Eugene District Sues Maker over Artificial Turf Fields. Loss in 'Lift.'

Eugene district sues maker over artificial turf fields.

Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Date: Wednesday, November 19 2003

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard
The state-of-the-art artificial turf fields at the Eugene School District's four high schools have lost some of their lift - and the district is suing the manufacturer to fix the problem.
In a claim filed in Lane County Circuit Court on
Friday, the district alleges that Georgia-based Avery Sports Turf has violated the terms of its contract by failing to repair the 3-year-old fields, which have flattened substantially over time.

"We're asking that they come in and correct the deficiencies in the fields," said Jon Lauch, the district's assistant director of facilities. He estimated the cost to be as high as $65,000.
After noticing exposed fibers and compaction in the fields, the district had an inspection done last summer, Lauch said. Under the terms of the 10-year warranty, the manufacturer is obliged to repair the fields if the "G-max rating" - a measurement of the field's thickness and resiliency - ever exceeds 125.
In readings taken in various portions of all four fields, the G-max rating often was higher, reaching 160 in some places. "We need to add about an inch of rubber over the entire fields," Lauch said, noting that the level is only about half of what it should be.
Any G-max rating below 200, however, is considered safe for play, Lauch noted.
Lauch said he's made repeated attempts to contact George Avery, the company's owner, but has received only one phone call - and Lauch said that was only after prodding from Pacific Sports Surfaces, the Portland-based company that markets and distributes Avery turf.
In that call, on Aug. 7, Avery apologized and said the company would take care of it, Lauch recalled. But the district hasn't heard a word since, he said - not even in response to letters from legal counsel.
Avery did not return phone calls Tuesday from The Register-Guard.
Lauch said the response is puzzling, given that Avery's pre-paid insurance plan covers such repairs for the first eight years of the 10-year warranty. The insurance carrier also is named in the lawsuit.
Unveiled in the fall of 2000, the polypropylene-fiber and crushed-rubber fields were part of an $8.6 million project that also included youth sports parks at Sheldon and Churchill high schools and Cal Young Middle School. The city of Eugene kicked in $4 million to the project - money earmarked for youth athletic facilities in a November 1998 parks bond measure. A school district bond measure in the same election set aside $3.5 million specifically for the fields.
Brent Walsh, athletic director at Sheldon High School, said he knows of no injuries related to the condition of the fields, and that players and coaches have generally been pleased with them - especially in the rainy season, when a natural-turf field would get waterlogged.
However, he said, players and coaches have noticed increasing unevenness on the surface, as well as ruptured seams.
"There's big waves" along the surface, he said - not good for running athletes or bouncing balls.
Lauch said the district fixes the ruptures as they occur, and that the repairs are holding up well.
As for the unevenness, he said that's probably related more to shifting of the ground beneath the fields than it is to the compaction.
"I gotta say, there are high expectations of these fields," he said. "A lot of people feel like they ought to be perfect, but really, it's just carpet over dirt and rock."
Joe Richards, the district's attorney, said Avery has 30 days from the filing to respond.