Friends of Concord-Carlisle Playing Fields

The following letter from Steve O'Brien of Dalton Road was published in the April 24, 2007 edition of the Concord Journal:

The building of new playing fields is too important to the youth of Concord to be caught in a swirl of fear and half-truths concerning the imagined environmental impact. There has been an assumption by some that creating playing turf fields as currently proposed is detrimental to the environment because it will require cutting down trees, which absorb carbon dioxide. Let’s look at the environmental impact the shortage of fields creates as well.

As an engineer who has had to analyze and manage energy conservation projects I will attest that predicting the total effect of a project can be difficult. To analyze a project one must look at all the carbon dioxide inputs and outputs and calculate the net total effect. The Fields Committee has committed to planting more trees to mitigate the net effect on the atmosphere. More importantly, on the positive side, with the fields at CCHS, hundreds of athletes will drive shorter distances and thus create less air pollution.

Building turf fields is also beneficial when one considers that the maintenance is extremely low and there is no need to mow constantly with pollution generating lawn mowers. Not to mention, fertilizers, pesticides also needed for grass fields. In addition, the use of recycled tires as part of the turf substrate is a much preferred use than in a landfill.

Also to be considered is that there is a significant undercounted population of athletes who play club sports. One reason they do so is for access to playable fields. My 13-year-old son plays club soccer and we have had to travel as far away as Portland, Maine, Ludlow and Plymouth for access to playable fields. Today I drove to Lancaster, 44 miles round trip. Hundreds of athletes were playing on five turf fields; Concord fields were closed. We went to three separate turf fields in April while Concord fields were still unplayable and closed. By the way, my son’s home field is 24 miles away, a turf field in North Andover.

An analysis of the inputs and outputs results in a clear conclusion. Lack of fields causes athletes to drive outside Concord. To reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, I urge that the fields be built without delay so athletes, siblings and parents don’t need to drive to get access to playable fields. A delay causes pollution.