To the Editor:

This past Thursday, June 30, a small group of  concerned Marion citizens decided to collect signatures in front of the Marion Post Office on a petition that stated: “By our signatures below, we request that the Town of Marion Selectmen temporarily halt the construction of the Tabor Athletic Field Project until the Project is thoroughly reviewed for compliance with local, state and federal regulations.”  Within six hours over 100  signatures of Marion residents had been collected.

Our group’s reasons for taking this action were varied but my personal concerns included starting an honest conversation between Tabor Academy and the Town of Marion and it’s citizens (without the cloak of the Dover Amendment) regarding the true nature, scope and scale of the redevelopment of the Tabor Athletic Field.

Some of the concerns regarding the Tabor project voiced by Marion residents during my collection of signatures included the size and scale of the project, public safety, parking, the addition of four (4) nine story (90 foot) lighting towers to the project, light and noise pollution, the loss of privacy and other rights or privileges of the Project’s abutters, the loss of green space in Marion Town center, the loss of the sledding hill, the loss of historic trees and the transformation of an open grass field within the Town center into a cement, steel and artificial turf sports complex.

I personally embrace all these concerns but must admit the introduction of several acres of artificial turf and its primary component “crumb rubber” not only into the Town of Marion but also into a wetlands area and a known coastal flood zone are what I found most disturbing about the project.  Study after study shows crumb rubber is toxic to human life and highly toxic to marine life and easily leaches and travels during a rain, storm water or snow melt event.  For further information on crumb rubber please google “what is crumb rubber?” or “the toxic effects of crumb rubber.”

For those readers that may not have access to a computer I would like to offer a brief sample of crumb rubber study summaries easily found on the first page of a google search. From the City of New York; “...DEP concludes that there is a potential risk to surface waters and aquatic organisms associated with whole effluent and zinc toxicity of storm water runoff from artificial turf fields.”  From the Canadian Coastal Marine Resource Center; In a study examining 3 tires with varying degrees of wear immersed in water, “the water from both the new and used tire...contain[ed] toxic lethate and proved fatal to rainbow trout.” From the Center for Disease Control; “Recent tests by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) of artificial turf playing fields in that state have found these fields contain potentially unhealthy levels of lead dust.”  From Yale University/Environment and Human Health Inc.; “In summary, the toxic actions of concern from the materials that were released from recycled crumb rubber include: Severe irritation of the respiratory system, Severe irritation of the eyes, skin and mucous membranes, Systemic effects on the liver and kidneys, Neurotoxic responses, Allergic reactions, Cancers, Developmental effects.”

In closing I would like to thank all the citizens of Marion who either signed or did not sign our petition but took a moment and were willing to listen to my appeal, question my motives and engage in reasoned and well-balanced conversation.  I can only hope that the managers of Tabor Academy allow that same discourse to take place between themselves and the inhabitants and elected officials of their host township regarding the redevelopment and industrialization of the Tabor Athletic Field and Marion Town center.

Sincerely,

Mark Waniga