A city’s decision to replace actual grass with a synthetic version sets off a conflict over the possible environmental and health risks of the move. EAST ORANGE, N.J. - Residents near a small neighborhood park in New Jersey awoke early this month to the roaring sound of heavy machinery: A grassy field they had been begging officials to fix for years was finally getting a face-lift. Then they learned of the details. The field and more than a dozen trees lining Columbian Park in East Orange, a densely packed city in northern New Jersey, were being bulldozed to make way for an artificial turf football and baseball field and a rubberized running track. Plans also call for a playground and stationary exercise equipment, as well as 40 new saplings. Many of the nearby residents whose yards are directly adjacent to the park were furious, joining their counterparts in a growing number of towns throughout the state and country who are trying to block the use of a product that was once coveted as an all-weather replacement for harder-to-maintain grass fields. Elsewhere in New Jersey, similar battles over turf fields are playing out in Maplewood, Westfield and Princeton. In Connecticut, some towns, worried about the potential presence of chemicals that may pose health risks, have banned turf that uses so-called crumb rubber made from recycled car tires. Synthetic turf has also fueled concerns about injuries. In a gender discrimination lawsuit, members of the United States women’s national soccer team objected to being required to play regularly on it. (Elite international men’s soccer matches are played almost exclusively on grass.) After remnants of Hurricane Ida unleashed widespread flash flooding and caused more deaths in New Jersey than in any other state, the argument against eliminating absorbent grass fields like the one at Columbian Park took on new urgency. The nation, President Biden warned on a visit to hard-hit... |