Irvine City Council Approves Artificial Turf at Great Park | New University

The Irvine City Council has approved a $6 million contract to install artificial turf fields at the Irvine Great Parks Sports Complex by winter 2025.

The City Council and KYA Services, LLC, a California company selected to perform the installation, signed a contract to replace some of Great Park’s artificial turf fields. After analyzing the project, city leaders found that installing artificial turf would reduce maintenance costs and better accommodate foot traffic and wear on the athletic fields.

City Manager Oliver Chi confirmed that the project would focus primarily on high-traffic areas near the temporary Great Park Live amphitheater, which hosts weekly summer concerts on the North Lawn.

“The grass is really being torn up. It’s crumbling because people are walking, and it’s not like people are rolling on it,” Councilwoman Tammy Kim said at the meeting. “I have no desire to put in grass because technically we could replace it every weekend because of all the foot traffic.”

The project is expected to span one year, starting in the fall of 2024, and will be divided into two phases based on work updates. Phase 1 includes fields 4 to 7 of the sports park. Fields 4 and 7 are expected to have synthetic turf, replacing conventional turf, while fields 5 and 6 are expected to have their existing synthetic turf rehabilitated. Phase 2 aims to convert fields 14 to 17.

The Grand Parc Board of Directors voted 4-1 to recommend that City Council approve the

contractual use of “coconut-based artificial turf” for the fields. City Councilor Kathleen Treseder was the lone vote against it at both meetings.

Benefits of using synthetic turf include approximately 1,500 additional hours of use, an increase in revenue of approximately $1.5 million and a decrease in maintenance costs of approximately $1 million compared to using traditional turf fields. The project overview, presented at the council meeting by Public Works and Sustainability Director Sean Crumby and Community Services Director Chris Slama, also highlighted reduced water consumption and the elimination of fertilizers as benefits of synthetic turf.

Of the 11 community members who submitted electronic comments during the turf discussion at the council meeting, 10 were in favor of artificial turf fields. Commenters expressed concerns about “injuries due to unsafe field conditions” caused by damage from heavy rain, decreased use of the field in various weather conditions and inhalation of dust from turf fields.

“I am all for a turf field because the fields stay muddy after rain for days and one of the girls on my daughter’s soccer team broke her arm because of the muddy fields,” Aliso Viejo resident Mia Gutierrez wrote in an email comment.

San Juan Capistrano resident Jeff Caputo spoke about the benefits of synthetic turf.

“It is clear from the proposal that synthetic turf will improve field conditions as well as reduce maintenance costs… Finally, synthetic fields will allow training and matches to be held more or less all year round, as inclement weather will not affect their use,” Caputo said in a comment.

In the project presentation slideshow, city officials estimated that synthetic turf would cost $76,000 per year in operating costs, compared to $1.13 million for natural grass. The Irvine Watchdog noted that the city did not provide a breakdown of the costs.

Concerns related to the use of artificial turf were also raised at the meeting, including the harmful effects of crumb rubber, the proliferation of PFAS, microplastics, the heat island effect, increased sports injuries and the recyclability of artificial turf. PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are long-lasting chemicals found in many consumer products that do not break down easily, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Research has shown that exposure to some environmental PFAS “may be linked to adverse health effects in humans and animals.”

“Artificial turf contains hazardous chemicals like heavy metals and microplastics that pose serious health risks, especially to children. These toxins can leach into the environment, contributing to long-term health problems,” wrote Kevork Abazajian, a UCI professor of physics and astronomy, in the only electronic comment opposing the installation of artificial turf.

Abazajian has also written about the environmental benefits of natural grass.

“Natural grass offers environmental benefits such as cooling, carbon sequestration and improved soil health. The long-term costs of artificial grass, including maintenance, disposal and replacement, far exceed those of natural grass,” Abazajian said in his commentary.

Affected Irvine organizations also submitted public comments expressing opposition to approval of the contract.

“We also strongly encourage you to join other cities, jurisdictions and states in taking action to protect drinking water, human health and the environment from the toxic and carcinogenic chemicals found in synthetic turf by joining other communities and states,” said in their submission President Diane Conway and Board Member Dianne Woelke of Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc., an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that educates communities about the health concerns associated with plastic fields.

The total estimated cost of the project is approximately $9.3 million, with available funding from the Great Park Fund and the Great Park Capital Fund reaching $20.5 million, according to the meeting's agenda item analysis.

Inga Chilingaryan is a news intern for the summer term 2024. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Edited by Karen Wang, Beatrice Lee and Jaheem Conley