturffieldhockeyfieldontheeasternportionandnaturalturffieldsontheeasternside.Onthesouthernsideoftheprojectisarowofdeciduoustrees,whichincludesRedOak,Quercusrubra.Wildlifelikelytobeencounteredonorneartheprojectsiteincludeinvertebrates,smallmammals,andbirdsincludingred-tailedhawkswhonestonthesportslightingpoles.Theapplicantsproposetoremove18trees,includingone6”redmapleand17redoaksranginginsizefrom6-10”DBHfortheproject(SiteProtection&RemovalsPlanLi-Ol,dated04/19/24preparedbySasaki).Theapplicantsexpecttohaveanetadditionof42treestotheprojectsite.AccordingtothePlantingPlanL5-O1and4
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIIIProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24thePlantingScheduleL5-02bothdatedApril19,2024andpreparedbySasaki,theapplicantsproposed60newtrees,manyshrubs,diversegroundcovers,andalowmownativeuplandspeciesmixonthesite.Theapplicantsproposetoplantmeadowgrasses,araingarden,nativetrees,andnativeshrubs.Theapplicantswillalsomaintainthetwoexistingsportslightingpolesthatserveasnestinglocationstoapairofred-tailedhawks.AccordingtoAdditionalMaterialsdatedApril19,2024preparedbytheapplicants,“Thenestingseasonforred-tailedhawkstypicallyrunsfromMarchtoJune,whichisbeingtakenunderconsiderationfortheconstructionofthefieldhouseandoutdoorfield.Thehawksseemespeciallyresilient,sincenumerousconstructionprojectshaveoccurredduringtheiroccupationinthisareaofcampus,andtheycontinuetomakethislocationtheirhome.”MiyokoChu,SeniorDirector,Communications,attheCornellLabOfOrnithologywroteinherletterwrittenJune6,2024,“Disturbanceclosetothenestshouldbeminimizedtoreducethechancesofdisruptionorabandonment.NestingtypicallyoccursFebruarythroughJune.Duringthosemonths,thecontractorshouldcoordinatewiththeCornellLabofOrnithologyadvisoryteamtoidentifyworkaroundswherepossibleandadjustifneededbasedonthehawks’behaviors.”TheLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatbasedontheinformationabove,andfollowingtheconsultationandguidelinesoftheCornellLabofOrnithologyduringconstruction,nosignificantimpactonplantsandanimalsisanticipated.IMPACTONAGRICULTURALRESOURCESTheprojectsiteisnotinoradjacenttoanagriculturalarea,therefore,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminednosignificantimpacttoagriculturalresourcesisanticipated.IMPACTONAESTHETICRESOURCESAccordingtotheTompkinsCountyScenicResourceViews,therearenoscenicresourceslocatedadjacenttoorinvicinityoftheProjectSite.Additionally,therearenolocallyidentifiedscenicresourceslocatedneartheprojectsite.Theproposedbuildingwillbeamixtureofmaterialscomposedmainlyofmetalpanelsinstalledhorizontallyandangledglazedstorefrontwindowsateachcornerofthebuildingtoprovideviewsinandoutandallownaturallightintothesportscenter.TheproposedartificialfieldhockeyfieldtothewestwillfitinwiththeKanefieldcomplextotheeast.Theapplicantsproposenaturallandscapespacesaroundthebuilding.Thebuildingandsitematerialswillbefurtherreviewedduringthesiteplanreview,Basedontheinformationabove,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatnosignificantimpactstoaestheticresourcesisanticipated.IMPACTONHISTORICANDARCHAEOLOGICALRESOURCESThesiteisnotlocatedwithinahistoricdistrict,andtheexistingsiteisnotdesignatedatthelocalorstatelevelasanhistoricresource.ThereclosesthistoricbuildingisFernowHallwhichislocatedapproximately350’tothenorthoftheprojectsite,whilehistoricdistrictsarelocatedover1700’fromtheprojectsite.5
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIIIProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDatecreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24Basedontheinformationprovidedabove,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminednosignificantimpactonhistoricandarchaeologicalresourcesisanticipated.IMPACTONOPENSPACEANDRECREATIONTheprojectsiteislocatedonapreviouslydevelopedareaontheCornellcampus.Thesiteissurroundedbyotherathleticfieldsanduniversitybuildingswithathleticfunctions.Theproposedbuilding,landscape,pedestrian,andbicycleamenitiesfitintothecontextoftheexistingspaceinthispartofcentralcampus.Asaresultoftheinformationprovidedabove,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatnosignificantimpacttoopenspaceandrecreationisanticipated.IMPACTONCRITICALENVIRONMENTALAREASTherearenocriticalenvironmentalareaslocatedwithintheCityofIthaca.However,TompkinsCountyidentifiesUniqueNaturalAreas(“UNAs”)throughoutthecounty,whicharepartofthelandscapethathasoutstandinggeologicalandenvironmentalqualities,suchasspecialnaturalcommunities,orplantsandanimalsthatarerareorscarceelsewhereinthecountyorregion.AUNAisnotaregulatorydesignationanddoesnotprovidelegalprotectionforanareabutsignalsthatspecialresourcesmayexistthatrequireprojectmodification.TheclosestUNAtotheprojectsiteisUNA136,CascadillaCreekGorge,separatedfromtheprojectsitebyaccessroads,buildings,CampusRoad,andHoyRoad.Thebuildingisnotvisiblefromthegorge.AsaresultoftheinformationprovidedabovetheLeadAgencyhasdeterminednosignificantimpacttoCriticalEnvironmentalAreasisanticipated.IMPACTONTRANSPORTATIONPedestrians&CyclistsTheapplicantsproposemanypedestrianpathsthroughthesiteandaroundtheperimetersoftheproposedbuildingandproposedartificialturffiled.Thesepathswillbeasphaltandconcrete,aminimumofsixfeetwide,andwillconnectwiththeexistingpedestriannetwork.Otheramenitiesincludeprecastconcreteseatwalls,cast-in-placeconcretestairs,stainlesssteelrailingsandguardrails,andablackvinylchainlinkfencewithappropriategatesalongthehockeyfieldperimeter.AccordingtoAdditionalMaterialsdatedApril19,2024andsubmittedbytheapplicants,“Bicycleparkingonthesitehasbeenreconfiguredandincludesatotalof21bicycleparkingspacesseparatedintothreebicycleparkingfacilities...bicycleparkingfacilitieswillbeeasilyaccessiblefrompedestrianorfireaccesspathwaysandnotintrudeintothesewalkways.”Vehicular&FireAccessTheprojectwillnotaddanynewparkingspaces,howeverthereareadjacentparkinglotsthatcanservetheproposedbuilding.AdjacenttothenorthoftheprojectsitistheAlumniLotwhichhas225spaces3ofwhicharepermanentADAparkingspacesandtothesouthoftheprojectistheBartelsLotwhichwillhave79parkingspaceswiththeremovalofonespaceduetothisproject,eightofwhichareADAaccessiblespaces.Thenewfacilityisexpectedtobeusedprimarilybystudents,sotherewillbelittledemandforparking.6
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIllProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24Accordingtotheapplicant,intheSitePlanReviewApplicationReportprepared12/15/23:Theprojectsitewillbeaccessibletofireandemergencyvehiclesfromfourpoints.Two20-feetwideangledcurbsareproposedtothenorthoftheMeinigFieldhousestructurefromtheAlumniFieldparkinglotandtwo20-feetwideflushcurbsareproposedtothesouthofthestructure,fromtheparkingareaadjacenttotheFriedmanWrestlingCenter.Acontinuouspathwayofminimum20feetwidthisproposedaroundtheentireperimeteroftheMeinigFieldhousestructure,allowingaccessforfireapparatus.ThepathwayalongthenorthsideoftheMeinigFieldhousestructureisproposedtobe26feetwide,offsetfromthebuildingfacadebetween15feetand30feettoaccommodatefireapparatusaerialaccess.ThenorthernmostlaneoftheexistingparkingareaadjacenttotheFriedmanWrestlingCenter(20feetminimumwidth)willservefireapparatusaccessalongaportionofthesouthernaccessroute.Apavedpointofaccessatthenortheastcorneroftheexteriorturffieldwillprovideaccessontotheplayingsurfaceforemergencyvehicles.TheFireApparatusAccessRoutessheetandVehicleTrackingdiagramsareprovidedinthetechnicaldrawingsetunderseparatecover.ConstructionRelatedImpactsConstructionisexpectedtotakeapproximately16months,andtheapplicantsanticipatethethirdquarterin2025tobethebusiesttimeofconstruction,withamaximumof80workersexpectedonsiteinasingleday.“ConstructionvehicleswillbedirectedtoaccessthesiteviaaprescribedroutefromTowerRoadfornewfieldworkandfromCampusRoadforthebuildingwork.”(SitePlanApplicationReport,12/15/23).TheapplicantssubmittedaconstructionlogisticsdiagramlabeledSiteConstructionlogistics,approximatelyNovember2024-March2026intheirApril19,2024submittalwhichshowslocationsforconstructionstaging,constructionentrance,fireaccess,etc.Aswellinthesamesubmissiontheapplicantsstate:ConstructionstagingandlaydownwillbelocatednorthoftheproposedbuildingandwestoftheexistingRobisonAlumniFieldHockeyField.PalmRoadlotwillbeusedasoverflowcontractorparkingandstagingasneeded.ConstructianvehicleswillbedirectedtoaccessthesiteviaaprescribedroutefromTowerRoadfornewfieldworkandfromCampusRoadforthebuildingwork.Theprojectwillgenerateapproximately1,200truckroundtripsoverathree-monthperiod.Thelargestvolumesoftruckactivitywouldbeassociatedwithimportinggeneralfillusedforroughgradingthesiteandbringingthenewbuildinguptofinishedfloorelevation,whenamaximumof30truckscouldbeexpectedtoarriveonsiteinasingleday.Mostlong-distancedeliveryroutesto/fromCornell’scampusutilizeroute81northorsouth.TrafficleavingthesiteandheadingnorthwouldexitcampusonTowerRoad,utilizeroute366toroute13to81north.TrafficleavingthesiteandheadingsouthwouldexitcampusonHoyRoad,usePineTreeRoodtoroute79to81south.Routediagramsareincludedbelow.Asforutilitywork,TowerRoadwillneedtobeclosedfortwoweeksduringthesummerandreroutingtrafficwillbenecessary,andtwoparkinglots,onesouthofTowerRoadandNorthofCampusRdwillneedtobeclosedfor
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIIIProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24approximatelytwoweeks.Theexistingsidewalkswillbedemolishedandreconstructed,sopedestriantrafficwillbereroutedtothesouthofBartelsHalltotheexistingsidewalkalongCampusRdandreroutedtoremainontheexistingsidewalkbetweenWeillHallandtheBiotechnologyBuilding.Asaresultoftheinformationprovidedabove,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatnosignificantimpactontrafficisanticipated.IMPACTONENERGYOnAugust4,2021,theIthacaEnergyCodeSupplement(JECS)wentintoeffectforallnewbuildingsconstructedinIthaca.TheIECSprioritizeselectrification,renewableenergy,andaffordabilitywiththefollowingobjectives:“delivermeasurableandimmediatereductionsingreenhousegas(GHG)emissionsfromnewbuildings,majorrenovations,andnewadditions;promotebestpracticesinthedesignofaffordablebuildingstodeliverreducedGHGemissions;andprovidearapidbutorderlytransitiontobuildingsthatdonotusefossilfuelsformajorbuildingenergyneedssuchasspaceheatingandhotwaterheating,by2026.ForconstructionsubjecttotheIthacaEnergyCodeSupplement,requirementsforreductionsinGHGsgointoeffectinthreesteps:2021,2023,and2026.”FromAugust4,2021,until2023allnewbuildingsmustproduce40%fewergreenhousegasemissionsthantheEnergyConservationConstructionCodeofNewYorkStaterequires.Beginningin2023,theIECSwillincreasetherequirementsofnewconstructiontoproduce80%fewergreenhousegasemissionsthantheEnergyConservationConstructionCodeofNewYorkStaterequires,andby2026allnewlyconstructedbuildingsinIthacawillberequiredtobenet-zerobuildingsthatdonotusefossilfuels.TheIECSsupportsIthaca’sGreenNewDealwhichaimsto“achieveanequitabletransitiontocarbon-neutrality”community-wideby2030.TheBuildingDivisionwilloverseeimplementationandenforcementoftheIECS.Asaresult,fromtheinformationprovidedabove,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminedthatnosignificantimpacttoenergyisanticipated.IMPACTONNOISE,ODOR&LIGHTBasedoninformationprovidedlytheapplicantconstructionwilllastapproximately16months.TheprojectisinadevelopedareaonCornellcampus.Noiseproducingconstructionactivities,especiallyfoundationwork,willtemporarilyaffectresidentsintheimmediatearea.TheexteriorlightingwillbeLEDanddarkskycompliant.TheinteriorlightingwillutilizeanLEDsystem,anddaylightandoccupancy-basedcontrolsystemswhererequired.Noiseproducingconstructionactivitieswilltemporarilyimpactresidentsintheimmediatearea.Noiseproducingconstructionactivitieswillbelimitedtothehoursbetween7:30A.M.and5:30P.M.,MondaythroughFriday(orSaturday9:00AM.to5:30P.M.withadvancenotificationtoandapprovalbytheDirectorofPlanningandDevelopment).Asaresultofthisinformation,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminednosignificantimpactonnoise,odor,andlightisanticipated.8
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTAIASSESSMENTFORM—PartIIIProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24IMPACTONHUMANHEALTHArtificialTurf-versusnaturalturf(world-renownturfexpertsatCornell)TheprojectsitehasnoreportedspillsintheNYDECSpillsIncidentsdatabaseorintheEnvironmentalRemediationdatabase.TheapplicantsarcproposingasyntheticturfsystemattheoutdoorAlumniFieldaswellasinsidetheMeinigFieldhouse.Theseartificialturffieldsareproposedtocontainaninfillcomprisedofsand,andeitherrecycledcrumbrubberoravirginsyntheticrubber.AccordingtotheAdditionalMaterialssubmissiondatedApril19,2024bytheapplicants:[theartificialfields]arecomposedofaduallong-fibersystem,withbothslitfilmandmonofilamentpolyethylenefibers,sandandrubberinfill,andaperformanceshockpad.ThesyntheticturfsystemischosenbasedontheOneTurfConceptthatconsidersindividualcomponents,longevity,andoverallperformancerequirementsincludingplayersafety.TheOneTurfConceptwascreatedbyInternationalFederationofAssociationFootball[FIFA),WorldRugby,andInternationalHockeyFederation[FIH).Performancerequirementparameters,asshowninthechartbelow,includeshockabsorption,verticalallroll[largeball),andverticalballrebound.Syntheticturffieldsarereplacedevery8-12yearsdependingonperformanceandwear.Duringthefieldreplacementprocess,theexistingturfwillberecycled.CornellUniversityisadvancingtheuseofsyntheticturftopravideasurfacethatcanbeusedforathletic,recreationandwellnessactivitiesevenwhentheweatherisnotfavorable.Duetorainand/orsnow,syntheticturfallowsforheavyusebyalluniversityprogramsthroughouttheentireyear.ThecurrentgrassfieldsarenotusableNovember-Aprilandduringperiodsofprolongedinclementweather.Additionally,syntheticturfsignificantlyreducestheneedforhighlevelsofmaintenance:mowing,fertilizing,paintinglines,andrepairinganydamagedonetothegrass.Theapplicantssubmittedan11-pagememofromH&AofNewYorkEngineeringandGeology,LLP,datedApril2,2024,whichprovides“asummaryofrecentlypublishedstudiesandreportsthatevaluatethesafety(healthandenvironmentalrisks)ofusingsyntheticturfathleticfields,withfocusonchemicalscontainedinorassociatedwithsyntheticturf.”Thememo“addressespotentialhealthandenvironmentaleffectsassociatedwithsyntheticturffieldsystemcomponents,withafocusoncrumbrubberandEDPMinfill,andafocusontheshockpad,backing,andturfbladecomponents.”Thememocitesseveralpeer-reviewedresearchstudiesandfromthesestudiesfocusedonthechemicalandhealthandenvironmentaleffectsassociatedwithcrumbrubberandEDPMinfill,theengineerssummarize,“Theinformationprovidedbythesestudiesdemonstratethatthechemicalsthatareincrumbrubberinfillareunlikelytocomeoutofthematerialsatconcentrationsthatwouldharmpeopleortheenvironment.BycomparisonchemicalsarepresentatlowerconcentrationsinEDPMandwouldnotcomeoutatconcentrationsthatwouldharmpeopleortheenvironment.Consequently,rubberinfillsaresafeforcontactbypeopleandwillnotharmgroundwaterorsurfacewater.”9
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIllProjectName:CornellUniversityrvleinigFieldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24Thememo,datedApril2,2024,furthercitesseveralevaluationsbycompaniessuchasTetraTechandTRCCompaniesandfromtheseevaluationsfocusedonthechemicalandhealthandenvironmentaleffectsassociatedwithshockpad,backing,andblades,theengineerssummarize,“Theinformationprovidedbythesestudiesdemonstratethatthechemicalsthatareinthesyntheticturfcannotcomeoutofthematerialsatconcentrotionsthatwouldharmpeopleortheenvironment.Consequently,syntheticturfsystemsaresafeforcontactbypeopleandwillnotharmgroundwaterorsurfacewater.ThememodatedApril2,2024,evaluatespeer-reviewedresearchpertainingtotheheatislandeffectandartificialturfsandsummarizes,“Collectively,thisinformationsuggeststhat,whilesyntheticturffieldsurfacesgetwarmerthannaturalturffieldsurfaces,airtemperaturesabovesyntheticturfsurfaceswarmonlymarginallymorethanthoseabovenaturalturffieldsurfaces,andthatsyntheticfieldsurfacesdonotretainheatoncedaytimeheatingisdiscontinued.Thesedifferencesaresubstantiallyminimizedoncloudydaysanddonotexistonovercastdays”Asaresultofthisinformation,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminednosignificantimpacttohumanhealthisanticipated.CONSISTENCYWITHCOMMUNITYPLANSTheprojectisconsistentwiththeCityofIthaca’sComprehensivePlanasthisbuildingisinsupportofSecondaryEducation.TheprojectsiteislocatedintheU-iZoningDistrictwheretheprimaryuseisPost-secondaryEducation.TheprojectwillrequirenovarianceswiththeCity.TheprojectsiteisalsolocatedintheLow-DensityResidential(LDR)ZoningDistrictintheTownofIthaca.ThetownofIthacadoesnothaveazonealignedwithHigherEducationorInstitutionaluses,andduetothelimitationsofthelow-densityresidentialzone,CornellneedstoobtainvariancesfornearlyeveryprojectintheTownofIthaca.TheprojectisanallowedusewithaspecialusepermitintheLDRzoneaspartofaninstitutionofhigherlearning.TheprojectwillrequireanareavariancefromtheTownofIthacaZoningBoardsofAppealsastheheightoftheproposedbuildingisapproximately56’fromaveragegradeplanandLDRlimitsbuildingheightto38feetbelowinteriorgradeor36’belowexteriorgrade.Theprojectwillalsorequireanareavarianceforlotcoverageasitaddsapproximately.5acresofbuildingfootprintontheTownofIthacaparcel,67.-1-i3.2.Asaresultofthisinformation,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminednosignificantimpacttoconsistencywithcommunityplansisanticipated.CONSISTENCYWITHCOMMUNITYCHARACTERTheprojectisasportsfacilitybuilding,withafootprintofapproximately2.iacresandapproximately90,000SFofspacethatwillprovide.Theproposedfacilitywillsupportstudentsandthecampuswithindoorpracticeandcompetitionspaceforathletics,recreationneedsandclubsports.Theproposedbuildingislocatedinapartofcentralcampusthathasseveralathleticfacilitiesandfields,fittinginfunctionallytothesurroundingcharacter.Theproposedbuildingisdesignedto“embracethespiritofoutdoorplayindoors.”Thisisachievedthroughthematerialityoftheproposedbuilding(SitePlanReviewApplicationReport,12/15/23):10
CityofIthacaFULLENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENTFORM—PartIllProjectName:CornellUniversityMeinigFleldhouseIndoorSportsandRecreationFacilityDateCreated:01/30/24Updated02/05/24,02/12/24,05/15/24,6/17/24Themajorityofthebuildingenvelopeiscomposedofinsulatedmetalpanelinstalledhorizontallyanddecreasinginwidthfromthebottomofthefacadetothetop.Themetalpanelfinishispairedincontrastwithangledglazedstorefrontateachofthefourcorners.Thelargetriangleshapedglazedopeningsprovideviewsinandoutofthefacilityandincorporatenaturallightintotheactivityspace.Theproposedbuildingwillbeflankedbyathleticfields,withtheproposedartificialturffieldhockeyfieldsituatedtothewestandtheexistingtheKaneSportsComplexFieldsituatedtotheeastofthebuilding.Basedontheinformationprovidedabove,theLeadAgencyhasdeterminednosignificantimpactoncommunitycharacterisanticipated.Preparedby:NikkiCerra,Environmental&LandscapePlannerandrevisedbythePlanningBoard11
7/2/2024 DRAFT ONLY – For Town of Ithaca
Planning Board Review & Modification
Planning Board
July ___, 2024
Mitch Glass, Chair
City of Ithaca Planning & Development Board
108 East Green Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
Dear Mr. Glass,
The Town of Ithaca Planning Board is an Involved Agency in the environmental review of the
proposed Cornell University Meinig Fieldhouse project. The Board has reviewed the project’s Full
Environmental Assessment Form Part 1, along with the project narrative dated December 15, 2023,
additional materials dated April 19, 2024, supplemental information dated June 10, 2024, and
associated drawings and other materials provided by the Applicant.
We offer the following comments and recommendations for the City of Ithaca Planning &
Development Board to consider, as Lead Agency in the environmental review of the Meinig
Fieldhouse project:
§6 NYCRR Part 617.7 of the New York State Environmental Quality Review regulations requires that
the Lead Agency in an environmental review of a Type I or Unlisted Action determine the significance
of a proposed action. In order to require an environmental impact statement (EIS) for an action, the
lead agency must determine that the action may include the potential for at least one significant
adverse environmental impact upon the environment.
The Town of Ithaca Planning Board met on July 2, 2024, to discuss a recommendation to the City of
Ithaca Planning & Development Board (PDB) on whether the Cornell Meinig Fieldhouse project could
have the potential for at least one significant adverse environmental impact.
[FOR PB DISCUSSION AND DECISION ON 7-2-24]
1. Does the Meinig Fieldhouse project rise to the level of potentially having at least one
significant adverse environmental impact?
2. If so, explain why and clearly discuss the parts of the project that require an EIS to evaluate
the impacts.
DRAFT
2
[FOR PB DISCUSSION AND DECISION ON 7-2-24]:
The Town of Ithaca Planning Board asks the Lead Agency to carefully consider the following
comments in their review of the Full Environmental Assessment Form associated with the Meinig
Fieldhouse project:
1. Project Description – Page 1, and anywhere in the document that describes the field hockey
field replacement with another field hockey field (including the supplemental EAF information
from the December 15, 2023, submission, if the Lead Agency considers that part of the FEAF):
The existing field hockey field will be replaced with a larger multipurpose field. All areas in the
FEAF that describe the field hockey field and proposed structures should be revised to describe
the newly proposed multipurpose field. ALSO: the Geotechnical Report that was submitted as
part of the 4-19-2024 application packet needs to be revised to reflect the multipurpose field,
which contains a larger synthetic field area than the previously proposed field hockey field.
2. Impact on Energy - Page 7, item “k” (Part 1) - This item asks if the proposed action will generate
new or additional demand for energy. The applicant states that the section is “not applicable.”
Although the project is not technically a commercial or industrial project, it is of a significant
scale to warrant an answer related to energy usage. It is presumed that the proposed 90,000+/-
square foot enclosed fieldhouse structure will utilize energy for heating, cooling, and lighting.
The outdoor field and surrounding parking areas and site improvements will also utilize energy
for lighting. The sketch plan materials indicate that there will be no natural gas connections in
the proposed building, and that the project will utilize Cornell’s district heating system. This
information, along with more specific estimates related to energy usage, should be added to “k.”
3. Impact on Transportation (general) – The applicant states that the focus of this project is to
provide student practice space for lacrosse, club sports, and other multiple purposes. The Town
Planning Board does not anticipate that this project will create a significant amount of vehicular
traffic, even with occasional official lacrosse games being played at the new fieldhouse. The
project appears to include upgrades to existing bicycle and pedestrian networks and connections
to multimodal networks on campus. With a 300-person spectator limit in the fieldhouse, there is
adequate vehicular parking provided for such events in the lots on Tower Road and in other
areas of campus. There will be a loss of several parking spaces on the Town of Ithaca side of the
project to accommodate the project, and there may not be adequate ADA accessible parking
spaces. The City PDB may consider requesting information on the impacts of the project on
campus transportation demand management.
4. Consistency with Community Plans (general) – The 90,000 square foot fieldhouse building will
require area variances from the Town Zoning Board of Appeals, the details of which are
enumerated in the attached letter from the Town’s Code Enforcement & Zoning Department.
The Town of Ithaca does not have an Institutional Zone; institutions of higher learning (Cornell
University, Ithaca College) in the Town are currently zoned Low or Medium Density Residential.
The proposed Meinig Fieldhouse building height exceeds the height permitted in the Low Density
Residential Zone. However, it is not expected to create significant adverse visual impacts,
considering that: (a) there are no locally or regionally recognized scenic resources or vistas that
will be impacted by the proposal, (b) it is typical for a university campus to contain buildings that
are taller than residences, and (c) the proposed Meinig Fieldhouse building will be surrounded by DRAFT
3
much taller structures; thus, its height will not be out of character with the height of surrounding
structures.
5. Stormwater Management (general) – All stormwater management structures, facilities, and
other items must conform with New York State and/or Department of Environmental
Conservation rules and regulations. The Town of Ithaca and City of Ithaca Engineering
Departments will ensure that the proposed stormwater management systems and devices will
meet all applicable requirements. The Town of Ithaca Planning Board expects to condition any
required town-approvals related to stormwater management during the site plan review process
to require compliance with these requirements. Does the Board consider impacts related to
stormwater management as having the potential for a least one significant adverse
environmental impact?
6. Lighting, Landscaping, Other Site Layout Elements (general) – The Town of Ithaca Planning
Board will review Town-related site plan elements like lighting and landscaping as part of the
Town site plan review process. Town Code Chapter 173 contains dark-sky compliant outdoor
lighting provisions for which any outdoor lighting located in the Town-portion of the project
must comply. The Planning Board generally requests that bollard and pole-mounted lights are set
at a maximum 3000K LED color temperature (this would not be applicable to field/stadium
lights). The Board appreciates that the Big Red and Arthur red-tailed hawk nesting site (located
on the unpowered, existing light pole(s) along the northern edge of the existing parking lot) is
being carefully considered and will remain undisturbed.
The landscaping plans provided by the applicant appear to be slightly underdeveloped for an
environmental review. It is reasonable for the applicant to provide more robust plantings around
the project to assist with stormwater runoff mitigation, sustainability efforts, and
visual/aesthetic enhancement of the project. Does the Board want to add any statements about
the loss of trees – large oaks? Can they be saved? Why are they being replaced with maples
and not oaks (per the plans submitted)? Does the PB want to ask the Lead Agency to request
more landscaping and/or more information in the FEAF?
7. Synthetic Turf field (s) – PB to discuss
Planning staff will craft language from the decisions above, on behalf of the board, AFTER the July 2,
2024, meeting. The board will then review a revised document at the July 16, 2024, meeting.
Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to comment on this important project. If you have
any questions, please contact C.J. Randall, Director of Planning at cjrandall@townithacany.gov or
Christine Balestra, Senior Planner, at cbalestra@townithacany.gov, or either by phone at (607) 273-
1747.
Sincerely,
Fred T. Wilcox III, Chair
On behalf of the Town of Ithaca Planning Board DRAFT
1
Chris Balestra
From:Ashley Colbert <AColbert@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Tuesday, June 25, 2024 9:03 AM
To:CJ Randall; Chris Balestra
Cc:Abby Homer
Subject:Fw: Public comment, re: Cornell University’s proposed plan as outlined on 14 May 2024
packet submitted to the Commission.
Attachments:Ithaca, Cornell.pdf
From: René Carver <newyorkdl@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 6:55 AM
To: pbstaff@cityorithaca.org <pbstaff@cityorithaca.org>; Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department
<clerks@townithacany.gov>
Cc: info@zerowasteithaca.org <info@zerowasteithaca.org>
Subject: Public comment, re: Cornell University’s proposed plan as outlined on 14 May 2024 packet submitted to the
Commission.
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Please enter this as public comment and please read this comment during the public hearing of the June
25, 2024 City Planning & Development Board meeting, as well as during the Town Planning Board
meeting on July 2, 2024.
To the City of Ithaca and the Town of Ithaca Planning Board Members,
My only grandson is almost 1 year old and I am deeply concerned about the negative environmental
legacy he will inherit. For so many decades fossil fuel related corporations have known and lied about
the negative impacts of their products. Very very sadly, in its efforts to install artificial turf fields, Cornell
University seems to be ignoring accurate science and to be willing to use bogus scientific research. You
are in a position to call out the lies and refuse to allow the environmental damage done at every step in
the forever existence of artificial turf.Please ensure that board members carefully review this
comprehensive comment submitted by Dianne Woelke on behalf of Safe Healthy Playing Fields, a
national all-volunteer grassroots organization opposing plastic turf. (document attached to this email)
The comment highlights greenwashing in the report by Haley & Aldrich, which references another
consulting firm, Tetra Tech's report, regarding artificial turf projects at Oak Bluffs High School. Despite
Tetra Tech's justifications, the town ultimately decided to ban synthetic turf in April 2024, a crucial detail
omitted in the Haley & Aldrich report. This omission raises serious questions about the integrity of the
report.
Furthermore, Tetra Tech was commissioned by MV@Play, a group promoting artificial turf, to justify the
project at Oak Bluffs High School. MV@Play hired toxicologist Laura C. Green, who advocated for
artificial turf fields and claimed there is no reliable evidence that PFAS harms human health. Green
resigned from her EPA role and later lost her job at the Nantucket Public Schools Board of Education as
the town considered banning the fields. Members of The Field Fund, a non-profit supporting organically
grown natural grass, commented in 2021: "It remains unclear who introduced Dr. Green to our
community, and who has been funding her to act as the expert witness for the proposed plastic field."
2
For further details, you can read the full article on Politico's E&E and see NPR's coverage. It is also of
importance to note that Tetra Tech is formally associated with Honeywell, known for its problematic
environmental record. Further, Tetra Tech was also embroiled in a lawsuit by the US Government for
falsifying information for radiation cleanup.
For the sake of my grandson's future and the future of all children, especially those in "environmental
sacrifice zones" I urge you to deny Cornell's request for installation of artificial turf.
Sincerely,
René Carver
Trumansburg, NY
(weblinks in order of appearance above: https://www.mvtimes.com/2024/04/23/health-board-bans-
artificial-playing-fields/ , https://www.mvtimes.com/2021/12/22/greens-involvement-field-project-must-
end/ , https://www.fieldfundinc.org/about-the-field-fund ,
https://www.eenews.net/articles/toxicologist-who-belittled-pfas-risks-resigns-from-epa-role/ , and
https://www.capeandislands.org/local-news/2021-12-13/consultant-for-synthetic-turf-fields-on-
islands-comes-under-scrutiny)
1
June 24, 2024
City of Ithaca and Town Planning Board,
at: pbstaff@cityofithaca.org; Clerks@townithacany.gov
Attention City of Ithaca and Town Planning Board members,
Artificial turf is not a green product due to its noxious plastic contents and harmful chemical
production process. Toxic air pollution and hazardous waste result from large industrial plants
making synthetic plastics and synthetic rubber.
Wear and tear plus human contact with artificial turf’s toxic chemistry has a real potential for
health effects to the athletes who are active on these synthetic and toxic playing fields.
During 44 years involved in the Texas chemical sector, I became knowledgeable of the
synthetic plastics and synthetic rubber industry using fossil fuel-based synthetics called
plastics and styrene-1,3-butadiene rubber.
My state work involved inspecting large facilities for compliance with federal air permit
emission limits. State enforcement cases were initiated at plastics and rubber plants for
non-compliance as a state air quality investigator for 12 years at the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality (TCEQ - www.tceq.texas.gov/) inspecting industrial plants
focusing on industrial air emissions.
My last 32 years have been working at Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter in Texas
enforcing the Clean Air Act (CAA) via legal cases against polluters violating air permits,
and advocacy at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to insure its adoption of
protective air quality rules.
Federal Clean Air Act suits: plastics polluters sued for violations of air permit limits
A recent CAA citizens’ enforcement case was suing ExxonMobil Baytown, Texas.
Sierra Club and Environment Texas v. ExxonMobil case is a CAA citizens’ enforcement
matter at this Baytown chemical, plastics and refining complex for 16,000+ air pollution
violations. Violations were self-reported by ExxonMobil to TCEQ for 5-years 2009-
2014, where the state TCEQ and EPA were not pursuing the violations for corrective
measures and penalties.
ExxonMobil Baytown is the largest plastics-oil refining complex in the U.S. covering
3,400 acres and ranks among the largest air polluters in Texas.
One of the largest ethane-to-ethylene crackers in the world operates at ExxonMobil
Baytown’s plastics plant. The ethane cracker’s operation is associated with enormous
volumes of harmful air pollution, including known human carcinogens such as benzene,
1,3-butadiene, tiny soot particles, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and others.
2
Ethylene mfg. is a highly polluting process under an air permit that was often violated.
Baytown is an environmental justice (EJ) community of thousands of disproportionately
impacted residents living on ExxonMobil’s fence lines and nearby neighborhoods.
Baytown residents have complained for years about ExxonMobil’s air pollution and EJ
residents are often too poor to move away from Baytown.
Why Artificial Turf is not a green product
I have reviewed hundreds of air quality permits issued to major federal Clean Air Act
emissions sources including ethylene, polyethylene and synthetic rubber plants due to the
high volumes of air pollution — millions of pounds every year — that are released from
the large scale plastics and synthetic rubber manufacturing processes.
Synthetic petrochemicals including polyethylene and shredded styrene-butadiene rubber
with toxic aromatic extender oils from tires are directly used to make artificial turf. These
synthetic petrochemicals contain carcinogens that remain carcinogenic in the products.
Ethane producing natural gas processing plants were inspected as major federal Clean Air
Act emissions sources. Ethane gas purification results in high volumes of air pollution.
Ethane is used to make ethylene at large ethane crackers, and also derived from crude oil
refining. Both gas and oil refining release millions of pounds of air pollution.
Problems with Plastics Manufacturing and Use: Air Pollution and Toxic Waste
1. Criteria and toxic air pollution are regulated by the federal Clean Air Act. As a
general rule, synthetic plastics production plants pollute the air in the EJ
communities they are often sited in such as Baytown, Tx and other sites.
Clean Air Act regulations cover the EPA’s Criteria Air Pollutants and others including
the Air Toxics under separate rules: https://www.epa.gov/criteria-air-pollutants
EPA lists criteria air pollutants as: 1) Sulfur Dioxide, 2) Nitrogen Oxides, 3) Carbon
Monoxide, 4) Volatile Organic Compounds, 5) Particulate Matter, 6) Lead, and 7) Ozone;
the ExxonMobil Baytown complex emits all criteria pollutants and they form ozone in
sunlight on hot days.
Air pollution is permitted by EPA in plastics and rubber mfg. Air pollution is produced
by burning large volumes of natural gas and emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) + water vapor
(H2O) + carbon-based air pollutants frequently known as volatile organic compounds.
Many volatile organic compounds such as benzene are regulated in Title III Air Toxics
rule or Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs): EPA link: https://www.epa.gov/haps
3
Hazardous air pollutants are those known to cause cancer and other serious health
impacts. The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate hazardous air pollutants, also
known as air toxics, from categories of industrial facilities in two phases.
Criteria air pollutants are released in millions of pounds annually from the plastics mfg.
process: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds,
and particulate matter. These are harmful pollutants and are not safe to breathe.
• Process upsets occur in the Ethane Crackers polluting above air permit allowable rates:
Feedstock chemicals – flaring from elevated, open-tipped burners that tend to emit lots of
highly carcinogenic smoke particles and other de novo carcinogens.
• Clean Air Act regulates massive volumes of air pollution to run the huge cracking
furnaces -- towers, heaters, boilers, flares and other gas fired devices.
• Volatile organic compounds -- benzene, xylene, ethylbenzene, toluene, etc. are among
the carcinogenic (benzene and benzene-related) compounds emitted by plastics plants and
synthetic rubber plants. Ethylene forms ringed chemicals like benzene: Ethylene C2H4 è
ring of benzene C6H6
2. Hazardous waste pollution. Congress passed the Resource Conservation &
Recovery Act or RCRA. All plastics plants produce toxic waste.
• Production of Hazardous Waste (HW) -- EPA authorized with RCRA permits. HW
disposal is a serious challenge. RCRA regulates HW disposal: HW burning in
incinerators, HW drums dumped in commercial RCRA landfills, and HW liquids put
down deep injection wells are preferred options with some recycling. Tons of HW
chemicals are cleaned out of crackers, process units, etc.
• What is Hazardous Waste? Mixtures of toxic chemicals from plastics mfg. process and
HW can not be easily recycled and is discarded.
• Incineration of plastics as recycling is permitted in large Portland rotary cement kilns,
other commercial incinerators, and the problem is HW incineration is sham recycling.
The incineration process results in emissions of hundreds of toxic chemicals from the
smoke stacks, including many human carcinogens.
• Incineration: Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs) or air toxics released. HAPs are emitted
during plastics incineration – acid gases such as HCl, chlorinated dioxins, and PICs.
Respectfully,
Neil Carman, PhD
Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter
Austin, Tx
1
Chris Balestra
From:Ashley Colbert <AColbert@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Tuesday, June 25, 2024 9:03 AM
To:CJ Randall; Chris Balestra
Cc:Abby Homer
Subject:Fw: Comments to City of Ithaca and Planning Board
Attachments:LETTER TO CITY OF ITHACA, NY.pdf
From: Yayoi Koizumi <yayoi@zerowasteithaca.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 12:11 AM
To: Neil Carman <neil_carman@greenbuilder.com>
Cc: Amy Griffin <amy@reignacademy.com>; Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>; Dianne
Woelke <dmwoelke@gmail.com>; Jeff Gearhart <jeffg@ecocenter.org>; Kathleen Michels
<michelskm2016@gmail.com>; Kyla Bennett <kbennett@peer.org>; Nikki Cerra <ncerra@cityofithaca.org>; Tracy Frisch
<tracy.frisch@gmail.com>; pbstaff@cityofithaca.org <pbstaff@cityofithaca.org>
Subject: Re: Comments to City of Ithaca and Planning Board
Thank you so much, Dr. Carman!
City Planning Board staff members, please share this with the board members and urge them to read
with close attention along with Dianne Woelke’s letter from the non-profit Safe Healthy Playing Fields.
This letter provides expert testimony from Dr. Carman, whose decades of experience in court battles
against ExxonMobil and similar corporations highlight the pervasive pollution caused by plastics
throughout their lifecycle, particularly in environmental justice communities.
The letter mentions Baytown, TX, which hosts an "advanced" chemical recycling plant processing
artificial turf from the synthetic turf recycling company, Tencate. Please consider the insights of real
scientists with integrity, and be cautious of paid consulting firms' reports.
From Zero Waste Ithaca's bibliography submitted to the planning boards:
Phillips, Anna. “Texans Sued Exxon over Pollution 13 Years Ago. A Big Decision Now Looms.” The
Washington Post. March 16, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/15/exxon-
pollution-lawsuit-baytown-texas//.
The Exxon complex in the Baytown and Houston, TX area has a new controversial chemical recycling plant
which processes plastics, including artificial turfs, supplied by a recycling company Tencate. For more
information, watch Dr. Neil Carman’s presentation in our webinar held on 4/30. Dr. Carman served as the
staff leader in the lawsuit against Exxon Mobile complex in Baytown, TX for twelve years.
2
Yayoi Koizumi
Zero Waste Ithaca | BYO - US Reduces
Founder | Co-Founder
zerowasteithaca.org
usreduces.org
On Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 11:33 PM Neil Carman <neil_carman@greenbuilder.com> wrote:
Please accept my comments to the City of Ithaca and Planning Board on the topic of Artificial Turf as I
do not support its use on athletic fields.
Neil Carman, PhD
Our work is fiscally sponsored by NOPI - Nonprofit Incubator, a program of NOPI INC, a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation
and 501(c)(3) organization, EIN 81-5089505. Donations are tax-deductible where allowed by law. Learn more at
https://thenopi.org.
1
Chris Balestra
From:Abby Homer <ahomer@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Monday, June 24, 2024 1:19 PM
To:Chris Balestra
Subject:FW: Item #8, Planning Board, 25 May 2024; For the public record
Attachments:Ithaca, Cornell.pdf
From: Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2024 9:08 AM
To: Abby Homer <ahomer@townithacany.gov>
Subject: FW: Item #8, Planning Board, 25 May 2024; For the public record
Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk
215 N. Tioga St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Ph (607) 273-1721 Option 1
www.townithacany.gov
From: D Woelke <dmwoelke@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2024 2:43 PM
To: pbstaff@cityofithaca.org; Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Subject: Item #8, Planning Board, 25 May 2024; For the public record
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
To the city and town of Ithaca:
Attached please find our letter submitted in reference to Cornell University’s proposed plan as outlined
on 14 May 2024 packet submitted to the Commission.
We would be more than happy to discuss the information outlined in our comments.
Kindly distribute the file electronically, so that source citations provided in the embedded hyperlinks are
accessible.
Respectfully,
Dianne Woelke MSN, Board Member
Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc.
https://www.safehealthyplayingfields.org
SHPFI is an all-volunteer nonprofit 501-c-3
Safe Healthy Playing Fields Inc.
www.safehealthyplayingfields.org
25 June 2024
Item #8, Meinig Fieldhouse Indoor Recreation Center
OPPOSE
“PFAS is probably the worst environmental pollutant that the United States has
ever faced. It makes all the rest” — including PCBs and asbestos — “pale in
comparison to what the cost of this cleanup will be…and it will affect more people
than all known pollutants combined.” Dr. Graham Peaslee, University of Notre
Dame, leading expert on PFAS in consumer products.
Dear Chair Glass and Members of Ithaca Planning and Development Board:
Thank you for the opportunity to submit these comments on behalf of Safe Healthy Playing
Fields, Inc. (SHPFI).
SHFPI is an all-volunteer 501-c-3 non-profit organization. We are committed to educating
communities, policymakers and elected officials about the health, safety and financial realities of
plastic fields versus grass fields and other synthetic surfaces for their parks and schools. Our
constituency ranges from concerned individuals to community and civic organizations, legal,
healthcare and science professionals, municipal leaders and state legislators.
We are writing to clarify multiple points of misinformation included in the 14 May 2024 Meinig
SEQR Sequestration Long Range Vision packet provided by Cornell University.
Segmentation of the Cornell projects is wholly unacceptable as the impacts to the environment
will be multiple and cumulative. Cornell has shown it’s hand, not only with the changes between
December 2023 and 14 May 2024 by relocating the proposed plastic hockey field, increasing
the size and making it a multipurpose field, but conceivably 11 plastic fields as depicted on page
7 of the May 2024 packet. There is also contradiction within the packet regarding use of “used
tire crumb or EPDM infill with silica sand” for the multipurpose field and no infill on the hockey
field cum multipurpose field. More on these microplastic infills and silica sand below.
We question the cherry picking of outdated research and claims in the packet. We feel strongly
you should question them as well.
States of CA, CO, ME, MN, NY, VT have enacted laws related to synthetic turf. Vermont’s law
goes into effect on 1 July 2024. New York’s law takes effect 31 December 2026. Additional
states have active bills in their legislatures while an ever growing number of local jurisdictions
across the country have moratoriums or have won battles against installations by referendum.
The proposed synthetic turf is inconsistent with Cornell University’s programs and policies:
●Climate Action
●Plastics bags / single use plastics
●Sustainable Lands Management
●Think Big, Live Green Program
●Planetary Health: Understanding and addressing the public health impacts of
human-induced environmental change
The proposed project is also in conflict with:
●Ithaca’s GHG reduction plan
●Ithaca’s Green New Deal
●Ithaca’s Green Building Code
●New York Climate Act
●New York Carpet Collection Program
Law
●New York Solid Waste Management
Policy
Cornell University’s plastic fields:
●(165,096 sq ft proposed + 65,566 sq ft existing (230,664 sq ft ttl.); 5.3 acres))
●6,189,325 gallons of water to manufacture every 8 to 10 years on average
●39,502 gallons of petroleum based oil to manufacture every 8 to 10 years on average
●9,226,560 plastic bags equivalent
●132,631,800 plastic straws equivalent
●1,433 tons of CO2e off gassed every 10 years
●10,061 trees required to off set GHGs from the fields (additional for CO2e released with
construction and tree removal)
●98,345 gallons of toxic runoff for every 1 inch of rain (outdoor fields; additional for
cleaning of indoor field)
●6,079,676 gallons from Jan 2023 to May 2024 (61.82 inches of precipitation; outdoor
fields + additional for cleaning of indoor field)
●1,589 to 1,906 pounds of microplastic blade loss per year
●1,723 pounds of microplastics loss from carpet backing per year
●115,332 pounds of plastic carpet waste every 8 to 10 years on average
●1,153,120 pounds of infill waste every 8 to 10 years on average
●8,650 to 28,833 pounds of infill to replace lost infill per year (per industry estimate of 1.5
to 5 tons/year).
Synthetic turf is not a sutainable product:
The United Nations defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of
the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The UCLA Sustainability Committee notes: “In simplest terms, sustainability is about our
children and our grandchildren, and the world we will leave them”.
The Rutgers Center for Sustainable Materials definition:
“Sustainable materials are materials used throughout our consumer and industrial
economy that can be produced in required volumes without depleting non-renewable
resources and without disrupting the established steady-state equilibrium of the
environment and key natural resource systems. Such materials vary enormously and
may range from bio-based polymers derived from polysaccharides, or highly recyclable
materials such as glass that can be reprocessed an indefinite number of times without
requiring additional mineral resources.”
Synthetic Turf is a Petrochemical Plastic Product:
Made of the same material as plastic straws and bags, synthetic turf is a fossil fuel based
petrochemical product, as are 99% of plastics. The plastic blades are most often made of
polyethylene, the most globally produced and discarded plastic. The backing may be made from
latex, polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride.
There are over 16,000 known chemicals found in plastics. Of the known chemicals, 4,200 are
considered “highly hazardous” to human and environmental health. Of these 4,200 chemicals,
only 980 have been regulated by any global agency. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS) are amongst the 15 categories of chemicals of concern in plastics.
PFAS;
“It’s not an acute toxin. It’s chronic, so it affects you by long-term exposure…There are
no safe kinds. I’ve yet to see one that doesn’t cause some sort of cancer or
immunosuppression.” Dr. Graham Peaslee
Chemicals in plastics, including polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDE), neurotoxic phthalates,
bisphenols and PFAS, add disease burden and health care costs in the United States. For
2018, the attributable cost of plastics to disease and health care related costs was $249 billion;
for PFAS alone, it was $22.4 billion. The societal cost globally is estimated at $16 trillion USD.
annually for PFAS clean ups and health care for impacted individuals.
The need to stop further PFAS exposure cannot be overstated. PFAS can cause multiple
reproductive disorders (including a 40% decrease in female fertility; a decrease of 62.3% total
sperm count in males); Crohn’s disease; breast, testicular, kidney, prostate and liver cancers.
They cross the blood-brain barrier and are related to Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, increased deaths from Parkinson’s and Alzheimer ’s diseases;
immunological effects; increased serum cholesterol; effects on infant birth weights; impaired
glucose metabolism, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and adiposity in children and adolescents;
thyroid hormone disruption (including neonatal) and thyroid cancer. Because they are
bioaccumulative, PFAS exposure can impact multiple generations. Babies are being born
pre-polluted with PFAS.
PFAS is required to prevent plastic yarns from sticking to manufacturing equipment. It has been
found in 100% of independently tested synthetic turf to date. Industry claims of PFAS free turf
have been disproven. The industry trade association President and CEO, Melanie Taylor,sent
an email to CA State Senator Ben Allen on 21 June 2023 admitting to use of PFAS in synthetic
turf. Industry claims of a polymer processing aid, Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) is a “safe”
PFAS chemical, are also untrue. PVDF is a polymeric PFAS that poses risk to human and
environmental health.
Multiple studies have confirmed that PFAS, heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),
phthalates and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) leach and/or aerosolize from plastics,
including synthetic turf.
On 10 April 2024, the US EPA issued Maximum Contaminant Level Goals (MCLG) and
Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for both PFOA and PFOS in drinking water:
●The US EPA set MCLGs for both PFOA and PFOS at zero.
●MCLs were set at 4.0 ppt (parts per trillion) for PFOA and PFOS, individually.
●The EPA established MCLGs for four additional PFAS chemicals: PFNA, PFHxS, PFBS
and “GenX” chemicals.
●The EPA established MCLs at 10 ppt. for PFHxS, PFNA and GenX chemicals
individually, with a limit of 10 ppt for any mixture of two or more of: PFHxS, PFNA,
“GenX” chemical and PFBS.
●All of the named PFAS chemicals have been found in synthetic turf.
https://www.epa.gov/sdwa/and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfas
Chemical leachate into soil, surface and groundwater can impact drinking water.
Thirty two PFAS chemicals, culled from public records, have been found to date in synthetic turf:
●D2-N-EtFOSA
●D3-EtFOSA
●D9-EtFOSE
●6:2 FTS
●6:2 FTSA
●7:3 FTCA
●8:2 FTOH
●12C2-4:2 FTS
●13C2-6:2 FTS
●13C2-8:2 FTS
●GenX
●D3-MeFOSA
●D3-N-MeFOSAA
●D7-MeFOSE
●MTP
●PFBA
●PFBS
●PFDA
●PFHpA
●PFHxA
●PFHxS
●PFNA
●PFOA
●PFOS
●PFPeA
●PFPrA
●PFTrDA
●PMPA
●PPF Acid
●PTFE
●PVDF
●R-EVE
Claims by industry to be able to manufacture synthetic turf without PFAS remains completely
unsubstantiated and undemonstrated at any level. In the absence of any independent
third-party verification, there is no basis for relying on industry claims, particularly given the
universal presence of PFAS in all tests to date.
All manufacturers should be able to provide independent third party testing results using the
most up to date methods for solids or testing showing less than one PPM (Part Per Million) of
TOF (Total Organic Fluorine). Commercial laboratories can test for approximately 100 of the
over 16,000 PFAS chemicals at the two ppt level. It should be noted that absence of proof is
not proof of absence when only a small percentage of PFAS can be tested for.
The industry and their scientists for hire have been known to manipulate PFAS testing to
support misleading and unsupported conclusions. Such deceptive techniques include using
methods specific for testing water rather than solids, setting detection limits too high, testing for
a narrow range of PFAS amongst the over 16,000 PFAS chemicals, not conducting synthetic
leaching precipitation procedure (SPLP) and not testing for Total Organic Fluorine (TOF).
Signed affidavits from manufacturers and associated industries have also been proven false,
are an egregious form of greenwashing, are reportable (NY OAG; FTC), and are not acceptable
in lieu of independent third-party testing.
The claims in the 14 May 2024 packet regarding PFAS testing results for Martha’s Vineyard, MA
and Portsmouth, NH synthetic turf are irresponsible, greenwashed, and reportable. The above
links give the true information. Further, synthetic turf has not been and will not be installed in
Martha’s Vineyard, where it is now banned. The city of Portsmouth, NH has not taken action
despite independent testing showing multiple PFAS in the now installed plastic turf. It has also
not taken action to date on the failed recycling of the old field…which is not recyclable.
Yorba Linda, CA, a city of 68k residents, recently opened its new $28 million PFAS water
treatment plant. What would a treatment plant cost the Ithaca metropolitan area with a
population of 104,777? Construction of a treatment plant is not the end…but the beginning.
Disposal of concentrated PFAS and other chemicals of concern in the wastewater effluent,
replacement and disposal of costly filters in hazardous waste landfills, advancing science that
will detect more chemicals at increasingly lower concentrations resulting in more stringent
regulations is the reality that willfully adding more PFAS and other chemicals of concern to
Ithaca’s environment and water will bring.
Major research on PFAS in synthetic turf by renowned researchers Dr. Graham Peaslee and Dr.
Heather Whitehead is slated to be published in fall of 2024.
Additional Chemicals of Concern: (not comprehensive)
In synthetic turf:
●Phthalates
●Latex
●Polyvinyl chloride
●Naptha
●Siloxanes
●Talc
●Di/Isocyanates
●Formaldehyde
●Fungicides
●Flame retardants
●Coal fly ash
●1,2-cyclohexane
dicarbonic acid
●Dibutyltin
●Ethylene glycol
●Triclosan
●Colorants
●UV stabilizers
●Anti-static
treatments
In used tire crumb infill:
●Lead
●Arsnic
●Phthalates
●Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
●6PPD/6PPD-quinone
●BenzeneBenzothiazole (BT)
●2- Mercapto- benzothiazole (MBT)
●1,3-Diphenylguanidine (DPG)
●Cadmium
●Carbon Black
●Benzene
●Formaldehyde
●Coppe
●Mercury
●Hexamethoxymethylmelamine
(HMMM)
●Short and Long Chain chlorinated
paraffins (SCCP; LCCP)
●Zinc
●1,3 Butadiene
USED TIRE CRUMB RUBBER:
In a study done by the San Francisco Estuary Institute, tire wear particles contributed 85% of
microplastics in stormwater across all test sites. In 2021, researchers found that synthetic turf
fields in Toronto contribute the 2nd highest amount of microplastics to the environment with only
litter contributing a higher amount. Playgrounds in parks have been shown to have as much as
five times greater microplastics from equipment and surfacing than other areas of parks. This
makes synthetic turf and rubber playground surfaces clearly major point sources of PFAS and
microplastic pollution that cannot go unaddressed.
There are approximately 40,000 used car tires in crumb form in a regulation sized playing field
(80k square feet). In their whole form, tires are hazardous waste that no one would allow their
children to play in. Grind them up, and those toxic and carcinogenic chemicals do not
disappear.
Leading health experts have called for a precautionary approach to the toxic mix of chemicals in
used tire crumb for over a decade.
“Children’s’ brains and nervous systems particularly are developing rapidly and there
are unique windows when they are more susceptible to toxins….We have to think
about exposures that might cause disease that [have] long latency.”
Dr. Joel Forman, pediatrician, Mt.Sinai School of Medicine
“We know children are more vulnerable to these chemicals. They are more heavily
exposed pound for pound. They are biologically more vulnerable. They don’t have the
ability to break these chemicals down and get rid of them.”
Dr. Phillip Landrigan, pediatrician, epidemiologist.
“The whole thing is a recipe for disaster.”
Dr. David Brown, public health toxicologist
While CA OEHHA has yet to release its final report, a 2019 draft report confirms 126 chemicals
in used tire crumb: “…22 polar targets, 32 non-polar targets, and 20 PAH [polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons] targets. In addition, 11 aldehydes and 67 confirmed volatile organic targets were
detected in field air samples. Some of these chemicals were detected in multiple samples (field
air samples, polar extracts and/or non-polar extracts of crumb rubber)”.
Yale researchers (2019) identified a total of 306 chemicals in crumb rubber. Of these, 52 are
classified as known carcinogens and another 6 are considered suspected or presumed
carcinogenic by both the US EPA and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). An additional
197 are considered carcinogenic a priori. The Federal Research Action Plan (FRAP) on
Recycled Tire Crumb Used on Playing Fields and Playgrounds (FRAP 1), conducted by the US
EPA, found 355 chemicals, but has been condemned for not meeting its own research
standards in its conclusions. Their final report had 25 study participants (mostly 30 year old
males), three synthetic turf fields, looked at only six chemicals and did not include a risk
assessment. Need we say more about the quality of such a multiyear study…on taxpayer
dollars?
In December 2020, researchers in the Netherlands identified an additional 46 carcinogenic
chemicals in crumb rubber products.
“It has recently been discovered that the rubber granulates in artificial turf contain even
more harmful and carcinogenic substances than had previously been assumed.
Furthermore, several of these substances are even more prone to leaking than the
substances in rubber granulate that had already been identified as being harmful. This
information was revealed by a new doctoral study conducted by chemist Ewa
Skoczynska from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU). According to her supervisor, Jacob
de Boer, a professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology, these findings mean
that the current standards for rubber granulate should be much stricter. The professor
expects that sports fields containing rubber granulate will eventually become a thing of
the past. “I am pretty sure of this. You do not want to run this kind of risk and these types
of sports fields are not even necessary.”
Researchers in South Korea (2020) found that children who play on used tire crumb
playgrounds, commonly referred to as PIP (poured in place), are 10 times more likely to develop
cancer than those who played on soil surfaces.
Newly released research on 91 used tire crumb samples taken from soccer fields in 17 countries
on four continents confirmed the presence of multiple toxic and carcinogenic chemicals:
“…including the eight ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) PAHs considered as
carcinogenic, and anthracene (ANC), pyrene (PYR) and benzo[ghi]perylene (B[ghi]P),
catalogued as substances of very high concern (SVHC). Endocrine disruptors such as
some plasticizers (mainly phthalates), and other compounds like benzothiazole (BTZ)
and 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBTZ)”.
Carbon Black:
Carbon black is a known carcinogen. It has been found in the human brain, kidney, placenta,
cord blood, fetal organs, breastmilk and urine.
Carbon black is a major chemical component of tires and ethylene propylene diene monomer
(EPDM) synthetic infill.
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs):
Research released in 2023 has shown the bioaccessibility of most of the 16 EPA PAHs and 8
ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) PAHs in used tire crumb synthetic turf infill, for a total of
17 PAHs, including CVHCs (chemicals of very high concern), carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic
for reproduction. The European Union placed a 20 mg/kg summed limit on 8 PAHs that went
into effect 10 August 2022. The chemicals included are: BaP, DBAhA, BeP, BaA, CHR, BbFA,
BjFA and BkFA.
Research released in 2019 used 20 passively deployed silicone wristbands and Low Density
Polyethylene (LDPE) samplers and crumb rubber from 10 synthetic turf sites over 47 days in
2016. The samplers detected 25 chemicals not previously reported in synthetic turf (some with
known human effects), as well as 44 PAHs and 7 OPAHs (oxygenated PAHs). Twelve of the
detected PAHs had not previously been reported in synthetic turf, including many
alkyl-naphthalenes, which may be more toxic than parent PAHs. A new indoor synthetic field,
had the highest PAH concentrations, at 20- and 13-fold greater than at outdoor fields,
respectively. One PAH not previously reported was benzo[c]fluorene, with an estimated
carcinogenic potency 20 times greater than benzo[a]pyrene (USEPA 2010). Benzo[c]fluorene
was detected in all LDPE samplers at all sites.
6PPD:
In December 2020, researchers at the University of Washington announced their discovery of
the antiozonant N-(1,3-dimethylbutyl)-N-phenyl-p-phenylenediamine (6PPD) in tires. 6PPD
converts to 6PPD-quinone (6PPDq) when it interacts with ozone. 6PPDq has resulted in a
40-90% decline in the coho salmon populations- a federally designated endangered species
that is also implicated in US treaties with several Native American Tribes. In addition to the
decimation of coho salmon, 6PPDq has also been found to be acutely toxic to rainbow and
brook trout.
Playing fields and playgrounds have been shown to be contributing factors. 6PPDq has been
found in tire crumbs found in synthetic turf (slides 18-24). 6PPD and 6PPDq are the latest in an
extremely lengthy list of chemicals that are harmful to human and environmental health:
“Even if this harmful chemical was removed from tire production today, we will be
dealing with the legacy of its use for the next 15 to 20 years.”
Nisqually Tribe biologist, David Troutt.
“6PPD is more toxic than Mercury, 27 times more toxic than Cyanide, 425 times more
toxic than Arsenic and more toxic than DDT...we do know that all those same
ingredients in the chemical reaction that kills salmon are in those playground and
playing surfaces...What we need is research on the risks from 6PPD quinone and on
the possible substitutes. We need to treat this with urgency befitting a danger to our
children.”
The Honorable Katie Porter, Chair. Natural Resources Committee, Oversight and
Investigations, 15 July 2021.
Plant and mineral based infills also break down with wear and tear of athletic field use. They
have not been proven safe, may contain pesticides, are flammable, require frequent watering,
float and wash off in rain, and only temporarily reduce the temperature of the playing field by
10-20oF. Mineral based zeolite infill can form a paste that cakes in the carpet. Two plant based
infills have been shown to contain PFAS.
Silica sand, the major component of synthetic turf infill, has been on the California Clean Water
Act list (Prop 65) as a known carcinogen, since 1988.
Plant based infills add excess nutrients to soil and water, increasing the risk of toxic algal
blooms and red tides. They also increase GHG off gassing by an additional 70%.
One of the more egregious claims in the May 2024 packet was discounting potential cancer
risks of athletes who play on synthetic turf:
“There has been a lot of focus on crumb rubber as an infill material, primarily due to
allegations in 2014 by the University of Washington women's soccer team that exposure
to crumb rubber is associated with higher rates of cancer. However, evaluation of those
allegations by the Washington Department of Public Health as well as researchers (e.g.,
Bleyer et al., 2018) determined that there is no link between use of synthetic turf fields
with crumb rubber infill and increased incidence of cancer.”
The Washington State Department of Health study has been repudiated by many eminent
scientists, including Dr. Richard Clapp and Dr. David.
Indoor use of synthetic turf, the microplastics they create, their chemical constituents and those
of silica sand and either used tire crumb or EPDM infill in an enclosed setting with decreased air
circulation and ventilation may increase the risk for any of the above listed health concerns.
Microplastics:
Used tire crumb, EPDM, loss of plastic blades and backing of the carpet as well as the
underlayment pad all constitute microplastics.
Microplastics not only leach chemicals, including PFAS, they adsorb other chemicals and
bacteria, posing particular risk to the food chain. Even the best BMPs (Best Management
Practices) will capture only a small percentage of the microplastics and virtually none of
the PFAS and other toxic chemicals from synthetic turf. Drainage systems are not expensive
granulated activated carbon (GAC) filters.
In humans, micro- and nano-plastics have been found in:
●Heart
●Liver and spleen
●Lungs
●Blood
●Placenta (maternal and fetal sides)
●Newborn and adult feces
●Breastmilk
●Brain
●Penis, Testes, semen
●Kidney
●Brain
Polyethylene and ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM); one of the proposed infills for
the plastic fields) microplastics have been found in human blood. Polyethylene and
polypropylene, the plastic polymers used in syntehtic turf blades, have been found in human
lungs.
Microplastic blade loss from synthetic turf is estimated at 551-661 pounds per playing field per
year.
Microplastic synthetic turf blades have been found in Lake Tahoe (personal email
communications with researchers at Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC)) and the
ocean. In 2021, researchers found that synthetic turf fields in Toronto contribute the 2nd highest
amount of microplastics to the environment with only litter contributing a higher amount. This
makes synthetic turf a major point source of PFAS and microplastic pollution that cannot go
unaddressed. Lake Tahoe researchers found high levels of polyethylene and polypropylene in
the lake and “…recorded plastics concentrations more than three times higher than those
sampled using a similar method in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.”
Published on 29 June 2023, research by the University of Barcelona found:
“AT [artificial turf] fibers - composed mainly of polyethylene and polypropylene - can
constitute over 15% of the mesoplastics and macroplastics content, suggesting that AT
fibers may contribute significantly to plastic pollution. Up to 20,000 fibers a day flowed
down through the river, and up to 213,200 fibers per km2 were found floating on the sea
surface of nearshore areas. AT, apart from impacting on urban biodiversity, urban runoff,
heat island formation, and hazardous chemical leaching, is a major source of plastic
pollution to natural aquatic environments.”
A congressional hearing, entitled:“Are Toxic Chemicals From Tires And Playground Surfaces
Killing Endangered Salmon?” was held in the Natural Resources Committee, Oversight and
Investigations Subcommittee hearing on 15 July 2021, with the Honorable Katie Porter as Chair.
A 2021 Report to Ocean Protection Council identified playgrounds, synthetic turf fields
and rubberized asphalt as contributing tire particles to urban runoff. That same year, the San
Francisco Estuary Institute also found 85% of stormwater runoff particles were due to tire wear in
12 of San Francisco’s urban areas.
On 13 December 2023, the California Coastal Commission conditioned a permit for the Cesar
Uyesaka Baseball stadium at UC Santa Barbara, requiring natural grass, citing microplastic
pollution and stating synthetic turf is not superior to natural grass and is not sustainable. They
also disallowed the proposed removal of trees.
The evidence of the negative impact of microplastic pollution on environmental health is equally
daunting. From zooplankton, krill and whales to bees, and terrestrial animals of the Americas,
macro-, micro- and nanoplastics are impacting aquatic and wildlife, and even our pets.
Synthetic turf and microplastics have caused a decrease in bird populations, accumulation of
microplastics on bees and negatively impacts ocean habitats and biodiversity both above and
below ground. Research from 2021 estimated that >1500 species have ingested microplastics.
Plastic turf does not save water:
Synthetic turf requires approximately 989 gallons of water to produce 1 square meter of turf-
estimated to be the equivalent of watering a square meter of natural grass for 18 years.
Additional water is required for cooling to a safe temperature for playing as well as for cleaning
pollution, bodily fluids (like blood and vomit), animal waste, mold, bacteria and more from plastic
turf and is often a condition of warranty.
Research has shown that synthetic turf requires more water than drought tolerant Bermuda
varieties in an arid environment in order to bring the surface temperature down to a level
comparable to natural grass for safe play.
While proper irrigation or water-cannon systems can lower the temperatures for 20+ minutes,
plastic fields rapidly return to the high temperatures. According to recent research:
“... 480,000 L of water at 25°C are required to decrease the surface temperature
from 60°C [140°F] to 30°C [86°F]...the amount of water required to maintain [artificial
turf] temperatures at levels comparable to irrigated [natural turf] over a 24-h period
exceed the water requirements of Bermuda grass in the same environment.”
A report on water use on synthetic turf found that 2 water cannons spraying water from the
center of the field moving towards each end simultaneously was the most effective, as one
cannon only resulted in the first end drying before the second was sprayed. In September and
October, 12,000 gallons of water were required each time the field needed to be cooled.
Impervious surfacing:
Synthetic turf is classified as impervious by the US EPA and state of California (pg 116):
“...areas such as gravel roads...that will be compacted through design or use to reduce
their impermeability.” It further has defined impervious surfaces as…[a]ny surface that
prevents or significantly impedes the infiltration of water into the underlying soil. This can
include but is not limited to: roads, driveways, parking areas and other areas created
using non porous material; buildings, rooftops, structures, artificial turf and compacted
gravel or soil.”
Potential for erosion:
Synthetic turf does not save water and will generate 27,000 gallons of toxic runoff per 1 acre of
plastic for every one inch of rainfall.
“Pollutants from aerial and terrestrial sources accumulate on impervious surfaces until
runoff from a precipitation event carries sediment, nutrients, metals, and pesticides into
stormwater drains and directly to local water bodies. As impervious surfaces increase,
stormwater runoff increases in quantity, speed, temperature, and pollutant load. When
impervious surfaces reach 10–20% of local watershed area, surface runoff doubles and
continues to increase until, at 100% impervious surface coverage, runoff is five times
that of a forested watershed. Excessive stormwater runoff also increases the potential
for flooding.” US EPA Impervious Surface Fact Sheet
Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego reported 46 total
atmospheric rivers along the U.S. West Coast, causing disastrous flooding and loss of property
and life during the 2022 to 2023 rainy season. With what has now been categorized as a Super
El Niño year currently, increasing frequency and severity of atmospheric events overall,
consideration of synthetic turf is antithetical to environmental responsibility and an even poorer
choice for a product that must be replaced every 8 to 10 years on average.
Heat/Heat Islands:
Synthetic turf can readily become much hotter than asphalt, reaching temperatures of 1600F to
1800F (regardless of infill type) and have even reached well in excess of 222.8oF (106oC).
Thermal burns on plastic turf have even required hospitalization. At a surface temperature of
118°F a first-degree thermal burn occurs in 15 minutes, becoming a 3rd degree burn (full
skin-thickness) in 20 minutes; at a temperature of 140°F, 1st degree burns occur in 3 seconds,
and 3rd degree burns in 5 seconds.
As the planet heats up, athletes are increasingly impacted by heat related illness by playing on
synthetic surfaces. Deaths among high school football players from heat stroke doubled from
2015 to 2017 when compared to the 5 preceding years. Football players are eleven times more
likely to suffer a heat related illness. Playing on synthetic turf is a contributing factor.
After traumatic injuries and cardiac related events, heat illness is the 3rd leading cause of death
among teenage athletes. One of the predisposing factors are prescription drugs for treatment of
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, which can be caused by PFAS chemicals found in
plastics.
Synthetic turf off-gasses both methane and ethylene and continues throughout the night, in ever
increasing amounts for the 1,000 years it takes for it to decompose. Methane traps 90% more
heat than carbon dioxide and is 21 times more potent. Land based plastics produce 2 times
more methane and 76 times more ethylene than plastics found in waterways and oceans.
A 2017 Swedish study of total life cycle emissions on a modeled 7881m2 synthetic field
concluded GHG emissions would be 527 tons of CO2e for a ten year use period, exclusive of
manufacturing, transport, construction, removal and disposal.
The heat islands created by plastic turf playing fields are large enough to be visible from
satellites circling our planet. Even if all synthetic turf were removed from Los Angeles today,
methane would linger in the atmosphere for approximately 12 years, contributing to climate
change and sea level rise for hundreds of years after pollutants have been cleared from the air.
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released a report in April 2024
finding that the greenhouse emissions from plastics is four times those emitted
by the aviation industry.
There have been multiple instances of large numbers of people requiring transport and medical
care for heat illness at events on synthetic turf. The most recent involved 5th graders attending
a track and field event on a synthetic field in Lynn, MA, north east of Boston.
Not recyclable:
The very fact that the 14 May 2024 packet claims that old synthetic turf fields will be recycled
should raise a red flag. Less than 6% of plastics are recycled. Made of mixed plastics,
synthetic turf is not recyclable, not sustainable and is a linear, not a circular, product.
A lobbyist for The Synthetic Turf Council gave testimony in the California Senate Finance and
Governance Committee on 12 July 2023 stating:
“One thing we don't want to do is to set a [PFAS] limit that's so low that we can't recycle
the products because you're going to have environment--I mean, PFAS is
everywhere--so you're going to have environmental PFAS that's out there. We want to
still be able to recycle products. We don't want to have a situation where we're no longer
be able and it has to go to the waste stream instead of be recycled in some way.”
The same lobbyist testified in the California Senate Environmental Quality Committee on 19
June 2024, stating that the largest carpet recycler in Los Angeles cannot recycle synthetic turf.
Trex, in a 2022 email, stated they will not accept synthetic turf for use in manufacturing of their
composite wood/plastic fencing and decking…which is also not recyclable.
One “recycler” with grandiose claims that it would be able to “recycle” 60k tons of synthetic turf
per year (3,000 regulation sized 80k square feet fields; 40,000 pounds for carpet and backing;
400,000 pounds of infill), obtained tax incentives in both PA and CA. They have failed to open a
plant in either state, and have never recycled a single old field into a new field in their home
country of Denmark. With an estimated 30,000 synthetic turf fields in existence in the U.S., it
would take 10 years to recycle the current fields with no new fields brought into the market. Two
other companies, TenCate and FieldTurf, are shipping chopped up old carpets to ExxonMobil in
Baytown, TX for “advanced chemical recycling,” where the plant is fraught with millions of
dollars in fines for violations. So called “advanced chemical recycling” is banned in NY. Unable
to afford the high costs associated with removal and landfilling, schools and universities have
sometimes resorted to dumping the used, contaminated plastic waste on agricultural land or
have had so called “turf recyclers” haul the 200+ rolls of old plastic fields (weighing
approximately 2,000 pounds each) where they are hidden in warehouses, behind schools, and
even in open sight along rivers and waterways, and are often discarded in environmental and
social justice communities, where landfills are also most often located.
When “mechanically” recycled (chopped up, essentially) for use in other products, the toxic and
carcinogenic effects are added to the new product, along with additional toxic and carcinogenic
chemicals. Downcycling plastics into new products creates new, lesser quality products that are
not recyclable.
Research (2023) from a single northern Scotland recycling facility that accepts 22,680 tonnes of
mixed plastic waste annually showed mechanically recycling plastics resulted in the release of
up to 3,000,000 pounds of microplastics into the environment in a single year. The implications
of this research indicate “…as much as 400,000 tons [800,000,000 pounds] per year in the
United States alone, or the equivalent of about 29,000 dump trucks of microplastics.”
When shipped out of state for “advanced chemical recycling” they contribute to the negative
human and environmental health effects of Environmental and Social Justice (EJ/SJ)
communities. Landfilling and dumping used rolls also often occurs in EJ/SJ communities.
Landfilling, donating, selling, improperly or illegally disposing of synthetic turf continues to
contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, as well as PFAS and other toxic and carcinogenic
chemical leachate and microplastic pollution. Because landfilling of synthetic turf is costly,
improper and illegal dumping or warehouse storage is common.
Open green space has mental health benefits:
Natural green spaces have been shown to mitigate aggressive behavior in adolescents and
significantly reduce the growing risk of psychiatric disorders and suicide mortality. Natural green
spaces also reduce health risks such as asthma.
The American Psychological Association finds:
“…exposure to nature has been linked to a host of benefits, including improved attention,
lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders and even upticks in
empathy and cooperation.”
Initially published in Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment, Harvard:
“Studies have found that students who attend schools with green spaces tend to have
better grades, higher test scores, and better attendance rates than those who do not.”
Injuries:
Independent peer-reviewed research consistently shows significantly increased non-contact
lower extremity injuries and concussions, particularly for children- playing on synthetic turf is a
contributing factor.
“The available body of literature suggests a higher rate of foot and ankle injuries on
artificial turf, both old-generation and new-generation turf, compared with natural grass.
High-quality studies also suggest that the rates of knee injuries and hip injuries are
similar between playing surfaces, although elite-level football athletes may be more
predisposed to knee injuries on artificial turf compared with natural grass. Only a few
articles in the literature reported a higher overall injury rate on natural grass
compared with artificial turf, and all of these studies received financial support
from the artificial turf industry.”
Professional players across multiple sports are calling for a return to natural grass. Elite soccer
players will not play on plastic turf and the National Women’s Soccer League sued in order to
play on natural grass.
Exposure to Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other bacteria are a
potentially life threatening consequence of dermal abrasions, known as turf burns, due to friction
on synthetic turf. Inhalation and ingestion are additional exposure pathways. Non contact lower
body injuries are significantly higher on synthetic turf, as are concussions and heat stroke.
●315,000 to 850,000 concussions every year occur among high school athletes.
●Repeated concussions increase risk of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)/
●The Concussion Legacy Foundation reported that repetitive brain trauma is associated
with CTE and has been found in 17 year olds. 41.4% of athletes under age 30 show
signs of CTE.
●In high school American football players, concussions occur when head impacts
approach 95 g.
●Research published Jan 2024 showed significantly greater impact deceleration on
synthetic turf compared to natural grass surfaces, showing greater potential for
concussions on synthetic fields.
●Newer synthetic turf fields require a greater fall distance to attenuate head to surface
impact, which again, puts children at higher risk.
●The proposed dual monofilament and slit film polyethene long fiber is what professional
athletes have demanded be replaced in the remaining venues with synthetic turf due to
higher lower extremity non-contact injuries.
Viable alternative to plastic fields:
Grass fields actively sequester carbon dioxide and provide a cooling function that is especially
dramatic when compared to the heat generated by synthetic turf. Grass naturally filters toxins,
performs important eco-services for the soil beneath, and provides widely dispersed rainwater
infiltration allowing absorption and recharging of the water table. Additionally:
●Research suggests that grasses can accumulate and deposit carbon into the soil by
approximately one-half ton of carbon per acre per year for 30 to 40 years.
●Organic management and zero emission maintenance equipment mitigate emissions,
reduce costs over time, and increase carbon sequestration.
●Electric mowers for playing fields and chalk markers are available.
●Drought and desert tolerant varieties of natural grass appropriate for lawns, parks and high
use playing fields are available.
●Grass fields support biodiversity, both above and below the ground.
University playing fields with natural grass (not comprehensive):
●USC’s Rawlinson Stadium- “In a day and age where the dangers of turf are known far
and wide, Rawlinson Stadium will have a natural grass field, key for the safeties of its
athletes.”
●FSU Doake Stadium - AD Michael Alford: “…new grass should help with injury
avoidance as opposed to older grass or the artificial turf some teams use for a few
sports.”
●UCSB Caesar Uyesaka Stadium
(@5:32:32)
●Iowa State Univ
●Florida State Univ 16 natural
grass fields
●University of Alabama
●University of Arkansas
●San Diego State Univ
●Denison Univ
●Virginia Tech
●Clemson Univ
●BYU
●Northwestern Univ
●Texas A&M
●Texas Christian Univ
Costs:
If places like Phoenix and Las Vegas can have drought tolerant playing fields and large sports
complexes yet save on water, and cities in the north east where rain is more abundant, certainly
Ithaca and Cornell can.
Maintenance of plastic turf, which only picks up metal debris and fluffs plastic blades, but does
not clean the bacteria, pollutants, bodily fluids such as blood and vomit that collect on
impervious plastic fields, does not do hardness testing or replenish the 1.5 to 5 tons of infill lost
annually, further increases risk to all who use them.
Avoidable failure of natural grass playing surfaces occur due to:
●Improper installation and maintenance
●Lack of attention to soil, root zone, understanding of soil type drainage capabilities
●No inclusion of soil analysis of texture, nutrients, organic matter and living biome
●Inappropriate selection of sod or seed for soil needs and climate zone
●Proper maintenance doesn’t take place
●Inadequate, improper or no aeration (3-5 times/year
●No or inappropriate fertilization, overseeding
Organic/regenerative management:
●More cost effective than “traditional” management over time
●Reduces risk of liability for costly violations of the US Clean Water Act under the NPDES
(National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) Permit
●More significant with new US EPA regulations on PFAS
According to experts with multiple years and decades of experience managing natural grass
playing fields, three to four playing fields can be professionally installed for the cost of a single
plastic field.
The SoccerPlex in Boyd, MD, where they have 20 acres of natural grass playing fields, reports
maintenance costs of $25-30k per year, or $1,750 to $2,000 per acres. For Cornell University to
have natural grass playing fields, that would translate to $9,275 to $10,600 per year. Despite
rain, they have only closed their fields once in the past year (maybe a second time for a recent
tornado in the area!). Organic management becomes less costly over time. Electric mowers
and chalk markers reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
With proper soil testing, seed or sod selection, installation and maintenance, natural grass
playing fields can last 25-30 years. Indoor natural grass fields are possible.
Choosing to install petrochemical plastic synthetic turf is willfully accepting human and
environmental health irresponsibility for:
●Contribution to human health effects due to exposure of PFAS, other endocrine
disrupting, toxic and carcinogenic chemicals, bacteria and pollutants that collect on
plastic fields.
●Ignoring responsibility to ensure physical and mental health needs of residents and
students by increasing risk of health related disease through toxic exposure, overheating
the environment, reducing natural open green space, shifting burden of all of these to
future generations.
●Contribution to climate change.
●Continued contamination of air, water and soil with “forever” chemicals and other toxic
chemical classes.
●Increased risk of injury, heat stroke, death.
●Loss of biodiversity.
●Adding massive amounts of unrecyclable plastic and its toxic and carcinogenic leachate
to the environment every 8 years on average (plastics take an estimated 1,000 years to
decompose).
●Increased taxpayer burden.
●Ignoring science.
●Increased legal liability (injuries; Federal Clean Water Act, NYS DEQ violations).
“Plaintiffs alleging injuries from artificial surfaces can look to several potential target
defendants including: (1) turf manufacturers; (2) companies that manufacture the various
component parts of turf; and (3) turf purchasers, particularly high schools,
universities and major sports franchises. Expected allegations would follow a traditional
products liability model, involving counts for both design defect and failure to warn.
Reuters 5 July 2023
Lawyers to Plastics Makers: Prepare for ‘Astronomical’ PFAS Lawsuits
“At an industry presentation about dangerous “forever chemicals,” lawyers predicted a
wave of lawsuits that could dwarf asbestos litigation, audio from the event revealed.”
New York Times 28 May 2024.
Petrochemical synthetic turf is a monetary investment, and will be short lived in New York when
the Carpet EPR law takes effect on 31 December 2026.
Natural grass is an investment in humans and the environment.
The evidence is clear. What will Ithaca City, town (which already has PFAS in it’s tap water)
and Cornell do to protect its water supply, human and environmental health and stop
contributing to the climate crisis? No one “needs” plastic grass carpet, not in parks, school,
homes or businesses. No one needs more PFAS and other toxic and carcinogenic chemical
exposure.
We urge you to not succumb to pressure from those with a vested interest in
promoting or selling synthetic turf; who try to tell you their product is PFAS free; that
PFAS, other chemicals and microplastics can be contained; that their product is cooler than
other plastic turf products. We are quite confident that prospective students would not base a
decision of which university to attend based on plastic turf.
We urge you to join with other jurisdictions and universities across the country taking action to
prohibit this climate and PFAS crises inducing, wholly unnecessary petrochemical plastic
product and protect Ithaca’s right to clean water, air and soil.
We urge you to say no to Cornell’s plans for PFAS, plastic and pollution over human and
environmental health.
Respectfully submitted:
Diana Conway, President
Dianne Woelke MSN, Board Member
Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc.
https://www.safehealthyplayingfields.orgSH
PFI is an all-volunteer nonprofit 501-c-3
1
Chris Balestra
From:Zero Waste Ithaca <info@zerowasteithaca.org>
Sent:Saturday, June 22, 2024 12:36 PM
To:pbstaff@cityofithaca.org; Nikki Cerra; Chris Balestra; Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department
Cc:sustainablefingerlakes-L@list.cornell.edu; Sandra Steingraber; Jackie Nunez; Megan
Wolff; Judith Enck; info@shpf.org; Kathleen Michels; Jeff Gearhart; Neil Carman; Gay
Nicholson; Kyla Bennett; Amy Griffin; Aditi Varshneya; María Guillén; Seneca Lake
Guardian
Subject:Ensuring Accurate Representation of Public Comments to the City and Town Planning
Boards on Cornell's Artificial Turf Projects
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
To the Ithaca City and Town Planning Board Members,
We noticed that the bibliography we submitted to the City of Ithaca Planning Board for the 5/28 meeting
was cropped and abbreviated in the most recent agenda package for the 6/25 meeting, omitting
important information about local news coverage, (Starts from page 77) and more.
We request that the city and town board members review the complete 58-page bibliography, especially
the first few pages, which highlight local and regional media coverage on the issue of artificial turfs. This
includes a public opinion poll by The Ithaca Times from last spring, showing over 85% opposition to
the artificial turf project at Ithaca College.
Also included is the debunked study from the State of Washington Department of Health, upon
which Cornell's proposal hinges. Additionally, the document features information from the non-profit
sector highlighting inherent issues in the industry's claims of 'PFAS-free' artificial turfs, along with
insights into the lifecycle of plastics and critical environmental justice issues.
The document also contains notable highlights from previous agenda packets, including a screenshot of
Cornell University's "Long Range View" of a sports complex plan on Game Farm and Ellis Hollow Roads,
which suggests multiple synthetic turf fields are being considered in addition to the proposed project on
Tower Road on in central campus on agenda for the 6/25 meeting.
We are also confident that the public will be interested in learning about the consulting firm Haley &
Aldrich, which Cornell University commissioned to create a report justifying the artificial turf projects.
Please ensure that our public comments are not cropped, as it diminishes their
relevance.
It is the stance of Zero Waste Ithaca to oppose the entire project in its current form.
Here is the link to the bibliography. Please share this full document with the planning board members:
Link to Bibliography
2
We have Cc'd the Sustainable Finger Lakes email list and our allies across the country, including national
non-profits Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Beyond Plastics, Plastic Pollution Coalition, GAIA, who
supported our webinar and the petition drive. Our petition currently has 750 signatures, including ones
from the inimitable activist and biologist Sandra Steingraber and many Cornell University and Ithaca
College students. We intend to keep both our local community and wider network informed and
engaged.
Please include this note and the full bibliography as part of our public comment for the 6/25 City
Planning Board meeting and the 7/2 Town planning board meeting.
Best,
Yayoi Koizumi
Zero Waste Ithaca | BYO - US Reduces
Founder | Co-Founder
zerowasteithaca.org
usreduces.org
Our work is fiscally sponsored by NOPI - Nonprofit Incubator, a program of NOPI INC, a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation
and 501(c)(3) organization, EIN 81-5089505. Donations are tax-deductible where allowed by law. Learn more at
https://thenopi.org.
1
Chris Balestra
From:Ashley Colbert <AColbert@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Thursday, June 27, 2024 8:38 AM
To:Chris Balestra
Cc:Abby Homer
Subject:Fw: Say NO to Cornell’s Artificial Turf Request
Good morning ladies,
Here is another Turf comment.
Ashley Colbert
From: Claire Forest
Sent: Thursday, June 27, 2024 8:10 AM
To: Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>; Mike Smith <MSmith@townithacany.gov>; Claire
Forest
Subject: Say NO to Cornell’s Artificial Turf Request
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL links, and/or
attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
I do not know who at Town is responsible for deciding about Cornell Artificial Turf request, so please forward my
concern to appropriate Board then send me their reply. I’m a Town of Ithaca farmer & also alumna of Cornell
College of Ag & Life Sciences (CALS). Do NOT approve Cornell Athletics’ request for artificial turf on playing fields!
This huge amount of forever plastic will eventually have to be removed by Town of Ithaca groundsmen then end up
in Town landfill.
In my ancestral Celtic heritage we make decisions for the good of Mother Earth and our children’s children.
Claire Forest
Forest Family Farm LLC
330 W King Rd
Ithaca NY 14850
1
Chris Balestra
From:Ashley Colbert <AColbert@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Wednesday, June 26, 2024 8:13 AM
To:Chris Balestra
Cc:Abby Homer
Subject:Fw: 6/25 City PB - Spoken Comment on Cornell synturf projects
From: Yayoi Koizumi <yayoi@zerowasteithaca.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2024 2:37 AM
To: pbstaff@cityofithaca.org <pbstaff@cityofithaca.org>; Nikki Cerra <ncerra@cityofithaca.org>; Town Of Ithaca Clerks
Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Subject: 6/25 City PB - Spoken Comment on Cornell synturf projects
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear City and Town Planning Board Members,
Here is my comment during the meeting yesterday about Cornell University's synthetic turf projects I would like to
respectfully submit.
Thank you,
Yayoi Koizumi
****
Thank you for the opportunity to speak.
As an Ithaca community member who raised a son here as a single working mother, I have great concerns about how the
Cornell University representative has been downplaying the dangers of artificial turf in her previous board presentations
and attempting to discredit the credentials of our experts, who all helped us pro-bono.
Artificial turf is a fossil fuel product containing tens of thousands of toxic chemicals, including 15,000 chemicals under the
class of PFAS alone. I have always suspected chemical exposure from foods, household items, and elsewhere as the
cause of my son’s painful condition. This concern partly motivated me to start Zero Waste Ithaca, a grassroots, all-
volunteer organization.
I am also a proud alumna of Howard University, an HBCU in Washington, DC, where I earned an MA in Philosophy. My
son was born at Howard University Hospital and played on a tire rubber crumb playground, made of the same materials
as artificial turf often seen in poorer neighborhoods across Ithaca. In contrast, wealthier neighborhoods tend to have wood
chips, such as at Cayuga Heights Elementary School. A 2019 South Korean study suggests that the likelihood of getting
cancer is 10 times greater for children who played on synthetic playground surfaces. The industry's promotion of plastic
playing surfaces for "equality" is utterly hypocritical.
In a Philadelphia Inquirer article on the potential health risks associated with artificial turf, Danni Morinich, a green space
advocate and urban forager, states, “One of [the arguments] they’re pushing is, if you’re against this master plan, then
2
you’re against Black and brown kids having a safe place to play... As a Black woman, that really boils my potatoes.” I feel
the same way.
A study from Barcelona shows that artificial turf causes at least 15% of outdoor microplastic pollution, despite only
counting larger pieces like plastic grass blades. Recent reports indicate microplastics are found in human placenta, breast
milk, and testicles, impacting human health. The University of California, Santa Barbara, chose natural grass over artificial
turf in December 2023, citing microplastics as a major concern. the University of California, Santa Barbara, chose natural
grass over artificial turf in their decision in December, 2023. The California Coastal Commission restricted the permit for
UCSB for the 3 acre baseball stadium to use natural grass with no tree removal. They found: synthetic turf is not
sustainable and inferior to natural grass and they cited microplastics as a major threat/concern from the Barcelona study. I
hope the City of Ithaca will also follow the correct path.
Lastly, I would like to address the “experts'' from Haley & Aldrich and Sasaki hired by Cornell. Ms. Michaels has
repeatedly claimed in her previous presentations their acute superiority over our experts in our webinar. Our 6 experts
included three Ph.D.s, three whistleblowers, and individuals with long careers fighting for environmental justice, such as
Dr. Carman, who has been in court against companies like ExxonMobil for decades. While it’s interesting to meet Mr. Trey
Sasser, a civil engineer from Sasaki with a BS from Clemson University, and Mr. Jay Peters, a “Risk Assessment Practice
Leader” at Haley & Aldrich with an MS in Environmental Health Engineering from Tufts University, I stand by the integrity
and expertise of our pro-bono experts.
Bonus:
I was also informed that Mr. Sasser is based out of Watertown, MA. And below is the latest report from the city.
3
https://seeclickfix.com/organization_notices/uUvW52pdafBSKJmKA8vaAv7k
Victory Field Closed.
Updated on June 20, 2024 10:02
Victory Field turf is closed due to the excessive heat forecasted for today, Thursday, June 20, 2024.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call the Recreation office at 617-972-6494 or email
recreation@watertown-ma.gov.
So much for the convenience of artificial turf to be playable 24 hours, 365 days a year.
1
Chris Balestra
From:Yayoi Koizumi <yayoi@zerowasteithaca.org>
Sent:Tuesday, June 25, 2024 1:57 PM
To:Chris Balestra; Nikki Cerra; pbstaff@cityofithaca.org; Town Of Ithaca Planning
Cc:Dianne Woelke; Neil Carman; Tracy Frisch; Sandra Steingraber; Murray Brian McBride;
Kathleen Michels; The Field Fund; Megan Wolff; Nyah Estevez; Aditi Varshneya; Jackie
Nunez
Subject:Public Comment for Ithaca City and Planning Boards regarding Cornell University's
Multiple Synthetic Turf Projects
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Please respectfully share the letter below with the city and town planning board members.
****
Dear City and Town Planning Board members,
We write to you following our keen observation of the recent city planning board meetings. As members of Zero Waste
Ithaca, we found several aspects of the discussion troubling and wish to address them with you.
Specifically, we were surprised and concerned by the characterization of our webinar presentation with 6 experts from
around the country as "granular" and "having holes in science." This description fails to acknowledge the extensive
research and expertise that formed the basis of our presentation involving several experts.
We feel it imperative to draw attention to potential conflicts of interest associated with the consulting firms referenced in
the report presented by the Cornell representative. The affiliations of these firms with industries known for their
questionable environmental records, such as Tetra Tech's involvement in ongoing lawsuits and its past associations, raise
significant concerns about the impartiality of the information presented.
The consulting firm, Haley & Aldrich, commissioned by the Cornell representative, has ties to BP and Boeing, indicating a
conflict of interest. Furthermore, their report references other consulting firms' reports, creating echo chambers of false
fossil fuel industry narratives. One of the firms referenced, Tetra Tech, in particular, was previously part of Honeywell, a
company with a notorious environmental record (see this and this). Tetra Tech is also involved in ongoing lawsuits (see
this, this, and this). Most notably, one suit was filed by the U.S. Government against Tetra Tech for records for radioactive
contamination at a Navy shipyard. Tetra Tech was also cited for participating in a study for the East Palestine tragedy
despite a clear conflict of interest, raising questions about their corporate ethics (see this).
The report by Haley & Aldrich, commissioned by Cornell, references another consulting firm, Tetra Tech's
report for Martha's Vineyard Commission in MA, regarding artificial turf projects at Oak Bluffs High
School.
It is extremely important to point out that despite Tetra Tech's report for the Martha's Vineyard
Commission, the Town of Oak Bluffs ultimately banned synthetic turf in April 2024, denying the
synthetic turf project at Oak Bluffs High School.
This is a crucial detail conveniently omitted in the Haley & Aldrich report. Haley & Aldrich makes a
reference to Tetra Tech's report that was ultimately rejected due to concerns about PFAS
2
contamination of the only aquifer on which the island residents of Martha's Vineyard rely. This
omission raises serious questions about the integrity of the report.
We would like the board members to ask the representative from Haley & Aldrich the following questions
during the 6/25 meeting:
1. Why have they recently removed (or changed) the page indicating their ties to BP from their
website?
2. Can they provide details about the award they received from BP?
3. How many other fossil fuel companies does the firm work for, and what are their names?
4. How much did Cornell pay to the consulting firm Haley & Aldrich to furnish this report?
Ms. Michels also claimed in the previous meetings that our experts presented "one study as the whole truth," despite our
webinar panel featured six experts some of whom with career records fighting for environmental justice, and despite our
presentation of our comprehensive curently over 60-page bibliography listing numerous studies demonstrating harms of
artificial turfs. Our webinar also received support and co-sponsorship from four national environmental non-profit
organizations, adding legitimacy for our cause: Beyond Plastics, Plastic Pollution Coalition, Safe Healthy Playing
Fields,and GAIA (Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives).
Additionally, we were disappointed by the insinuation that our organization employs "great persuasive techniques" akin to
professional propaganda. As a grassroots organization driven by concerned Ithacans, our advocacy efforts are grounded
in genuine concerns for environmental justice and community well-being. It seemed to us that Ms. Michael was the one
trained in rhetoric to mischaracterize us and question our motivations.
I also would like to urge the board members to read a letter by Dr. Neil Carman from Texas Sierra Club submitted
to the board with very close attention, along with a 17-page comprehensive letter by Dianne Woelke, a founding
board member of Safe Healthy Playing Fields and a retired Advanced Practice Nurse and Public Health
Nurse,with links to all the scientific sources.
Dr. Carman, a phytochemist, is the lead staff member of Texas Sierra Club with experiences in court battles
against ExxonMobil and similar corporations with decades of experience. The letter highlights the pervasive
pollution caused by plastics throughout their lifecycle, particularly in environmental justice communities around
the Houston, TX area. In particular, the letter mentions Baytown, TX, which hosts an "advanced" chemical
recycling plant processing artificial turf from the synthetic turf recycling company, Tencate.
Please consider the insights of real scientists with the track records of integrity, and be cautious of paid consulting firms'
reports.
References from the bibliogrpahy regarding Baytown, TX, by Zero Waste Ithaca previously submitted to the
board:
Phillips, Anna. “Texans Sued Exxon over Pollution 13 Years Ago. A Big Decision Now Looms.” The
Washington Post. March 16, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-
environment/2023/03/15/exxon-pollution-lawsuit-baytown-texas//.
The Exxon complex in the Baytown and Houston, TX area has a new controversial chemical recycling
plant which processes plastics, including artificial turfs, supplied by a recycling company Tencate. For
more information, watch Dr. Neil Carman’s presentation in our webinar held on 4/30. Dr. Carman
served as the staff leader in the lawsuit against Exxon Mobile complex in Baytown, TX for twelve years.
Please keep in mind that the Houston, TX area is an example of only but one instance of the environmental justice
communities affected by the plastic industry. There are battles going on across the country, including Formosa’s “Cancer
Alley” in Louisiana and Shell’s ethane cracker plants in Pennsylvania.
Cornell University is perpetuating the fossil fuel industry’s legacy of contamination by continuing to place down and cover
the natural ground with synthetic plastics known to cause harm throughout its lifecycle.
3
Please share the entire currently 62-page partially annotated bibliography that our group members worked on and
keep for the public record. All the information posted in the bibliography is relevant for the integrity of environmental
review. Here is the link to the bibliography:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19qSgRdKSPBKYdPn_8kMifFHyGr2sZxvlmdRpuWe_ZIU/edit?usp=sharing
In conclusion, we urge the board to carefully consider these concerns as you continue to deliberate on matters of public
interest. Transparency and accountability are essential for maintaining public trust, and we trust that you will take the
necessary steps to address these issues.
We should also mention that we have strong support from Dr. Sandra Steingraber and Dr. Murray McBride, and other
local luminaries, in opposition to Cornell University's plans to cover the grounds with plastic. Their signatures are on our
petition, which is gaining momentum, currently with 775 signatures. Dr. Steingraber also expressed her support for
our cause on her social media pages (see here and here). We have gathered signatures from many respected individuals
both locally and nationally, which we can share with you prior to the 7/23 city planning board meeting. Many Cornell
students and some faculty members support our cause.
Lastly, but not least, we wish to remind the board of the overwhelming 85% opposition expressed by the Ithaca
community regarding the proposed artificial turf project at Ithaca College last spring. This sentiment, as evidenced
by the Ithaca Times poll, underscores genuine concerns for environmental impact and community well-being.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Best regards,
Yayoi Koizumi
Zero Waste Ithaca | BYO - US Reduces
Founder | Co-Founder
zerowasteithaca.org
usreduces.org
Our work is fiscally sponsored by NOPI - Nonprofit Incubator, a program of NOPI INC, a Massachusetts nonprofit corporation
and 501(c)(3) organization, EIN 81-5089505. Donations are tax-deductible where allowed by law. Learn more at
https://thenopi.org.
Zero Waste Ithaca Artificial Turf Bibliography Summary
In response to The Ithaca Voice Article,we compiled a high-level summary of some of the key studies
showing the risks of artificial turf.In the article and at the last public meeting,the City Planning Board
Chair Mitch Glass asked the Cornell consultants to address concerns over fossil fuel use in artificial turf
production,health and environmental impacts,and recyclability.Due to unsubstantiated rumors that
studies provided by Zero Waste Ithaca were not peer-reviewed,we compiled this summary to combat this
false accusation.Around 100 more studies that support our claims can be found in our bibliography here.
Fossil Fuel Usage in Artificial Turf Production
Magnusson,Simon and Macsik,Josef.“Analysis of Energy Use and Emissions of Greenhouse
Gases,Metals and Organic Substances from Construction Materials used for Artifical Turf.”
Resources,Conservation and Recycling.March 24,2017.
http://www.synturf.org/images/CFP-2017-03-Analysis_of_energy_use_and_emissions_of_greenh
ouse_gases,_metals_magnusson2017.pdf
Health Impacts of Artificial Turf
Tarafdar,Abhrajyoti,Min-Ju Oh,Quynh Nguyen-Phuong,and Jung-Hwan Kwon.“Profiling and
Potential Cancer Risk Assessment on Children Exposed to PAHs in Playground
Dust/Soil:A Comparative Study on Poured Rubber Surfaced and Classical Soil
Playgrounds in Seoul.”Environmental Geochemistry and Health.May 27,2019.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-019-00334-2
This Korean study found that children who play on used tire crumb playgrounds,
commonly referred to as PIP (poured in place),are 10 times more likely to develop
cancer than those who played on soil surfaces.
Huang,Qian’en,Jianqun Wang,Jianping Wang,Dongmei Yu,Yuanbo Zhan,and Ze Liu.
“Emerging Health Risks of Crumb Rubber:Inhalation of Environmentally Persistent Free
Radicals via Saliva During Artificial Turf Activities.”Environmental Science &
Technology 57,no.50 (2023):21005–21015.https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c03278.
Peaslee,Graham and Heather D.Whitehead.“Occurrences of Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl
Substances in Plastic Products from Fluorinated Polymer Processing Aids.”2024.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1oiwPKNrHCJd6-VzcFPKTNyCrjjmiwJeh/edit?u
sp=sharing&ouid=106106732686023309618&rtpof=true&sd=true
This is a pre-publication presentation in Government of the District of Columbia ANC
(Advisory Neighborhood Commission)3/4G Single Member District 02.“Is Artificial
Turf Safe for Our Kids and Our Environment?,"March 26,2024.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xlCA9M8hI
Dr.Peaslee from University of Notre Dame is the leading expert on PFAS in consumer
products.In this first Zoom meeting in the series by ANC 3/4G looking at artificial turf,
he shared his pre-publication study showing artificial turf is estimated to potentially
contaminate 800,000 gallons of water with chemicals per field per year on average.
Increased Injuries with Artificial Turf
Gould HP,Lostetter SJ,Samuelson ER,Guyton GP.“Lower Extremity Injury Rates on Artificial
Turf Versus Natural Grass Playing Surfaces:A Systematic Review.”The American
Journal of Sports Medicine.May 20,2022.https://doi.org/10.1177/03635465211069562
Environmental Impacts of Artificial Turf
De Haan,William P.,Rocío Quintana,César Vilas,Andrés Cózar,Miquel Canals,Oriol Uviedo,
and Anna Sanchez-Vidal.“The Dark Side of Artificial Greening:Plastic Turfs as
Widespread Pollutants of Aquatic Environments.”Environmental Pollution 334 (2023):
122094.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122094.
This Barcelona study found that artificial turf blades made up to 15%of the larger
microplastic pieces in the environment.This significant fiber loss contributed to the
University of California,Santa Barbara's decision to choose natural grass over artificial
turf,supported by the California Coastal Commission,on December 13,2023.
Sánchez-Sotomayor D,Martín-Higuera A,Gil-Delgado JA,Gálvez Á,Bernat-Ponce E.
“Artificial Grass in Parks as a Potential New Threat for Urban Bird Communities.”Bird
Conservation International.Cambridge University Press,July 26,2022.
doi:10.1017/S0959270922000119
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bird-conservation-international/article/artificial-
grass-in-parks-as-a-potential-new-threat-for-urban-bird-communities/55B131F50206D3
DD485A57DE975C120C
This study demonstrates that replacing natural grass with artificial turf in urban parks in
eastern Spain negatively impacted bird diversity.Parks with artificial grass show reduced
species richness,abundance,and gamma diversity compared to parks with natural grass.
These findings highlight the harmful effects of artificial turf on urban bird communities
and its threat to bird conservation,despite its water-saving benefits.
Recyclability of Artificial Turf
Beyond Plastics.“New Reports Reveals that U.S.Plastics Recycling Rate Has Fallen to
5%-6%.”May 4,2022.
https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/the-real-truth-about-plastics-recycling
Beyond Plastics.“Report:Chemical Recycling:A Dangerous Deception.”October 2023.
https://www.beyondplastics.org/publications/chemical-recycling
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.“False Artificial Turf Recycling Claims
Ripped.”March 7,2022.https://peer.org/false-artificial-turf-recycling-claims-ripped/.
Lundstrom,Marjie.“Artificial Turf,Touted as Recycling Fix for Millions of Scrap Tires,
Becomes Mounting Disposal Mess.”Salon.December 21,2019.
https://www.salon.com/2019/12/21/artificial-turf-touted-as-recycling-fix-for-millions-of-s
crap-tires-becomes-mounting-disposal-mess_partner/.
McVeigh,Karen.“Recycling Can Release Huge Quantities of Microplastics,Study Finds.”The
Guardian,May 23,2023.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/may/23/recycling-can-release-huge-qua
ntities-of-microplastics-study-finds
The study suggests the recycling plant discharged up to 2,933 metric tonnes of
microplastics a year before the filtration system was introduced,and up to 1,366 metric
tonnes afterwards.
Philips,Anna.“Toxic Air Explosions:Inside the Bitter Battle between Texas Residents and
Exxon:Residents of Baytown Sued Exxon 13 Years Ago to Reduce Pollution that Wafts
into Their Neighborhoods.A Key Legal Decision Looms,and the Case Could Have
National Implications.”The Washington Post.March 16,2023.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/03/15/exxon-pollution-laws
uit-baytown-texas/
The Exxon complex in the Baytown and Houston,TX area has a new controversial
chemical recycling plant which processes plastics,including artificial turfs,supplied by a
recycling company Tencate.For more information,watch Dr.Neil Carman’s presentation
in our webinar held on 4/30/24.Dr.Carman served as the staff leader in the lawsuit
against Exxon Mobile complex in Baytown,TX for twelve years.
Song,Lisa.“Selling a Mirage:The Delusion of Advanced Plastic Recycling Using Pyrolysis.”
ProPublica.June 20,2024.
https://www.propublica.org/article/delusion-advanced-chemical-plastic-recycling-pyrolys
is
1
Chris Balestra
From:Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Monday, July 1, 2024 9:00 AM
To:Chris Balestra; Abby Homer
Subject:FW: Comment/Reference for 7/2 and 7/23 Town and City Planning Board meetings
Attachments:SUMMARY_ Zero Waste Ithaca_ Artificial Turf Bibliography for Cornell Synturf Projects
2024.pdf
Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk
215 N. Tioga St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Ph (607) 273-1721 Option 1
www.townithacany.gov
From: Zero Waste Ithaca <info@zerowasteithaca.org>
Sent: Monday, July 1, 2024 1:58 AM
To: Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>; pbstaff@cityofithaca.org; Nikki Cerra
<ncerra@cityofithaca.org>
Subject: Comment/Reference for 7/2 and 7/23 Town and City Planning Board meetings
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear Nikki, City and Town Planning Board Members,
In response to The Ithaca Voice Article, we compiled a high-level summary of some of the key studies showing the risks
of artificial turf. AIn the article and at the last public meeting, the City Planning Board Chair Mitch Glass asked the Cornell
consultants to address concerns over fossil fuel use in artificial turf production, health and environmental impacts, and
recyclability. Due to unsubstantiated rumors that studies provided by Zero Waste Ithaca were not peer-reviewed, we
compiled this attached summary to combat this false accusation. Around 100 more studies that support our claims can be
found in our bibliography here.
Plastic fields are toxic and a source of microplastic pollution. They contaminate throughout their
lifecycle—from extraction, manufacturing, and transportation, to use and disposal. Artificial turf, made
of plastics and fossil fuels, needs to be replaced every 8-12 years, making it an ongoing environmental
justice issue.
Cornell's unnecessary and harmful project costs $55M. I recently spoke with a woman in Groton
about Cornell University's glaring lack of care for its natural areas. If they have $55M (and more,
considering their proposed "long-range vision" of a sports complex with multiple synthetic turfs around
East Hill Plaza), shouldn't they also contribute more to the city, especially to the city school district, and
better maintain their natural areas and more?
2
We have a petition nearing 900 signatures. They come with substantive comments from students, faculty
and community members and we look forward to sharing them with you soon.
The petition is co-sponsored by national non-profits, Beyond Plastics and Plastic Pollution
Coalition. Zero Waste Ithaca is their local affiliate group.
Additionally, we have a partially annotated and categorized 50-page bibliography with about a hundred
peer-reviewed materials, reputable news reports, and critical documents on the consulting firm Haley &
Aldrich and their report, which should be reviewed by the board members. Topics covered include:
Public health
Plastic pollution
Issues with so-called recycling of plastics
Injuries
Bans
Natural grass management
Cost comparison
Local news coverage
Cornell's claims of "PFAS-free" synthetic turfs
Attached to this email is a 3-page summary on health, toxicity, and environmental impacts from the
bibliography.
We urge board members to review these materials, and start considering the future ban of artificial turf in
the city. Your support is vital for protecting our community and environment.
It is worth noting that just this past Friday, the city of Los Angeles in California passed a motion to move
an artificial turf ban proposal forward. My understanding is that the ban in Los Angeles is imminent. See
more in the full bibliography under the section of "Bans and Moratoriums."
Source:
Sharp, Julie. “LA Council Committee Moves Synthetic Grass Ban Proposal Forward.” CBS News. Los
Angeles, CA. June 28, 2024. https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/la-council-committee-moves-
synthetic-grass-ban-proposal-forward/
Please see the original motion as amended from the City of Los Angeles website.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue protecting our community's environment.
1
Chris Balestra
From:Simon Alford <sca63@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 2:49 PM
Subject:Cornell mens frisbee supports new turf fields at Cornell!
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear City of Ithaca and Town of Ithaca representatives,
I'm writing to express support for Cornell's installation of additional turf fields on campus. I am a captain of the mens club
ultimate frisbee team and a third year PhD student in computer science. We are a team of around 30 Cornell students.
We practices two or three times a week all year long, even in the winter. Due to field space limitations, in the winter we
pay money out of our team budget to rent field space at "The Rink", an indoor soccer facility. On the weekends,
we practice on a small outdoor artificial turf field on Cornell's north campus. We regularly have to spend 30-60 minutes
shoveling the field by hand before we can use it. When the athletic department gives us access, we play on a very
small, low quality indoor turf surface at Cornell called the Ramin room. Having additional field space would make a HUGE
difference to the quality of our practices and our overall experience as Cornell student athletes.
I am aware of some debates over the health impacts of artificial turf on young athletes. I wanted to say that we are already
practicing on artificial turf exclusively during most of the spring semester (we are not allowed to practice on grass fields,
so that we do not tear them up). As a result, when there isn't turf space available, we are unable to practice as much as
we would like, which is a huge bummer, especially given our goals of being a nationally competitive team each year.
There really isn't an alternative to practicing on artificial turf, and having new, indoor turf fields would be an incredible
benefit to our ability to have a club frisbee team at Cornell.
I've done some research into the artificial turf health debate, and overall I do not find the data very convincing. Given the
number of artificial turf fields worldwide, and the number of sports that play on turf, it seems like there should be more
evidence of links to cancer than just one team at one school. But the only data I can find is from Washington soccer, and
Philly baseball. For example, there are so many football players who get very scraped up on turf regularly, but I can't find
any evidence of higher cancer rates for football players. Maybe the turf installations are bad at a couple places, but fine
elsewhere?
To reiterate, I would like to emphasize my full support for the new turf fields, on behalf of both myself and the Cornell
mens club ultimate frisbee team. Go Big Red!
Please feel free to respond if you want to talk more about our team and any questions you might have.
Best regards,
Simon Alford
1
Chris Balestra
From:Eujin Lee <el778@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 2:40 PM
To:Chris Balestra
Subject:Support for the Meinig Fieldhouse
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear Mr. Chris Balestra,
Hello, my name is Eujin Lee, and I am a student athlete on the Cornell Taekwondo team. I am writing to
express my support for the Meinig Fieldhouse and to highlight the critical need for additional practice
facilities for club sports like ours.
As a club sport, our team faces significant challenges in securing adequate practice spaces. Priority is
given to varsity sports, leaving us to practice in hallways and other less suitable areas. This often results
in last-minute changes to our practice locations due to other occupancy. Taekwondo, being a rigorous
and high-impact sport, ideally requires mats or a soft surface like a turf field for safe practice.
Unfortunately, we frequently practice on hard floors, which places undue stress on our shins and
increases the risk of injury. It is astonishing to our competitors from other schools that we practice
sparring on hard floors, given the physical demands of the sport.
Despite these challenges, my teammates and I train diligently each week and have proudly won the
trophy of the Eastern Collegiate Taekwondo Conference. The addition of fields and appropriate facilities
would greatly benefit the Cornell Taekwondo team by providing us with safe and reliable practice spaces.
For us, Taekwondo is more than just a club sport; it is a passion that fosters precious relationships and
builds strength, both physically and mentally. While Cornell Taekwondo already shines with our
dedication and achievements, access to appropriate facilities would enable us to shine even brighter in
the future.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Eujin Lee
Cornell Taekwondo
1
Chris Balestra
From:Kathryn Spiegel <kes288@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 2:34 PM
To:Chris Balestra
Subject:Support for new fields
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Hello,
I am Kathryn Spiegel, the captain of the women’s club lacrosse team at cornell. I strongly support
the Field House and the multi-purpose outdoor turf field!! This would significantly improve my college club
sports experience, as we have so much trouble getting field space. Club sports have been the highlight of
college for me, and as a senior, I want the girls younger than me to be able to play lacrosse and not have to
worry about field space. We have noticed that cornell is really lacking in this area and it significantly impacts
our season when we cannot get field space (especially in the Ithaca winters when it’s cold out and we can’t play
outside). I appreciate your consideration.
Best,
Kathryn
--
Kathryn Spiegel
Cornell University '25
Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
kes288@cornell.edu | LinkedIn
1
Chris Balestra
From:Brilynn Winkleblack <bw496@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 2:24 PM
To:ncerra@cityofithaca.org; lnicholas; Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Subject:Club Sports Council Support for New Turf Field
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear city and town officials,
I am writing to express my support for the development of the Meinig Field House and the new multi-
purpose turf field adjacent to Game Farm Road. As a Campus Activities staff member and former athlete,
I believe these facilities will greatly enhance our campus community and provide invaluable
opportunities for student development and wellbeing.
Currently, the limitations of our existing facilities impact our students collegiate experience significantly.
Sports provide an outlet for student outside the classroom, to gain a sense of community, mental and
physical wellbeing, and an outlet for stress. With the current limitations in space, student sports clubs
often missing practices and games due to inclement weather or scheduling conflicts. These obstacles
not only affect their ability to train effectively but also influence our overall team cohesion, performance,
and sense of belonging at Cornell.
The addition of a multi-purpose outdoor turf field and the Meinig Field House will revolutionize the
access to quality facilities. Having multiple all-weather turf fields, including an indoor full-sized field turf,
will ensure consistent practice opportunities throughout the year. This is particularly crucial during the
winter months when outdoor conditions are less favorable or near impossible.
Furthermore, these facilities will not only benefit athletes but also enhance the overall health and
wellness of the entire campus community. Increased access to state-of-the-art facilities supports
physical health and mental wellbeing, fostering a more robust student experience. Given Ithaca is one of
the least sunny places in New York State gaining healthy, safe outlets such as sports and other physical
activities for students to engage outside of the classroom is extremely significant.
I urge you to support this project, as it will undoubtedly elevate the Cornell student experience and
contribute positively to our community's development and growth. Thank you for considering my
perspective, and I look forward to seeing these transformative projects come to fruition.
Sincerely,
Bri Winkleblack (she,her,hers)
O ice Manager
Campus Activities | Student and Campus Life
Cornell University
1
Chris Balestra
From:Andrew Juan <adj56@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 2:20 PM
To:Chris Balestra
Subject:Letter of Support for Meinig Fieldhouse
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Hello Chris Balestra,
My name is Andrew Juan, and I am a rising senior at Cornell. I am writing to express my support for the
Meinig Fieldhouse and emphasize its importance in furthering student health and well-being at Cornell
as well as further Cornell's athletic engagement with our community.
As a student who does a lot of work with student health and well-being, physical fitness is an amazing
opportunity for students to express themselves, connect with peers, and engage in activities outside of
their comfort zone. By having an all-weather turf field, students will have a place to have fun in a safe
environment and collaborate in athletic, intramural, and recreational teams. In addition, by creating
more space for Cornell's athletic teams to grow and flourish, the community as a whole can benefit as
successful athletic events can bring community members in, as well as support engagement with local
sports.
Though I am graduating soon, I know that the impacts of this project will support Cornellians and the
Ithaca community for many years to come. I urge you to continue moving this project forward!
Best,
Andrew
--
Andrew Juan
B.S. Health Care Policy
Cornell University | Class of 2025
adj56@cornell.edu | 508-367-7351
andrewjuan.com
1
Chris Balestra
From:Vasile Alexandru Trusca <vt253@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 2:16 PM
To:CJ Randall; Chris Balestra; ncerra@cityofithaca.org; lnicholas
Subject:Re: Club Sports Council Support for New Turf Field
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Good afternoon,
Thank you for your attention to this matter during the council meetings. As a Program Coordinator for Campus
Activities at Cornell University, I fully support the initiative for installing turf fields.
Ensuring students remain active and engaged is crucial for their mental and physical health. While green fields are
valuable, their usability is often limited. Turf fields offer a reliable solution, maximizing available space and
ensuring consistent use. They are essential for promoting continuous student engagement and maintaining the
vitality of our campus community.
I hope the council members will strongly support this initiative, recognizing its importance for our students' well-
being and overall campus experience.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards
Vasile A. Trusca
Program Coordinator, Campus Activities
522 Willard Straight Hall | Cornell University
Schedule a meeting with me here!
IG: @cornellactivities | (607)255-0620
1
Chris Balestra
From:Karli S. Buday <ksb95@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 1:47 PM
To:CJ Randall; Chris Balestra; ncerra@cityofithaca.org; lnicholas
Subject:Club Sports Council Support for New Turf Field
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Good afternoon, city and town officials,
Thank you for your attention to this matter during the council meetings. As the Director of Campus Activities,
our primary focus is to support campus student organizations. Cornell, being situated in a very rural area with
highly unpredictable weather, faces unique challenges that significantly impact student engagement and
involvement.
Students need to be outdoors and active. Their mental and physical health is essential to an institution. Cornell
has some green/natural fields, but sometimes, that can be challenging due to the weather and drainage
concerns. Turf fields provide the best possible outcome to maximize space on campus and allow for the most
engagement. One day of rain can take a green/natural field offline for 3-4 days while it dries out. I am in full
support of turf fields and hope the council members will strongly support this initiative as well.
Thank you for your time, and take care!
Karli Buday
Director
Campus Activities | Student and Campus Life
Cornell University
607-255-1242
scl.cornell.edu | @cornellactivities
Pronouns: she, her, hers
1
Chris Balestra
From:Rhonda H. Velazquez <rhv2@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 1:03 PM
To:Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Cc:Jobe Zulu; Karli S. Buday
Subject:Cornell Turf Field Project
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Greetings Ithaca Town Board Members -
I am writing in support of the current effort by Cornell Athletics to build a new turf field on campus that would be
available to club sports teams. I have been a club advisor at Cornell for over 20 years, working with MBA student clubs.
Sports clubs are an important aspect of student life at Cornell, providing a balance to the rigors and stress of academics,
as well as healthy social connections, and leadership opportunities. Over the years I've seen our soccer, rugby, and
football clubs struggle to find space for their practices, games, and tournaments in locations that are easily accessible to
club members and spectators. Having an additional field on campus would provide a great benefit to numerous
undergraduate and graduate student sports clubs.
We look forward to the board's approval of this project. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Rhonda H. Velazquez
Director, Student Activities & Special Events
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
Levy Student Activities Office, 107 Sage Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-6201
Phone: 607.254.8828 | Mobile: 607.279.7567 | rhv2@cornell.edu
1
Chris Balestra
From:Jacob Calka <jmc724@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 11:54 AM
To:Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Cc:Jobe Zulu
Subject:City Planning Board Approval for Cornell University Turf Field
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear Chris and CJ,
I hope this email finds you well and that Ithaca is providing a beautiful summer so far. My name is Jacob
and I am one of the captains of Cornell Mundial FC, the premier men's club soccer team on campus. I
have just been informed that the city planning board must approve a turf field that Cornell Athletics is
working on building on campus. I am writing to express the benefits of the turf field to not only my team,
but the club sports community. Even at such a large university with a plethora of resources, each year, I
find myself clawing to get some sort of local field use for our matches. I spent part of my first year playing
on the varsity soccer team, and part of the reason they can be so successful is because of their access
to amazing facilities. Our only turf field with nets is already much too small to play games on, and the turf
is low quality. As the top club team in the northeast region and 5th ranked team nationally, we are
incredibly underfunded and lack basic resources. The addition of a turf field that clubs could use would
be instrumental in our success. This is something we have been dreaming of for years, and it is sad that
as such a large university, we do not already have a proper place to play. The decision to approve the
field would improve the infrastructure of club sports drastically and be a crucial step as we look to shine
a brighter light on teams. It would also take a lot of unnecessary pressure off of the student's who have to
plan around not having access to a suitable turf field currently. I thank you for your time and
consideration, and would be willing to talk further if you have any thoughts or questions.
Best,
Jacob Calka
Cornell Mundial FC
1
Chris Balestra
From:Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 10:26 AM
To:Abby Homer; Chris Balestra
Subject:FW: Please read this comment for 7/2 PB meeting
Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk
215 N. Tioga St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Ph (607) 273-1721 Option 1
www.townithacany.gov
From: Amina Mohamed <am2565@cornell.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2024 9:48 AM
To: Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Cc: Zero Waste Ithaca <zerowasteithaca@gmail.com>
Subject: Please read this comment for 7/2 PB meeting
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear Town of Ithaca Planning Board Members,
I am Amina Mohamed, I live in the city of Ithaca. I am a PhD student in the Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University. I am also a member of Zero Waste Ithaca. I am grateful for this
opportunity to express my concerns about the proposed Cornell Meinig Field House project and the
artificial turfs that are part of it. Since many of the harmful effects of artificial turfs have already been
discussed during these deliberations I would like to focus on two key aspects.
A recent study conducted in Spain and published in Bird Conservation International Vol 33 by Sánchez-
Sotomayor and others showed that parks with natural grass fared better on many levels of avian
biodiversity indices compared to artificial grass parks. This difference was attributed mostly to
differences in abundance in common ground-feeding birds. The study also highlighted that replacing
natural by artificial grass in urban parks has harmful effects on urban bird communities and is a threat to
bird conservation.
Even though the study only looked at bird biodiversity this potentially applies to a wide variety of other
organisms including macroinvertebrates. The proposed site on Tower Road is where the red-tailed hawks
have nested for a while now. I strongly believe that a plastic carpet that gives out microplastics is only
2
going to have detrimental effects on them.
2. The Cornell University administration plans on cutting down 17 oak trees to make way for this
unnecessary and harmful project. Oak trees are keystone species, From a Scientific American article -
"Oaks are keystone species, foundational to the functioning of the forests they form across the Northern
Hemisphere. They foster diversity of organisms across the tree of life, from fungi to wasps, birds and
mammals. They help clean the air, sequestering carbon dioxide and absorbing atmospheric
pollutants." This is an unconscionable move.
In addition, I've been discussing the new sports facility with fellow graduate workers and professors in
my departments of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Natural Sciences and Environment. Almost
universally, their initial reaction to the replacement of natural grass with artificial turf is surprise and
concern: "Really? I had no idea! Why would they choose artificial turf, which is problematic in so many
ways?" However, some acknowledge that artificial turf might save water. A recent study published in
2024 in the journal Transactions on Environment and Development by VYRLAS et al. highlights this
perspective: "Artificial turf has become popular on sports fields due to its perceived benefits in water
conservation and minimal maintenance compared to natural turfgrass. Nevertheless, the high surface
temperatures it generates during the day present a significant drawback." The study also notes that "the
most effective cooling effect was observed when water was applied in three cycles of five minutes each,
maintaining lower surface temperatures compared to unwatered turf over time." So where is the benefit
if they both consume large quantities of water?
We are deeply concerned about climate change and are actively working to undo the damage we've
caused to nature. Yet, why do we continue to introduce "forever chemicals" into the environment, where
they persist and circulate throughout the entire ecosystem? As someone deeply invested in nature and
its biodiversity, I find Cornell's disregard for environmental responsibility in corporate projects
consistently disappointing. I urge the board to prioritize a comprehensive environmental impact
assessment for this project. I trust that you will make the right decision, considering the welfare of all
present and future residents of Ithaca. Thank you for all the work and research you do to make our lives
better!
Thank you,
Amina
1
Chris Balestra
From:Clemens Sommerer <cs976@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 10:09 AM
To:Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Subject:Cornell University - New Turf Field
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear Mr. Balestra and Mr. Randall,
I hope this email finds you well. My name is Clemens Sommerer, and I am a rising senior at Cornell
University. I have the privilege of serving as the captain of Cornell United, one of the Men's club soccer
teams here at Cornell.
I am writing to you today to express the urgent need for a new turf field on our campus. Our current
facilities are insufficient to meet the growing demands of our club sports community. The existing fields
are often overbooked, leading to scheduling conflicts and limited practice time for many teams,
including Cornell United. Additionally, natural grass fields deteriorate quickly under heavy use,
particularly in our climate, which further restricts our ability to train effectively.
A new turf field would provide a durable, all-weather playing surface that can accommodate a higher
volume of usage without suffering from wear and tear. This improvement would greatly enhance the
training and competition environment for all club sports, fostering a more vibrant and engaged
community. For Cornell United, this means more consistent practice schedules, reduced risk of injury,
and a better opportunity to compete at a higher level.
The addition of a new turf field would not only benefit current students but also serve as a strong
recruitment tool for prospective students who are passionate about sports. It would demonstrate
Cornell's commitment to providing top-tier facilities for all its students, aligning with the university's
broader goals of excellence and inclusivity.
I kindly request your support in advocating for this crucial development. Your backing could make a
significant difference in our efforts to enhance the club sports experience at Cornell.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Clemens Sommerer
--
Clemens Sommerer
Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management ‘25
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business
1
Chris Balestra
From:Yayoi Koizumi <yayoi@zerowasteithaca.org>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 4:44 AM
To:Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department; Chris Balestra
Subject:A letter from Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society in California to Lost Gatos Union
School District
Attachments:111621 LGUSD Board Item E3 Audubon Society.pdf
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear Town Planning Board Members,
Please find the attached letter from Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society to Los Gatos Union School
District in California, in opposition to the district's plan to install artificial turfs.
I believe this is completely relevant to the discussion at hand for the red hawks and other birds present
around Cornell campus.
Furthermore, see this peer-reviewed 2022 study published from Cambridge University Press for your
reference:
Sánchez-Sotomayor D, Martín-Higuera A, Gil-Delgado JA, Gálvez Á, Bernat-Ponce E. “Artificial Grass in
Parks as a Potential New Threat for Urban Bird Communities.” Bird Conservation International. Cambridge
University Press, July 26, 2022. doi:10.1017/S0959270922000119
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bird-conservation-international/article/artificial-grass-in-parks-as-a-
potential-new-threat-for-urban-bird-communities/55B131F50206D3DD485A57DE975C120C
This study demonstrates that replacing natural grass with artificial turf in urban parks in eastern Spain
negatively impacted bird diversity. Parks with artificial grass show reduced species richness, abundance, and
gamma diversity compared to parks with natural grass. These findings highlight the harmful effects of artificial
turf on urban bird communities and its threat to bird conservation, despite its water-saving benefits.
As Brian Eden of CLEAN also emphasized in his comments to the city planning board, we urge the town
planning board to prioritize the precautionary principle to safeguard our community's health in their
recommendations.
We also urge you to review all the comments submitted to and spoken at the city planning boards as they
are all relevant.
Thank you,
1
Chris Balestra
From:Yayoi Koizumi <yayoi@zerowasteithaca.org>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 5:11 AM
To:Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department; Chris Balestra
Subject:Re: A letter from Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society in California to Lost Gatos Union
School District
PS: I forgot to mention that the Los Gatos Union School District chose to renovate the fields with natural
grass after significant community opposition to artificial turf.
On Tue, Jul 2, 2024 at 4:43 AM Yayoi Koizumi <yayoi@zerowasteithaca.org> wrote:
Dear Town Planning Board Members,
Please find the attached letter from Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society to Los Gatos Union School
District in California, in opposition to the district's plan to install artificial turfs.
I believe this is completely relevant to the discussion at hand for the red hawks and other birds present
around Cornell campus.
Furthermore, see this peer-reviewed 2022 study published from Cambridge University Press for your
reference:
Sánchez-Sotomayor D, Martín-Higuera A, Gil-Delgado JA, Gálvez Á, Bernat-Ponce E. “Artificial Grass in
Parks as a Potential New Threat for Urban Bird Communities.” Bird Conservation International. Cambridge
University Press, July 26, 2022. doi:10.1017/S0959270922000119
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bird-conservation-international/article/artificial-grass-in-parks-as-a-
potential-new-threat-for-urban-bird-communities/55B131F50206D3DD485A57DE975C120C
This study demonstrates that replacing natural grass with artificial turf in urban parks in eastern Spain
negatively impacted bird diversity. Parks with artificial grass show reduced species richness, abundance, and
gamma diversity compared to parks with natural grass. These findings highlight the harmful effects of
artificial turf on urban bird communities and its threat to bird conservation, despite its water-saving benefits.
As Brian Eden of CLEAN also emphasized in his comments to the city planning board, we urge the town
planning board to prioritize the precautionary principle to safeguard our community's health in their
recommendations.
We also urge you to review all the comments submitted to and spoken at the city planning boards as
they are all relevant.
Thank you,
November 16, 2021
Los Gatos Union School District
17010 Roberts Road
Los Gatos, CA 95032
School Board of Trustees
Via email: boardmembers@lgusd.org
Paul Johnson
Superintendent
Via email: pjohnson@lgusd.org
Terese McNamee
Chief Business Official
Via email: tmcnamee@lgusd.org
Re: 11/18 Board Meeting Agenda Item E3 Outdoor Classroom and Landscaping Update
Dear Los Gatos School Board and Ms. McNamee,
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society appreciates staff ’s recommendation to have all sports fields
at Blossom Hill,Daves Ave,and Van Meter remain natural grass.We are,however,concerned
that artificial turf is still recommended in courtyard and play areas,including one specifically for
kindergarteners.We are also concerned that staff recommend artificial turf be deemed safe to
use for future school renovations.We have participated in the public process and submitted a
letter for the community meeting last Monday,November 8th (attached).We continue to ask
that all elementary schools’ outside areas be free from artificial turf.
SCVAS is one of the largest National Audubon Society chapters in California.Our mission is to
promote the enjoyment,understanding,and protection of birds and other wildlife by engaging
people of all ages in birding,education,and conservation.For decades,we have advocated for
the preservation of natural landscapes in Santa Clara County.We have promoted good urban
planning that prevents habitat displacement,protects riparian ecosystems,integrates native
trees and shrubs into landscaping designs, and promotes sustainability and public health.
Please ask staff to clarify:
●Which categorical exemption they plan to use for implementing artificial turf;
●How much say do site administration and staff have for determining landscape materials
for outdoor classrooms;
●What alternatives to artificial turf were discussed for the courtyard and play areas.
Artificial turf is not safe for children,habitat and wildlife,or climate resilience.It contains
forever chemicals (including evidence of PFAS1),displaces macrobiotic life forms ,and heats
surrounding areas to increasingly high temperatures,especially on hot days.When there are
numerous alternatives to plastic (low water plants and native shrubbery,grasses,and trees),
why is it necessary for us to further pollute our planet - and children’s play areas - with plastic?
Natural play areas improve children’s health,mood,and creativity.A study from Finland found
that after only one month of playing in “mini forests”,children’s immune systems improved2.
Compared to children in daycare centers with gravel,pavement,and tile,these children had
increased numbers of important immune markers after only 28 days of playing in these
“greened-up”daycare centers.The authors of the study hypothesize that a reduction in urban
biodiversity can lead to un-educated immune systems.
A recent study from Barcelona found more connection with nature/green spaces,especially at a
young age,can have positive effects on cognitive ability and mental health in adulthood3.
Moreso,a lack of experience with nature can adversely affect mental health in adulthood -
citing more instances of depression.
Plastics bioaccumulate in our food systems,end up in our water systems,and contain forever
chemicals that are harmful to biological systems.Artificial turf blades,once exposed to UV light,
immediately begin to decompose.They are not recyclable and take hundreds of years to
3 https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/836860
2
https://www.sciencealert.com/daycares-in-finland-built-their-own-forests-and-it-changed-kids-immune-syst
ems
1
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/589fbbcbd482e9cad937c944/t/5e7418664cfd2b239499e567/15846
66729243/TURI+fact+sheet+-+PFAS+in+artificial+turf.pdf
https://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pfc/index.cfm
decompose.Washing of the turf (necessary for cooling,cleaning,and maintenance)causes
runoff of these chemicals and microplastics to our local watershed.
Furthermore,because of evidence of artificial turf runoff,habitat displacement,and forever
chemicals,including artificial turf in landscape designs would significantly affect the
environment.A categorical exemption would not be substantive environmental review,and an
Environmental Impact Report would be necessary to analyze the effects to biological resources
and public safety.
Our children deserve a place free of plastic to learn and explore.Trees and natural spaces allow
children to watch butterflies land on flowers,rolly-pollies crawl through dirt and soil,a robin
hunt for a worm in the grass,and provide cool places to rest outside.Learning is not isolated to
the classroom;it occurs outdoors and all around us.Let ’s teach our children about the wonders
of dirt, native plants, and nature based solutions, not how to pollute our planet with plastic.
Thank you for your consideration,
Giulianna Pendleton
Environmental Advocacy Assistant
Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society
Written comment submitted to the Ithaca Town Planning Board
For the meeting held on July 2,2024
Re:Cornell’s proposal for Meinig Field House
bethany ojalehto mays,PhD
Dear Ithaca Town Planning Board members:
Thank you for your continued care in deliberating Cornell’s proposed Tower Road Project.I am a
mother and citizen of Ithaca with a PhD in Psychology specializing in environmental
decision-making.I worked as an Assistant Professor of Human Development at Cornell before
leaving to engage more directly with the climate crisis.Echoing others,I urge the Planning Board to:
(1)Give a positive declaration of environmental significance for the Meinig Fieldhouse Project.
(2)Withdraw the Haley &Aldrich “research summary”from the application materials.
(3)Commission a comprehensive and credible scientific review of artificial turf.
The existing public comment record offers abundant and compelling evidence for a positive
declaration of environmental significance.My comment today foregrounds a concern that has been
less widely noted in the voluminous public comments.Below,I describe why a sound scientific
review is needed in place of the report by the consultant firm Haley &Aldrich,co-authored by Jay
Peters and Scott Goldkamp.
We need credible science to inform a pivotal public health decision.Please call for a
withdrawal of the Haley &Aldrich letter from the application materials,and exercise your authority
as a Planning Board to request a comprehensive and credible scientific review by scientists,not
consultants affiliated with industry.Many commenters including myself have outlined significant
problems with the Haley &Aldrich report in prior comments.Following Jay Peters’testimony in the
most recent City Planning Board meeting,it is important to highlight the conflict of interest at stake
in the Haley &Aldrich report and testimony.
The key author of the Haley &Aldrich report,Jay Peters,has built a 25-year career in “risk-based
strategies for managing and redeveloping contaminated sites”with the goal of “us[ing]his results to
negotiate better outcomes for his clients.”His biography states that “he is known by his clients for
identifying alternative approaches for managing contamination that not only better align with their
end goals but often save them money.”Mr.Peters’clients are polluters.His clients explicitly pay
him to evaluate risks in ways that protect “their reputation,and their bottom line.”Mr.Peters’
recent work includes:
a)A recent article for the American Coal Ash Association (ACAA)defending coal ash as
low risk.Such reports directly participate in what the NRDC has called out as an
ongoing “attempt to downplay coal ash’s toxicity”by “the coal industry and its
defenders.”
b)A recent white paper to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
arguing for lower standards for Trichloroethene (TCE)cleanup,specifically
downplaying the developmental risks to pregnant mothers.The paper proposes
“more reasonable response actions at TCE-contaminated sites”to allow higher levels
of contamination that would,in Jay Peters’words,constitute more “reasonable
business responses”(i.e.,they would save the industry money).
c)Hired by Dominion Energy for their Chisman Creek Superfund site in Virginia,which
comprises “three abandoned sand and gravel pits that were filled with over 500,000
tons of coal and petcoke ash from the Dominion Energy.”The Revised Human Health
Risk Assessment letter co-authored by Jay Peters argues that while arsenic and
vanadium (among other carcinogens)both remain in the groundwater,the site
should be declared “protective of human health.”
Jay Peters’work also involves ongoing work on nuclear plant decommissioning where his goal is to
help businesses “ultimately reach site closure on an accelerated schedule,”and presentations on
PFAS contamination to industry conferences.
It is hard to imagine a more direct conflict of interest:in order to evaluate the health and
environmental impacts of artificial turf,Cornell University has hired a consultant whose career is
built on defending industry polluters and arguing for more lenient standards of regulation around
public health risks.The resulting Haley &Aldrich report included in Cornell’s Meinig Fieldhouse
materials is an alarming example of how industry-sponsored research misleads the public about
risk assessment:it is designed to comfort rather than inform;it contradicts its own standard of
evidence by relying heavily on industry data;and it only reviews studies whose findings support the
artificial turf industry.
Can the Planning Board please ask the applicant to:(1)Require that their consultants issue a
Conflict of Interest statement (as would be standard for any scientific peer-reviewed publication);
and (2)Withdraw the Haley &Aldrich research summary from consideration?This latter request is
important.The current draft of the Full Environmental Assessment Form by the City of Ithaca
Planning Board staff repeatedly refers to the Haley &Aldrich letter without once referring to the
extensive public comments from experts,scientists,and citizens.This bias needs to be amended in
order to arrive at a meritorious decision that does justice to the health and environmental impacts
of the proposed project.
Please uphold a precautionary principle for the sake of our community and earth,by saying
no to artificial turf.
Decades ago,there were virtually no studies on the dangers of artificial turf,microplastics,or PFAS.
Now,there are hundreds.The evidence continues to mount.It is only a matter of time before we
look back on this as an inconceivably harmful legacy.As Kyla Bennett,a former EPA official and
director of science policy at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer)says:“It’s
only a matter of time before [artificial turf]is banned.In a few years we’re going to be asking,‘How
on Earth did we ever allow this to happen?’”Likewise,commenting on a December 2020 study that
documented new carcinogens in turf,one scientist author commented that “sports fields containing
rubber granulate will eventually become a thing of the past.‘I am pretty sure of this.You do not
want to run this kind of risk and these types of sports fields are not even necessary.’”
Your peers at many other public agencies have considered the evidence strong enough to institute
bans on artificial turf.Furthermore,the National Resources Defense Council highlights that one key
solution for PFAS pollution is to “Stop adding to the PFAS problem by immediately ending all
non-essential uses of PFAS and quickly developing alternatives for currently unavoidable uses.”
Artificial turf fields are a prime example of a non-essential use of PFAS,because natural turf grass
can replace it.As one of the greenest cities in the US with an ambitious Green New Deal,why
wouldn’t Ithaca be on the leading edge of this climate-forward effort to protect our air,water,soil,
and environmental justice by banning artificial turf fields?
1
Chris Balestra
From:Dhruv Agarwal <da399@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 4:21 PM
To:ncerra@cityofithaca.org; lnicholas; Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Subject:Support for Meinig Fieldhouse
**WARNING** This email comes from an outside source. Please verify the from address, any URL
links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Dear all,
I am Dhruv, a PhD student at Cornell University. I am writing to express my ardent support for the
proposed Meinig Fieldhouse on the university campus.
I am a big sports fan and use it as a means to keep myself sane amongst all the craziness of grad school.
I play organized sports in the squash club team and tennis reserve team, but I also engage in recreational
sports including soccer, badminton, field hockey, ultimate frisbee, etc.
Unfortunately, since I joined Cornell in 2022, it has only been getting harder to find spaces to play in.
Especially in the winter, when it's not possible to play outdoors, the indoors spaces are overbooked and
only available to those who know the tricks to get their hands at a slot. For example, I tried playing
badminton this entire past semester, but always waited in the queue longer than I played.
The Meinig Fieldhouse is urgently required to serve the sporting needs of Cornell's growing student
population and ensure their physical and mental health. I vehemently support this proposal.
Regards,
Dhruv
Meinig Public Comments Group 4 - received after 3:30pm on 7-2-24
Four of the Five comments were printed and given to PB at the meeting.
Fifth comment was received at 10:52pm (after the meeting ended)
1
Chris Balestra
From:Virginia S Burkhart <vsb24@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 5:06 PM
To:Nikki Cerra at; lnicholas; Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Cc:Matthew Coats; Director of Athletics & Physical Education
Subject:Need for New Turf at Cornell
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Hello Whomever it May Concern,
My name is Virginia Burkhart and I am the President of Cornell Women's Club soccer team. I, and
my team of 25 women, adamantly and wholeheartedly support the construction of a year-round turf field
that can be utilized by recreational and club sports. Cornell women's soccer holds a high reputation
around the Cornell community for being a competitive and successful club, often known as the
"winningest club sports team" at Cornell. We are the only team available at Cornell for women to come
together to play and express their love for the sport of soccer.
Due to competition for field space with the two boys club soccer teams, all recreational soccer
teams, and other club sports team, we are often left with late practice times in the dark (since the
current turf has no lights), forced to share the turf, and struggle to schedule home games for our friends
and family to see. Nevertheless, Cornell Womens Club soccer has succeeded to regionals and nationals
every year for the past decade. At regionals, while we find success but ultimately never make it to the
finals, we compete against teams from schools who have numerous athletic facilities for club sports and
are funded extremely well. This edge allows these teams to practice more, at more conducive times to
school, and host more homes games. In conclusion, while a turf would allow Womens Club Soccer to
reach its fullest potential and bring back a club sports national title to our school, it is also benefitting the
lives of every player on the team. Having another turf allows us to accommodate the rigors of our studies
such as flexibility of scheduling practice times around prelims in the evening and having practices that
don't conflict with classes or much needed sleep late at night. Additionally, another turf would allow us
to practice, uninterrupted and to our fullest potential on a full turf field without having to share. All in all,
expanding our athletic facilities for club sports would be incredibly beneficial to the Cornell community.
Best,
Virginia Burkhart
1
Chris Balestra
From:Sean Reeder <sr2358@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 5:28 PM
To:ncerra@cityofithaca.org; lnicholas; Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Subject:Support for Cornell Athletics Facilities
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Hello Representatives of Ithaca City and Town!
I am contacting you to voice my support for the athletics facilities under consideration on Cornell's
campus, particularly the indoor field space and adjacent turf field.
I have coached in college athletics for a decade as a football coach. I spent 6 of those fall
seasons (2017-2022) at Ithaca College, and I know from my experience that is nearly impossible to run a
year-round athletics program in Ithaca New York without ample indoor and turf field space.
I can speak directly from my experience at IC when the school only had 1 turf field on campus for the
entire athletics department. Inconsistent field conditions for nearly the entire school year (from
November to April) caused a juggling of practice locations and times that put undue stress on coaches,
administrators, field organizers, and, most importantly, on our students. We were forced to practice late
at night or early in the morning. Winter workouts at IC had to be canceled outright due to the lack of
indoor space. This not only put us behind our competitors in preparation out-of-season, but during game
preparation as well. Outdoor practices in adverse weather conditions during the fall would have their
effect dampened by rain or, worse, put the health of our student-athletes in jeopardy.
The additional turf field access and indoor field space under consideration would directly negate these
effects.
As a direct beneficiary of the projects, but more importantly, as a supporter of our student-athletes, I
encourage you approve the construction in a timely matter!
Thank you for your consideration,
Sean Reeder
Offensive Line Coach
Cornell University
http://www.danswanstromfootballcamps.com
Email: sr2358@cornell.edu
Twitter: @Sean_Reeder
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
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1
Chris Balestra
From:Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 5:35 PM
To:Chris Balestra; Abby Homer
Subject:FW: Today's meeting
Paulette Rosa, Town Clerk
215 N. Tioga St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
Ph (607) 273-1721 Option 1
www.townithacany.gov
From: Carver Hauptman <cdh235@cornell.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, July 2, 2024 4:43 PM
To: Town Of Ithaca Clerks Department <clerks@townithacany.gov>
Cc: info@zerowasteithaca.org
Subject: Today's meeting
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Good afternoon,
I would like to have the following comment read at tonight's meeting please and thank you!
Hello, my name is Carver Hauptman and I will be starting my sophomore year at Cornell this fall as an
Environment and Sustainability major. Coming into my first year, last year, at Cornell, I was extremely excited
to become a part of a community with such a sustainability-focused mindset. Now, I am disappointed. Not only
does one of the most sustainable schools in the world want to cover part of its campus in plastic, put simply, it
is going against everything it has taught me about sustainability in the past year about the interconnectedness
of all natural systems. Plastics sickens communities around the world throughout its toxic lifecycle. Artificial turf
is a fossil fuel product. It is expensive. Why is the Cornell University administration insistent on synthetic
turfs?
One thing I have learned in my research is that natural turf is, hands down, the better option. According to
Ryan Anderson at Midwest Grows Green, there are multiple options for proper management of turf that are
organic, relying on aeration, soil-drainage, seeding times, and organic fertilizer.
In particular, a recent project involving soccer fields in Maryland is worth noting; the project added 6” of sand to
the fields to improve soil structure and especially, drainage - an issue that is often raised as an advantage of
artificial turfs - and saw a significant positive impact on both. This project allowed for play one morning this
spring after nearly an inch and a half of rain had fallen.
2
We should also question the claims that modern artificial turfs have a porous surface to drain rain waters. I just
saw a post on X by Kevin White, Head of Grounds for Seattle Sounders FC, in which artificial turf is
experiencing a flood condition as opposed to natural grassfield. What I understand is that the drainage holes
in artificial turf get clogged over time and become meaningless.
My own landscaping experience under my parents in Nebraska has allowed me to see how properly managed
natural turf can last. The grass at my home and the sod we have laid and still manage show no sign of
needing replacement in my entire lifetime; and guess what, it doesn’t need to be disposed or “recycled”!
As a student who will be in this town for a minimum of 3 more years, I do not want to see the university that
has done so much for sustainability take such a large step back. Public knowledge about the risks of artificial
turf is growing, and I hope Cornell realizes the mistake it would be making to go against its own sustainability
aspirations and against the will of the public.
Also, as student who is involved in 2 extracurricular sports and another sport just for the fun of it, I understand
the appeal of a field that is accessible year-round. That being said, I am not willing to play on a field that could
take years off my life simply for a few fun hours to decompress. Cornell has a beautiful campus, so emphasize
that. Inform the students of what the possible health impacts are just like all those medicine commercials. Put it
3
in fine print, I don't care, but don't keep the students in the dark and then panic when multiple students sue
down the line for health problems that could have easily been evaded if advancements in natural grass
growing possibilities are made. Not a single one of my friends or family members knew what PFAs was, what
artificial turf was made of, the (emphasis on possible) negative health impacts, or what any of the chemicals
used in production can do to a person; they were terrified when I told them. Take that into account when you
think artificial turf will be a "mental health boost" when students start freaking out about their health.
Thank you.
1
Chris Balestra
From:Jacqui Sparrow <jks267@cornell.edu>
Sent:Tuesday, July 2, 2024 10:52 PM
To:ncerra@cityofithaca.org; lnicholas; Chris Balestra; CJ Randall
Subject:Support for a New Indoor Field at Cornell
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links, and/or attachments. Any questions please contact the IT department
Hello Representatives,
My name is Jacqui Sparrow and I am a club lacrosse player at Cornell going into my second year. I am
writing to you today to demonstrate my support for the development of an indoor turf sports field at
Cornell University. Playing club lacrosse is the best thing I have done in my year of college so far. I met
my best friends by joining this team and the value of our practice times to catch up and play together is
immeasurable. However, in the spring semester while the outdoor fields were largely unusable we hardly
had practices once a week and due to the competition for indoor field space by all levels of teams
practices were at odd times and attendance at practices suffered.
An additional indoor full-sized turf field would allow for much more practice time throughout the year for
our team. It would allow practices to become consistent and dependable times in my week where I can
exercise, see my friends, and focus on something other than my schoolwork which would benefit me
physically, socially, and mentally. I seriously hope plans for construction of this field get approved.
Sincerely,
Jacqui Sparrow