The artificial turf at Oak Bay High School, which is shedding its plastic grass, is an environmental disaster, says the community member who sounded the alarm.
Angus Matthews, a retired college administrator, said he has picked up strands of green plastic 60 metres from the field, on the banks of Bowker Creek and on the beach near the creek mouth.
“It’s all over the place,” said Matthews, who alerted the Greater Victoria School District last week. “Every walkway around the high school has these plastic shards on them.”
On Monday, the school district covered and closed the three-year-old artificial turf soccer pitch at Oak Bay High School.
The district has said the company behind the installation of the artificial field has agreed to replace it this spring at no cost.
But Matthews, who started finding the plastic strands weeks ago while walking his dog and traced it to the field, said simply replacing the field is not good enough. He said the community deserves to know what steps will be undertaken to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Matthews also want to know who will take responsibility for cleaning up the strands of green plastic that have already migrated off the field. “Just me and three of my neighbours went out with my shop vac and we got five bags full of plastic,” said Matthews, adding the public deserves to know how and where the field material will be disposed of when it is replaced.
The Environment Ministry said in a statement the provincial government is aware of the situation and takes the issue of plastics in provincial waterways seriously, but the soccer pitch is primarily the responsibility of local government and the school district.
Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch, whose municipality is home to much of Bowker Creek, said he walked the field on Monday. He said municipal workers have covered storm drains with screens to keep plastic out and are planning a cleanup.
“Right now, we are just trying to ensure nothing more gets into the ecosystem and what is there gets cleaned up,” Murdoch said.
Kitty Lloyd, Bowker Creek initiative co-ordinator for the Capital Regional District, said the CRD was alerted to chips of rubber migrating off the field up to two years ago.
But Lloyd said in that case, the small pieces of rubber were being trapped in the storm-water catch basins and were not entering the ecosystem.
She called the latest incident of plastic strands finding their way into Bowker Creek “a terrible thing.” But she said it’s good to hear the school district has taken swift action.
“It’s unfortunate for the kids to have the field closed down,” she said. “But in the long run, it’s better for everyone to keep plastic out of the ecosystem.”
Meanwhile, Bays United Football Club, a minor league soccer association and one of the biggest users of the field, is scrambling to find an alternative field.
Jen Morgan, spokeswoman for Bay United, said other minor soccer associations have offered support.
“Other clubs have reached out to our president and been able to offer some of their fields,” said Morgan.
“We are just now trying to work on a schedule and get the kids back on their fields.”
