Last night, at the Friends of Green Lake monthly meeting, attendees heard from Kevin Stoops, Director of Planning and Development of the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation.

Kevin, who has a long history of involvement in the environmental health of Green Lake Park, spoke about the recent field renovations at Woodland Park and the steps the Parks Department is taking to monitor the environmental impact of the new fields.

Woodland Park, which is located just southwest of Green Lake, is bisected by Aurora Avenue – the west side of the park contains the zoo, the east side houses picnic areas, several play fields, tennis courts, lawn bowling, horseshoe pits, a skatepark, and an area for off-leash dogs.

In November 2008, Seattle voters approved a $146 million Parks and Green Spaces Levy.  One of the projects included in the Levy was the renovation of the two Lower Woodland soccer fields (“Field #2″ and “Field #7″).  Field #7, located next to the tennis courts, is the soccer field that you drive past if you are circling the lake.  If you head south past Field #7, you’ll hit softball fields and then Field #2, followed by the baseball diamond.

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Before renovations began, the soccer fields were composed of grass turf over sand and silt.  The fields experience heavy year-round usage and took a beating from hardy soccer players undaunted by rain.  Drainage was very poor, creating muddy playing conditions and silt runoff into Green Lake during the rainy part of the year.  In the dry summer months, large clouds of dust could be seen over the fields.

Both for recreational and environmental reasons, synthetic turf was chosen for the new surface on the field.  The synthetic material will stand up to heavy usage better than natural materials, and will also minimize silt runoff into the lake.

Two different turf “carpets” have been installed.  Field #2 now has an AstroTurf surface and Field #7 has FieldTurf.  AstroTurf is used at the Reliant Astrodome (a.k.a. the Houston Astrodome) and FieldTurf is the same surface which is used at Magnuson Park, the Queen Anne Bowl, Husky Stadium, and Qwest Field (a.k.a. Seahawks Stadium).

While both fields were previously only marked for soccer, Field #7 is now also marked for men’s lacrosse and Field #2 is marked for women’s lacrosse.  As well, both fields now have reference dots for Ultimate Frisbee play.  In addition, the eight lighting poles at Field #7 have been replaced with four lighting poles with more energy efficient lights and less spill light (Field #2 got new lights two years ago).

Field #2 has been completed and was opened for play on  September 24, 2009.  While Field #7 was originally slated to be completed by the end of October, the recent heavy rains have caused set backs and the field is now scheduled to open in mid- to late November.

Woodland Park Field #7 Copyright Upper Seattle LLC | May not be reproduced without permission

While concern exists about the safety of artificial turf, Kevin assured the Friends of Green Lake that there are very minimal levels of dangerous metals, including lead, in the products that the Park Department is using at Woodland Park.  In a June 6, 2008 memo to Councilmember Richard Conlin from Timothy Gallagher, Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation,  Gallagher writes:

Overwhelmingly, the most current research on newer generation artificial turf systems, such as those in Parks, conclude that the installation and use of artificial turf and the use of crumb rubber have no known health or environmental  risks. [ ... ] With what we currently know, there are many advantages of using artificial turf.  Thousands of tires are kept out of landfills and dumps. Artificial turf fields can stand up to heavy use, require much less costly maintenance, eliminate the need for herbicides and pesticides, conserve water and remain open for play even after a Seattle downpour.

[Seattle Parks and Recreation]

The Parks Department is committed to monitoring the effects of both types of synthetic turf.  They have hired Herrera Environmental Consultants, an independent research firm, to analyze storm water from the new fields this winter.  Samples of storm water will be taken at three locations at four different times and will be analyzed for the presence of suspended solids, phosphorus, fecal bacteria, inorganic compounds, metals (including lead), and phthalates.  The samples will be measured against urban storm water from elsewhere in Seattle, state and federal water quality standards, and previous samples taken in other parks.

The total cost of both fields’ renovations? $5,200,000 (yes, 5.2 million bucks).  The synthetic turf “carpets” have a ten-year lifespan.