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Resident urges testing and ordinance after proposed synthetic turf at Cunningham Field
Summary
Robert Shavler told council that a college plan for roughly four acres of synthetic turf at Cunningham Field could release micro- and nano-plastics into local streams and asked the council to delay work until baseline stormwater sampling and to ask the EAC to draft testing and mitigation rules.
Robert Shavler, a Swarthmore resident, urged the borough council on Nov. 10 to require environmental safeguards before the college moves forward with plans to install roughly four acres of synthetic turf and padding at Cunningham Field.
"All that plastic will leach," Shavler told the council, citing a scientist at the Stroud Water Research Center. He said heat, weather and sunlight will release "micro and nano plastics," and warned that stormwater could carry contaminants into Little Crum Creek and downstream to the Delaware River. Shavler said he is waiting for sampling protocols and contact with county conservation officials to develop baseline data.
Shavler asked council to make two commitments: instruct the planning commission (which meets Nov. 19 with college representatives) to ask the college to refrain from starting work until a sample baseline can be taken and access to storm drains can be arranged, and ask the Environmental Advisory Council (EAC) to draft an ordinance that would establish routine testing schedules, contamination thresholds, mitigation requirements, enforcement mechanisms and public data access.
Council thanked Shavler for the information but did not take immediate formal action on his request; the matter was left for committee review and for the planning commission conversation with the college. Council members noted the planning commission meeting and environmental review process as the appropriate venues to press for sampling and possible ordinance language.
What’s next: The planning commission is scheduled to meet with the college on Nov. 19; Shavler requested that the borough secure access and baseline sampling before work commences so the community has data to guide decisions and any future mitigation requirements.
