ITHACA, N.Y. — The City of Ithaca Planning Board decided on Tuesday to move forward with Cornell’s controversial synthetic turf project in a 4-0 vote. The decision vexed environmental advocates, and was celebrated by university athletes.
The city planning board meeting, which are often sparsely attended, became the destination for bus loads of Cornell athletes who advocated for the approval of the Cornell’s Meinig Fieldhouse Project, and more than 40 environmentalists who raised concerns over the potential health and environmental impacts of a class of chemicals found to be present in most synthetic turfs, as well as nanoplastics.
The Meinig Fieldhouse project would introduce two new synthetic turf fields onto Cornell’s campus, one of which would be indoors. Athletes say the fields would give them more space to train, safeguarded from Ithaca’s harsh winters.
PFAS, also known as forever chemicals, are a group of thousands of carcinogenic and potentially carcinogenic compounds that do not easily break down in the environment. PFAS have consistently been found in synthetic turf. Environmentalists say the two synthetic turf fields will only add more of these chemicals, while also introducing alarming levels of nanoplastics, to local soil and water.
A recent petition to halt the university’s plan to install the turf raised over 1,200 signatures.
But on Tuesday, the city planning board issued a negative declaration of environmental significance, which means the board has determined the fieldhouse will not cause a significant impact on the environment. Had a positive declaration been issued, the project applicant would have been required to conduct an environmental impact statement, allowing the board to take a deeper look at various concerns, like those raised by protestors.
The project is slated to be built across the city and the town of Ithaca, involving both municipalities in the planning process. However, most of the project will be constructed within the City of Ithaca, making its planning board the lead agency in the project.
The Town of Ithaca’s planning board was only tasked with issuing recommendations to the city’s board. Environmental advocates have raised the issue of PFAS through the project’s review processes in the town and city of Ithaca governments.
Consultants hired by Cornell University from the firms Haley & Aldrich and Fisher Associates have said that the turf would not contain PFAS, but the firms’ own cited tests detected levels of leachable PFAS in turf products.
One PFAS compound detected in these tests has previously been detected in the Town of Ithaca’s drinking water, according to a tap water database by the Environmental Working Group, an environmental advocacy organization.
The City of Ithaca Planning Board consulted Dr. Frank Rossi, a turfgrass expert, on the possibility of using natural instead of synthetic turf. Rossi said In a letter to the board that while he prefered natural turf, it would not be usable during the winter even with the latest advances in turfgrass management. A state-of-the-art natural turf field would also be very expensive and energy-intensive to maintain, he added.
Rossi insisted that Cornell use a plant-based natural infill, which would not allow the outdoor field to be used on the coldest days when the infill freezes, but would be more environmentally friendly. He said it would be adequate for Cornell’s needs.
Cornell’s Director of Athletics and Physical Education Nicki Moore said with Rossi’s recommendation, the project team would switch from crumb rubber to plant-based infill for the exterior artificial turf field.
However, high levels of PFAS were detected in organic and plant-based infills, according to the two separate tests cited in Haley & Aldrich materials.
During the Tuesday meeting, Kimberly Michaels, a landscape architect with Fisher Associates, reiterated Cornell’s commitment to following NYS law title 33 section 27-3313: “On or after December 31st 2026, no carpet sold or offered for sale in the state shall contain or be treated with PFAS substances for any purpose.”
“I’m not sure why we are still worrying about PFAS, because there is a commitment [the turf] will meet this law,” Michaels told the board.
The indoor field will continue to use a crumb rubber infill because a plant-based infill could cause mold and dust, Michaels said.
Kayla Bennet, the science policy director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, has tested around 40 different brands of turf products and they all have come back positive for PFAS, she said. Bennet maintains there is no turf currently on the market whose tests will come back with absolutely no PFAS.
“I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars testing, and I can no longer afford to test every single brand because of their lies,” she said.
In addition, a stormwater system would be designed to filter particles down to 0.212 millimeters and capture all field runoff. The project team stated this would eliminate much of the microplastics risk.
At the end of its useful life, the turf would be reused or recycled, a commitment that has also been challenged by members of Zero Waste Ithaca, the organization that spearheaded the Tuesday rally and has led the opposition against the turf.
David Herrick, an engineer with the firm T.G. Miller Herrick, acknowledged the stormwater system wouldn’t capture every plastic such as the smallest nanoparticles, but said it would capture “a large fraction”.
Despite the commitment to filtering out microplastics, bethany ohaleto mays, a former Cornell assistant professor of human development who prefers her name spelled with all lowercase letters, is still concerned about the system’s inability to filter out nanoplastics, which are believed to be more toxic than nanoplastics because of their smaller size.
She also drew attention toward Cornell’s proposal for a plant-based infill.
“Why did they naively assume that ‘plant-based’ infill means unproblematic infill?” mays asked. “The public is not served by their hasty move to reach a negative declaration of environmental significance with such significant questions still outstanding.”
Chloe Maister, who plays on Cornell’s lacrosse team, said exercise is a way to minimize the stress that comes along with the university’s demanding academics. She said an indoor field would help protect athletes like her from the cold. Cornell’s lacrosses season begins in the dead of winter. Maister
Without the synthetic turf field, athletes like Maister also face scheduling issues. The only indoor space on campus is small and outdated, Maister said. She is also concerned that training on old turf could increase her and her teammates’ risk of injury.
Maister said she has not read up on the pollutants and the impact they can have, so she declined to comment on the environmental concerns raised by environmental advocates.
“I would hope that both sides can kind of be understood because I can understand what everyone here is trying to get across,” Maister said.
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