Landfills and Youth Sports Facilities: Liability Concerns

Transforming former landfills into youth sports facilities (as well as parks, golf courses and other types of green spaces) can be a good way to repurpose those sites. However, there are potential issues and costs that can arise when you build on top of old landfills, especially if the former landfills were not properly capped and/or closed. One local town grappling with these issues and costs is Haddonfield, NJ.

Crows Woods is a former residential landfill in Haddonfield, New Jersey that is currently the home of Haddonfield’s youth soccer program. It contains multiple soccer fields, along with softball/baseball diamonds, a community garden and walking trails. The sports fields are filled with young athletes every spring, summer and fall.

The residential landfill that Crows Woods sits atop was “closed” sometime in the late 70’s. Details remain a little foggy, because documents related to the “closure” of the landfill over 40 years ago are not complete. What we do know is that based on events that began to unfold approximately five years ago (in the Spring of 2021), the Crows Woods landfill was never properly closed or capped. Interestingly, it wasn’t until these issues arose in 2021 that many people even became aware of the fact that an old landfill was beneath Crows Woods. It is unclear why or how the landfill was never properly closed, but once the town looked into the history of the landfill, they learned that in fact, it was never properly closed/capped pursuant to current State and Federal standards.^[1]

That Spring of ’21, debris from the landfill (including pieces of broken glass) started migrating to the surface of the main soccer field at Crows Woods. The problem was serious enough that it resulted in the field being closed for the remainder of the season and games being moved to fields in other towns. The town’s temporary response was to lay sod over the most worn down/exposed dirt areas of the soccer fields, to prevent further migration of landfill detritus to the surface. But a long-term solution was required.

For former landfills like Crows Woods, and towns like Haddonfield, once issues with old landfills come to light, and solutions are required, the next question is who pays for it? The State? Taxpayers? In the case of Crows Woods, Haddonfield is in the process of applying for grants from the State of New Jersey’s Brownfields program.  The amount of grant money awarded will determine the scope and type of remediation and closure that will be performed on the Crows Woods landfill. The type of remediation/closure work performed on the Crows Woods landfill will also determine the type of playing fields and renovation work that will be performed on the Crows Woods recreational facility.

Other concerns with recreational facilities being built on top of closed landfills are exposure to harmful gases, such as benzene and methane gas. These gases are created by the decomposing items in the landfill. Haddonfield has proposed one concept for Crows Woods that involves replacing the natural grass fields with artificial turf fields and a sports bubble. That concept plan raises additional questions about how the presence of methane and/or benzene gases in the landfill soil would react/interact with artificial turf and a sports bubble, and whether or not that would raise a health concern for parents, athletes and coaches.

Artificial turf has its own issues. The initial cost of installation. Maintenance. Cost of replacement after 10 – 15 years. Is it safe for the athletes? What was the source of the shredded rubber in the turf? Is it old tires that may have absorbed and/or contain their own hazardous materials (such as PFAS, microplastics or PCBs, to name a few)?

Another issue raised by the presence of these sports facilities on top of closed landfills is what happens if someone gets injured or becomes sick due to exposure to old landfill debris or harmful gases that develop as a result of the unknown substances dumped at the landfill.  The current sports facility owner (privately owned or municipally owned) presumably has insurance, but would this type of claim be covered or possibly excluded from coverage? Was there an insurance policy in existence at the time that the landfill was open and operating? Is that information still available and known? Can that information regarding insurance coverage from 40+ years ago be investigated and discovered? Even if you were to obtain that information, would there be coverage under that old insurance policy for an injury that occurred 40+ years after the landfill was closed?

The point of this article isn’t to say that youth sports facilities, golf courses, parks, etc. built on top of closed landfills are a bad thing. On the contrary, with proper planning and investigation from the outset that take into account and addresses the potential environmental concerns, they can be a good thing for their communities.

[1] For a more detailed review of the Crows Woods Landfill, please refer to articles originally printed in The Retrospect Newspaper:  July 11, 2024 by News Staff; June 26, 2025 by Joan Buehler, and June 4, 2026 by Asiya Robinson.  They can be found online at www.theretrospect.com.