This page is dedicated to news stories that question the installation of artificial turf playing fields in a community.
Ordinarily, www.SynTurf.org will digest the news item into the form of an entry and provide a link to a website where the matter originated or it is discussed at a greater length.
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[No. 40] Montreal, Canada: Residents complain about the smell of turf as health hazard. Jeanne Mance Park is located in Montreal. According to a report by the CBC, the residents who live near the park are complaining to the city’s environment department about the park’s synthetic turf soccer field being a health hazard. “It reeks of recycled tire or rubber, and I figure if something smells this bad, it's got to be bad for your health," said Hazel Field, who lives nearby and uses the park. Canadian Broadcast Corporation, “Artificial soccer turf a health hazard, Jeanne-Mance Parks users say,” in CBC News, July 30, 2008, available at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/07/30/soccer-pitch.html . |
[No. 39] Toronto, Canada: Citizens petition to stop turf-and-dome project at Memorial Park. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. August 3, 2008. SynTurf.org has learned, the Toronto school board is exploring a proposal by North Toronto Soccer Club to pay for the “upgrade" of Memorial Park's playing field. The proposal entails the replacement of the natural grass surface with artificial turf. To make matters uglier yet, the soccer club wants to add a seasonal inflatable dome, or “bubble” over the field.
With the lessons of Westmount (Quebec) in mind (see http://www.synturf.org/westmountbrief.html ),
a group of Toronto citizens have launched an on-line grassroots petition to halt this proposal. The group is called Our Home, No Dome and has a website at www.ourhomenodome.com . The organizers do not oppose the improvement of the soccer field, but oppose the installation of artificial turf and the three-storey high bubble. The website has links to the petition and other interesting material. To contact the group, write to Bob Greenfield at robert.greenfield@gmail.com .
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[No. 38] Bainbridge, Washington: PlasticFieldsForNever petitions to ban artificial turf fields. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. July 18, 2008. PlasticFieldsForNever.org has submitted a 1,100 signature-petition to the city for a ballot measure this November to ban artificial turf fields on island’s sports fields. The group is concerned about turf’s effect on the environment. “Artificial fields are the equivalent of grinding up all your plastic shopping bags, dumping them in a city park, and letting the granules wash into Puget Sound,” Chris Van Dyk told the Kitsap Sun.
Source: Tristan Baurick, “Bainbridge group petitions to ban artificial turf fields,” in the Bainbridge Islander, July 18, 2008, available at http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jul/17/bainbridge-group-petitions-to-ban-artificial/?story_detail_bainbridge-islander=1 .
On background of the Bainbridge turf saga, see http://www.synturf.org/grassrootsnotes.html (Item Nos. 35 and 23) below.
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[No. 37] Stamford’s Grassfileds.org rolls out campaign against turf. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. May 1, 2008.
Stamford, Connecticut, is considering a project that will install four artificial turf fields at three venues -- West Beach, Westhill High School and Lione Park, for an estimated cost of $5.7 million. The opponents of the plan say that the material used in turf “smells, causes environmental contamination, lacks aesthetics and is intensely warm in summer,” according to a story in the Stamford Advocate (.Wynne Parry, “Suits seek to bury plans for synthetic fields,” in Stamford Advocate, April 30, 2008, available at http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/localnews/ci_9102188). Two separate lawsuits have challenged the plan on technical governance grounds, which means that they allege the town has played loose with its own rules as to costing and planning board approval.
The residents opposed to the turf fields have organized a nifty website that features a plethora of relevant information and links to materials that question the health, environmental, safety and fiscal aspects of turf field mania. The website is http://stamford.grassfields.org/. For more information as to how you can help this grassroots effort in combating plastic fields, please contact is maureenscarson@aol.com.
This group is planning to host this month a symposium on “tire turf,” which will feature a number of prominent people in the field.
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[No. 36] Morris Township, New Jersey: Make room for the turtles! SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. April 25, 2008.
What American child does not grow up hearing, if not reading, about the duck and her ducklings that stopped traffic when crossing as street in Boston, Massachusetts? The shrine to this delightful tale of priorities is celebrated in sculpture form on the grounds of the Boston Common.
Now come two protected turtles who might very well dictate what Morris can or cannot do with a 15.59 acre parcel of land in Harding Township (NJ). The town is planning on acquire the land and then spend $3.8 million from its Open Space fund to turn the land into a complex for adult leagues and commercial enterprises. For a copy of the application for funding click here.
The property in question has a stream that feeds into the Great Swamp Wildlife Preserve. This is an “environmentally sensitive planning area,” and it is located in the Great Swamp Watershed, in the Highlands Planning Area (headwaters protection). The project would also involve cutting state threatened mature deciduous hardwood trees.
To combat the unnecessary despoliation of the environment, a group of Morris-area residents have established a website called PreserveHarding.com (http://www.preserveharding.com) and have instituted a petition drive (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/PreserveHarding/index.html) that opposes the transfer of the land from Harding Township to Morris Township, as well as the proposed 80-foott night lighting, artificial turf fields, public announcement system, and 9 AM to 10:30 PM seven-day per week use hours.
The opponents of the project have the U.S. Department of the Interior on their side. In March 2008, the Department's Fish and Wildlife office issued a written statement saying that the Department considerd the concerns about the adverse impact of the proposed turf fields on Harding Township's natural resources to have merit. For a copy of the letter click here.
For more about this story, see Leslie Kwoh and Robert E. Williams III, “Slow critters block expansion,” March 23, 2008, available at http://www.nj.com/morristown/index.ssf/2008/03/slow_critters_block_rec_fields.html.
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[No. 35] Bainbridge Island, Washington: Here we go again! SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. April 25, 2008.
Last night (April 24), the Bainbridge Island School Board approved a plan to install an artificial turf field at Bainbridge High School. This is the culmination of a process that began almost four years ago when the Board made the decision that one day Bainbridge High would have an artificial turf field. Two years ago, Bainbridge floated a bond for field renovations, but at the time the officials were tightlipped as to what they intended to install as a playing surface.
Last December it came to light that artificial turf was indeed on the menu and practically at the exclusion any other alternative.
To combat the turf proposal a group of citizens mobilized into PlasticfieldsforNever.org ( www.plasticfieldsforNever.org), threatening a lawsuit against the city , if need be, to stop the project. Meanwhile a bond issue was approved in January 2008.
The advisory group that considers capital improvement projects under the School Board’s jurisdiction required that the field renovation project be subjected to the state’s environmental impact study (EIS) law. That requirement would have made it incumbent on the city to consider all the alternatives to renovation of the field, including natural grass. Though approved, the EIS has been sidestepped in the latest round of what can only be called as the “Bainbridge Shuffle.” The city government has issued a non-significant finding which means the EIS is no longer necessary, which means turf is in , any alternative is out.
PlasticfieldsforNever.org plans to fight this proposal, including in the courts, if need be. To find out more about this and assist in this endeavor, contact Chris Van Dyk at info@plasticfieldsforNever.org or cvandyk5@msn.com or call at (206) 854-6127. The opponents intend to complete their signature drive to place a measure on the ballot that would raise sales tax by a half-cent to pay for natural grass fields, while banning artificial turf on the island. This will allow the city to rotate its 15 natural grass playing fields, Van Dyk told SynTurf.org.
The Board member Patty Fielding has been quoted in the Bainbridge Review as saying
“We’ve essentially made the decision to go with artificial turf” and the Bioard has studies the available science on the issue. “Based on everything we’ve looked at we don’t see any scientific evidence of health or environmental risks,” Fielding has stated.
For the more on this story, see Chad Schuster, “Another turf war looms as opponents gird for battle,” in Bainbridge Review, April 23, 2008, available at
http://www.bainbridgereview.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=96&cat=23&id=1200458&more=0 .
For back ground on the Bainbridge brief, see http://www.synturf.org/grassrootsnotes.html (Item No. 23).
As a public service to Bainbridge School Board, SynTurf.org offers the following links to studies that provide sufficient evidence regarding the potential harm from turf to health and the environment:
http://www.synturf.org/braunintertecreport.html,
http://www.synturf.org/ehhibrief.html, and
http://www.synturf.org/breakingnews.html (Item No. 3).
But then no amount of light will ever illuminate a mind that is buried in the sand.
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[No. 34] Auburn, New York. Byrna Weir Opposes Turf in Auburn. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. April 8, 2008. On February 24, 2008, SynTurf.org reported on Board of Education member Joseph Leogrande’s concern about the cost of replacing an artificial turf field. That story appeared at (http://www.synturf.org/maintenance.html (No.14). In the story, we referred to Alyssa Sunkin’s “Turf trials” that was published in The Citizen, February 9, 2008 (http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2008/02/10/local_news/news01.txt).
As a testament to the power of information, the Sunkin article moved Byrna Weir of Rochester, New York, to write this to The Citizen:
After reading Alyssa Sunkin's February article in The Citizen about an artificial turf field proposed for the Auburn Enlarged City School District, noting that a vote would occur in May, I assumed that the public would have ample time to become informed. To be well-informed is to cast a negative vote. Knowledge of research showing serious children's injuries, infectious disease and long-term illnesses, as well as environmental degradation has helped defeat artificial turf elsewhere.
Texas has artificial turf in at least 18 percent of its high school football stadiums, and an MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) infection rate among players that is 16 times higher than the estimated national average. One Austin teenage player has died of MRSA linked to the turf, while another death in Brooklyn and one in Virginia have not been verified.
How could any parent vote yes to a budget item that might kill a student?
How could a school board go ahead when a moratorium on artificial turf installation had been proposed?
How could the New York State School Boards Association be opposed to such a moratorium? Recent research on five major brands of turf, done by reputable labs, have revealed levels of carcinogenic substances that are in violation of the Department of Environmental Conservation's levels for brown fields (hazardous waste sites). No one would suggest sending kids to play on a hazardous waste site, but only a NO vote on the Auburn school budget can prevent this happening. The Citizen article ended, “...no conclusive evidence linking synthetic turf to suggested health effects like birth defects and cancer.” As Philippe Grandjean, MD, Harvard School of Public Health, said in speaking of mercury in tuna, “It is very unwise to wait until we have complete scientific truth.”
Byrna Weir, “Potential hazards posed by turf not worth the risks,” in The Citizen, April 5, 2008, available at http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2008/04/06/opinion/letters/letters04.txt.
[SynTurf.org Editorial]: The narratives that are hereby made a part of a very public discussion about artificial turf are further testaments to three important points: First, any activism begins with good information and good information typically leads to activism against politicians blinded by the bling and armed with bad information; second, information that provokes action should be spread in simple and personal terms; third: grassroots action is a lot easier to mobilize than people think. Maybe not every effort to slow down or stop the proliferation of turf fields can succeed, but there is no doubt that the closer the public looks at artificial turf the lesser it likes it – in terms of its cost and its proven detrimental effect on the environment, potential health risks, replacement and disposal, heat island effect, carbon footprint, and other drawbacks. But then some also walk around with all manners of injection and implants. In the world of sports, however, there is one paradox that befuddles: If performance-enhancing drugs are looked down upon, is there any compelling reason to have synthetics for a playing field? |
[No. 33] San Carlos, Calif.: Turf Plan falls victim to political squabbling. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. March 21, 2008. On Wednesday, March 19, 2008, the City Manager Mark Weiss announced that San Carlos has failing to reach an agreement with the San Carlos Elementary School District for a long-term use agreement that included the filed at Heather School. Under a plan, San Carlos was hoping to install an artificial turf field at that school.
This is by no means that death knell for artificial turf in San Carlos. While the City is giving up on renovating school fields, there is still plenty of opportunity for turf to rear its head in plans to install athletic fields at City parks and non-school sites.
The decision has nevertheless delighted Joy Papapietro, who helped organize a march and letter-writing campaign that opposed turf on health and environmental grounds.
“Our work is not done,” cautioned Papapietro in an e-mail to SynTurf.org, “we will go on to help any community in San Carlos that wants to fight [the turf].”
For a news article on this story, see Michelle Durand, “City cuts turf talk short,” in San Mateo Daily Journal, March 21, 2008, available at http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=89064. For background, see http://www.synturf.org/grassrootsnotes.html (Item Nos. 29 and 30).
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[No. 32] Belmont, North Carolina. Disposal of turf fields is a concern for resident. SynTurf.org, Newton, mass. March 19, 2008. Belmont is a tiny town in Gaston County, North Carolina. Here, like elsewhere, there is great demographic pressure on the town’s athletic fields. The town is considering a bond issue to pay for the installation for a turf field at South Point High School’s football stadium. While the reservation about this project is most fiscal, there is at least one lone voice seeing to alert the public about the human and environmental concerns about artificial turf. Meet one Richard Turner, who has raised the question about the disposal of turf fields at the end of their life. He has also questioned the harm that can come to athletes from breathing rubber particulates or bacteria breeding in the turf. He told The Gaston Gazette “Football should be played on grass.” See, Donny Wisor, “Turf war in Belmont, division over whether rec bond money should pay for $600,000 artificial turf at South Point,” in The Gaston Gazette, March 18, 2008, available at http://www.gastongazette.com/news/south_18325___article.html/belmont_turf.html.
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[No. 31] Evesham (NJ) Update: Anti-Turf Petition Moves Ahead. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. March 17, 2008. Voters Against Synthetic Turf (“VAST”) have turned in more than 2,500 signatures on a petition that seeks a referendum on whether the town should install artificial turf fields at the Cherokee High School football stadium and Memorial Sports Complex and pay for them from Evesham's Open Space and Recreation Trust Fund. VAST needed only 1,169 valid signatures to have the petition placed before the public.
Earlier this month, a group of citizens sued the town and the judge agreed that monies from the Open Space trust fund could not be spent on a part of the project that affected land not owned entirely by the town.
The town officials are feeling the heat. Mayor Randy Brown has said the town government plans to rescind the ordinance that would have funded the project. However, VAST suspects a gimmick in the works. This rescinding of the ordinance is to render the referendum moot. All this is “about circumventing the public's will," VAST spokesperson, Karen Borden, told SynTurf.org in an e-mail.
For background on this story see http://www.synturf.org/grassrootsnotes.html (Item No. 28). For more on this story, see Todd McHale, “Evesham group turns in petition to force vote on artificial turf,” in Burlington County Times, March 13, 2008, available at http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-03132008-1502889.html.
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[No. 30] San Carlos, Calif.: Update – Turf Protest Marches On. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. February 29, 2008. Yesterday, under the sunny skies of San Carlos, an impressive group of parents and children marched in protested of the proposed installation of a turf field at Heather Elementary School. By SynTurf.org’s reckoning this may well be the first time that the opponents of artificial turf fields have taken to protest march, even though marches of this kind are common in favor of upkeep and preservation of parks as “public” land.
For more on this story go to Heather Murtagh, “Protest targets turf,” in San Mateo Daily Journal, February 29, 2008, available at http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=88094.
For background on this story go to http://www.synturf.org/grassrootsnotes.html (Item No. 29).
For more on this story go to Timothy Williams, “Groups Urge a Moratorium on City Use of Artificial Turf,” in The New York Times (Regional), February 29, 2008, available at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/nyregion/29turf.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.
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[No. 29] San Carlos, Calif.: Parents Poised To March Against Turf. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. February 24, 2008.
San Carlos is located in California’s San Mateo County. Dubbed as “The City of Good Living,” this affluent “small town” is perched on the San Francisco Peninsula, half way between San Francisco and San Jose. Like most places in this country, population pressures are taxing the municipal planners to create greater public recreational opportunities, including athletic and playing fields.
In October 2007, the San Carlos School Board approved by a vote of 3-2 to accept the City’s offer to install artificial turf at Heather Elementary School. The Board Vice President Mark Olbert and Trustee Carrie DuBois opposed the proposal. In December 2007 the City held a number of works shops to discuss its master plan for parks, open space, buildings and other recreational facilities. One of the items in the master plan has to do with installation of artificial turf fields where there is now natural grass fields.
To many of San Carlos’ 28,000 inhabitants, synthetic turf is non-starter. After all, the City touts its leadership position in Green initiatives dealing with climate protection and all geographical levels. See http://www.ci.san-carlos.ca.us/gov/depts/cm/green_programs_n_climate_protection/default.asp. It should be no surprise that a group of San Carlos parents and other residents should organize to protest the proposed installation of an artificial turf field at the Heather Elementary School.
The San Mateo Daily News reports that a march will be held on Thursday, February 28, 2008, from Burton Park and from Brittan and Greenwood avenues to Central Middle School, where the San Carlos School District's board meeting will be looking at the proposed project. The meeting is still scheduled to begin at 4 PM, but the venue has changed from White Oak Elementary School. For more on this story, see Mark Abramson, “Parents plan march against artificial turf: San Carlos group wants to keep school field natural,” in San Mateo Daily News, February 24, 2008, available at
http://www.sanmateodailynews.com/article/2008-2-23-scturf.
Joy Papapietro and about 200 people have signed a petition to force the School Board to reconsider its hasty decision to go turf, not seeking greater community input as to the environmental and health concerns about turf fields. “We just believe it is an elementary school, not an athletic field," DuBois has told San Mateo Daily News, adding that artificial turf does not make sense at elementary schools.
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[No. 28] Evesham, NJ: Turf is about to hit the fan in Evesham Township. By Guive Mirfendereski, SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. February 23, 2008.
Most of us think of New Jersey as the corridor along Interstate 95 with its industrial (and mostly chemical) complexes. It should come as no surprise therefore to see a group of well-meaning but misguided folk decide to tarp over Evesham Township’s athletic playing fields with artificial turf. Hey(!), what the heck, didn’t the Second Circuit decide the other day that the Agent Orange that we sprayed by the hundreds of tons over North Vietnam was about as benign as Tang?! Never-mind the Vietnamese that got affected by it, there are US veterans who have been complaining about its adverse effect on them for decades, but to no avail. So what if, now, our kids should wallow in grass made of plastic blades that are held up with loose and free-floating crumb rubber made of ground up used tires that contain heavy metals and other harmful substances! This is America, after all, friend and foe, the buyer beware!
Evesham, New Jersey, is a township of some 50,000 people located southeast of Philadelphia, across from the Delaware River. The general impression about this place is that it is an elegant and secluded community nestled among many clusters of mature trees, aerated ponds and abundant open space that extends beyond the yards of practically every home . The place is a part of our national heritage, a township that dates back to the 1600’s. Today, it seems like it has been taken over by a band of well-meaning but ignorant individuals who think that the children of this township ought to play in artificial turf. Let’s face it: The place is still within just moments to major roadways, Routes 70, 73, 295 and the New Jersey turnpike and, true to form of any community along I-95, maybe the place is destined to become another used-tire dump.
On February 19, 2008, the Evesham Township Council, after a three-hour meeting, vote of 4-1 to approve a bond ordinance for $3.1 million to build two artificial turf fields, one at the Cherokee High School football stadium and the other on Memorial Sports Complex on Tueckerton Road. All funding for the project – that is, the bond: principal and interest -- would come from Evesham's Open Space and Recreation Trust Fund. The sole hold out was Debbie Sarcone. It certainly is worth investigating if the intent of the framers who set up that trust fund was to pay for artificial turf fields. SynTurf.org doubts that very much. Maybe (but very unlileky) a pro bono local lawyer would take up that issue in the public interest.
This is not the first time that this project has been up for public approval. Back in November 2006 voters overwhelmingly defeated a ballot question that called for the installation of synthetic turf. That issue involved $5.8 million in taxes to install turf fields the Lenape Regional High School District’s four high schools. So, it seems, the project keeps coming back like a bad penny.
Judging from the crowd of more than 150 people who attended the Township Council’s meeting, many of whom spoke against the project, there is a significant groundswell of grassroots opposition to this project and it comes from a number of angles. The cost of the project is exorbitant and the taxes will rise to pay for it. Even if taxes were not to rise, the money that is collected already for the Trust will not go to the other worthwhile community projects. The cost of the project is exorbitant; taxes will rise to pay for it. Many do not like the idea of grass fields being replaced with polygrass and crumb rubber. Some believe that the leachates, migration of crumb and off-gassing of the fields's VOC's will pose environmental and health risks. And many object to the installation of the fields in their neighborhoods because of the increased human activity that comes with such fields – that means more traffic, lights, pollution, debris, heat island effect, no-pets policy, and overall diminution of property values.
One who spoke against the project at the Council’s meeting was David Thompson, who said, “This whole deal stinks. We don’t need this. We don’t want this.” In the many communities where the public has had a chance to look closely at artificial turf they have found it less and less attractive.
The most organized in this oppositionist camp is Voters Against Synthetic Turf http://votersagainstsyntheticturf.blogspot.com), whose Karen A. Borden and David J. Silver may well be able to gather the necessary signatures to put the Township Council’s decision to a referendum. In order to recall the bond ordinance and put it to a public vote, they have 20 days hence [until March 10, 2008] to get 15 percent of the voters who cast ballots in the last election for state Assembly to sign a petition stating they favor such a referendum. In the span of just five days the group claims to have collected 400 signatures. They need a total s of 1,100 signatures in order to force a referendum on the issue. This group deserves your support and you can contact it at vast_2008@yahoo.com.
The sources consulted for this story include the various articles by Todd McHale of Burlington County News, including “Turf plan foes say put issue to a vote,” in Burlington County News, February 21, 2008, available at http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/112-02212008-1491395.html.
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[No. 27] Longmeadow, Mass. Turf flies in Longmeadow. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. January 30, 2008.
Longmeadow is located in the western Massachsuetts on the Connectocut River. Located south of Springfield, Mass. and 20 miles north of Hatford, Conn. Longmeadow is 3 mile slong and 2.5 miles wide, with 30 percent of its area being permanent open space. Its wildlife includes deer, beaver, wild turkeys, foxes, and eagles. Of late a new specie of donkey has been spotted on the landscape: It is in the form of a craven sports lobby that seeks to convert a natural grass field at the Longmeadow High School into a multi-sport complex covered in aritficial turf. The school does not need this synthetic turf field to excel in sports, as many of its teams are ranked very high on the statewide acheivement chart. While alum Kathryn (“Kat”) Bridget Moynahan (of the Tom Brady connection) may have not played on the field, SynTurf.org knows that one Jay “Cakeboy” Heaps, aka John F. Heaps IV, did and did well enough to become a defenseman for the New England Revolution soccer team.
On Wednesday, January 23, 2008, the Longmeadow Community Preservation Committee held a public hearing to discuss the merits of Synthetic Turf Plan. Click here for the plan.
Bill Ravanesi does not favor the installation of artificial turf at the high school and is opposed also to the spending of Community Preservation Act (“CPA”) funds for the project. He used his allotted 4 minutes of time to draw attention to three salient points:
(1) Impropriety of spending CPA money to rehabilitate recreational land that was not created or acquired originally with CPA money. The law forbids this in plain and clear language.
(2) Health and environmental risks associated with the use of crumb rubber on artificial turf fields. He stated, “While manufacturers claim the fields are safe, the potential health effects of exposure to these chemicals - endocrine disruption, neurological impairment and cancer – can take years to develop. Without long term field testing, no one is in a position to say the exposure is harmless, particularly in children.”
(3) Availability of other options for addressing playing field needs.
The bulk of the hearing however went to the proponents of the plan, who have hitched their wagon to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, a quartet of slick industry executives who use power point presentations and glossy handbooks to peddle artificial turf to cash-strapped municipalities as an ultimate “environment friendly” solution for playing field woes. The officials and unsuspecting public fall for the gimmick every time, until they awake to realize that this product is not a horse but a donkey. If everyone in in a hurry to get this deal closed is because the more time the public has to learn about turf the less attractive it begins to look.
The Community Preservation Committee has scheduled a hearing on the project for February 6, 2008.
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[No. 26] Ridgefield, Conn. gears up for “No” vote on turf. A group of resident sin Ridgefield, Conn. have set up a website in an effort to get the word out in the community on the risks associated with artificial turf. According to the its e-mail to SynTurf.org, the group intends to build greater “awareness on this public health issue.” Ridgefield will be holding a referendum on February 26, 2008, on new artificial turf fields for the town. The group’s website is www.grassfields.org. Contact info@grassfields.org to learn more about how you can help the group achieve its objectives. For the background on this story, see below at Item No. 24.
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[No. 25] Nicollet Island, Minn.: Turf in a historic setting?! By Guive Mirfendereski, SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. January 18, 2008.
Arguably the only inhabited island in the Mississippi River, Nicollet Island is north of downtown Minneapolis. Its 48 or so acres are often described today as supporting a bucolic mood, but the fact is that Nicollet had been once one of the rougher parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul, dominated by grain mills and rail yards. Today, the island’s northern section is residential, its midriff is commercial and the southern part is industrial.
But by its age, Nicollet is also home to some 43 houses from the 19th century, with many architectural styles, that date from the 1860's to the 1890's. Mostly located in the upper part of the island, among the historic homes are 22 restored Victorian-era houses. Inhabited by some 150 people, the island further boasts acres of parkland and also trails for jogging, biking, and walking. The Pavillion and the Bell of Two Friends, a gift from the Japanese city of Ibaraki, are located on the south side of the island. To learn more about Nicollet Island visit http://fieldguide.fmr.org/site_detail.php?site_id=120.
One of the enduring institutions on Nicollet is DeLaSalle High School, a creation of the Archbishop John Ireland that dates to October 1900, when it opened its doors to pupils of all socio-economic strata. Today, the Brothers of the Christian Schools, more commonly known as the Christian Brothers, manage the institution. The premises of the school are located in the Grove Street district.
It is familiar scenario in most parts of the country: the expansion of sports facilities by schools often rubbing up against resdiential woes and worries, which can include environmental impact and quality of life issues, property values, peace and quiet, health concerns, and degradation of historical and natural resources. For the past two years, plan by DeLaSalle to build a 750-seat stadium on municipal land near the school has met with stiff oppostion by a number of residents and civic groups.
Supported by Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, in March 2006, the City council granted permission for the plan. However, the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission opposed the plan, fearing that the 140-year old street would be destroyed in the process. The City council president however voted to overrule the Preservation Commission’s objection to the plan. The value of the public parkland involved is about $2 million, which DeLaSalle would like to have for free.
On October 16, 2007, the celebrants of the plan assembled at L.L. Gray Gym for a ceremonial groundbreaking of the school’s very first home field for football and soccer. Many of the municipal officials who saw the project through to permitting were in attendance. One benefactor, also DeLaSalle graduate like many of the other actors in this scenario, offered $3 million toward the project. While the officials stepped outside to break ground, the students watched on telecast screens. To top the festivities, the school was treated to cupcakes decorated with small soccer balls and footballs.
Meanwhile there are no less than three lawsuits pending against the project. Three civic organizations – Friends of the Riverfront, National Trust for Historical Preservation and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota – are asking that the City of Minneapolis and DeLaSalle comply with state law and explore alternatives before destroying natural and/or historic resources. More and detailed infromation on the suits is available at www.ourbeautifulriver.org.
DeLaSalle’s original plan provided for natural grass fields. But now, SynTurf.org has learned, the school is returning to the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission in order to get permission to install artificial turf instead. There certainly is a strong policy preference not to allow turf in historical venues. Recently, the National Park Service nixed plans for Alexandria, Va., to install artificial turf fields at Jones Point Park. For details see http://www.synturf.org/sayno.html (Item No. 08). But then when shortsighted and unscrupulous developers and public officials went ahead and demolished acres upon acres of the historic Walden Woods in Concord, Mass. for the sake of athletic fields, which will include several artificial turf fields, the state regulatory agency stood by despite public request for protection of this historic resource. For details, see Friends of Thoreau Country at http://www.friendsofthoreaucountry.org.
When it comes to DeLaSalle's decision to go with artificial turf -- is it an afterthought or could it be that the omission from the original plan was deliberate in order to avoid greater opposition to the plan on health and environmental grounds? Regardless, if Friends of Riverfront and its allies have any say in it, the school is expected to have yet another tough fight on its hands before it can ever fill the stands.
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[No. 24] Turf talk is back in Ridgefield, CT. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. January 11, 2008. Ridgefield is a twon in Connecticut’s Faorfield County, in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. It has some 28 palying fiels, two of which are artifcialt turf fields. Apparently that is not enough for the hyperactive sports lobby that, if given its preference, would turn more and more of this setting into artifcial turf. In 2005-06 the Parks & Rec Department in alliance with the sports lobby began pushing hard for a bond measure to finance the reconstruction of the East Ridge (II) field complex (aka, Onalfo filed), which called for instllation of arttifcial turf fields. At the time the cost of the fields alone were estimated at $2.1 million. In the May 2007 referendum residents of Ridgefield defeated the bond measure that was supposed to have financed this project.
Like a bad penny, the Onalfo artificial turf project is back in circulation. The proponents of the project have petitioned Town Hall to approve the project with the hope that eventually a Town Meeting would pass on the financing, thereby bypassing another referendum on the matter.
On January 9, 2008, the Board of Finance and Board of Selectmen held a joint public hearing on the project whose implementation will require a $1.4 million bond measure. Regardless of how Finance or Selectmen come down on the project, the bond measure will be before the voters on or about February 26, 2008.
Like the last referendum, the present measure will no doubt raise serious questions about financial hardship to townspeople, who ultimately pay for the project. In addition, this time around the discussion will focus on the environmental health implications of artificial turf as a product and its mindless proliferation.
Last summer Environment and Human Health, Inc. (www.ehhi.org) released a toxicological report on the health and environmental consequences of the leachates, off-gassing and particulates that emanate from artificial turf fields, in particular the crumb rubber infill that is made of shredded used tires and are loose on the surface of the playing field. Since that report, the Connecticut attorney-general has called for a cautious approach to installation of turf fields and has asked for further study of the field’s potential harm to health and environment. Over the boarder from Ridgefield, in New York the legislature is considering a bill that will put a moratorium on the installation of the fields until the health risks associated with them can be studied, requiring all the same that a site-specific environmental impact assessment precede any installation of a turf fields.
In Ridgefield, the opposition to turf fields is in its nascent stage, but it is expected to become more vocal when concerned citizens like Elizabeth Butler set out to educate the public about the downside of turf, debunking some of the very polished myths that the purveyors of turf have managed to propagate in a market that they had had to themselves for far too long. "I say,” Butler told Susan Tuz of The News-Times, “let us follow the state's lead on this and see what it comes back with as results of a study. Then we can say, 'Let's put the field in' or 'Let's not.' Let's be smart about this."
To read more abut this story, see Jenny Cox, “Battle resumes Wednesday,” in Ridgefield Press, January 3, 2008, p. 1A; Jenny Cox, Soccer field: Public Hearing Wednesday on artificial turf,” in Ridgefield Press, January 7, 2008, available at http://www.acorn-online.com/news/exec/search.cgi?action=search&page=2&perpage=10&template=articleLists/ridgefield.html&categoryNums=86&includeSubcats=0; Susan Tuz, “Onalfo Filed hearing set for Wednesday,” in The News-Times, January 8, 2008, available at http://www.newstimes.com/ci_7910352 .
The town Charter is available at http://www.ridgefieldct.org/content/42/66/default.aspx (sections 3-5 and 10-4 and 10-6, among others, speak to the petition/referendum aspects of the issue).
If you would like to become active in opposing the project, let SynTurf.org know and we will be happy to put you in touch with other concerned folks.
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[No. 23] Bainbridge Island (Washington) activist threatens lawsuit over artificial turf. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. January 4, 2008. Bainbridge Island is a city located on an island of the same name within the Central Puget Sound Basin, east of the Kitsap Peninsula and west of the City of Seattle. The island is five miles wide and ten miles long.
On January 10, 2007, the Bainbridge Island School Board will be considering a $2.5 million bond proposal for field “improvement” that ultimately could end up paying for artificial turf fields at Bainbridge Island High School. Chris Van Dyk of www.plasticfieldsforNever.org is leading an effort to have the money earmarked specifically for several natural grass fields instead. To read more on this story, please go to Tad Sooter, “Van Dyk plans a new front in turf wars,” in Bainbridge Island Review, January 2, 2008, available at http://www.bainbridgereview.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=96&cat=23&id=1132000&more=0. To help spread the word on this important citizen initiative, contact Chris van Dyk at info@plasticfieldsforNever.org or cvandyk5@msn.com or call at (206) 854-6127.
It is worth noting, SynTurf.org’s early research into toxicity of crumb rubber benefited from the information contained in an article by Linda Chalker-Scott, Ph.D., an Extension Horticulturist and Associate Professor at the Puyallup Research and Extension Center at Washington State University. The article was entitled "Myth of Rubberized Landscapes,” and is available at her website at http://www.puyallup.wsu.edu/~Linda%20Chalker-Scott/Horticultural%20Myths_files/Myths/Rubber%20mulch.pdf. On SynTurf.org, the item can be found at http://www.synturf.org/crumbrubber.html (Item No. 04). In an e-mail to Dr. Chalker-Scott, the Managing Editor SynTurf.org asked if the same conclusion about rubber mulch could extend to the use of rubber crumb in synthetic turf fields. Dr. Chalker-Scott responded in the affirmative, as the base product (recycled tires) for rubber crumb in synthetic turf is the same as in rubber mulch.
Dr. Chalker-Scott responded in the affirmative, as the base product (recycled tires) for rubber crumb in synthetic turf is the same as in rubber mulch.
Dr. Chalker-Scott may be reached at lindacs@wsu.edu, or at (253) 445-4542.
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[No. 22] Maplewood, NJ residents submit anti-turf petition. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. December 17, 2007. Updated on December 28, 2007. Today Maplewoodvotes.org submitted 960 signatures on a petition against a bond that would finance the installation of artificial turf fields in Maplewood, New Jersey. The number of signatures required for certification of the petition is 583. minimum that is required for certification of the petition. If certified, the town must either rescind the ordinance or put it up for a referendum.
The text of the petition reads:
“We, the undersigned registered voters in Maplewood, New Jersey oppose Maplewood Ordinance 2528-07, approved by the Maplewood Township Committee on November 20, 2007, authorizing the issuance of $2,850,000 in bonds to finance part of the expense of proposed construction at DeHart Park including the installation of synthetic turf fields. Pursuant to NJSA 40:49-27, we hereby petition the Maplewood Township Committee to put the question of incurring this indebtedness to a referendum of Maplewood voters.”
“We exceeded our minimum by 65%, despite having to reach out to residents in the middle of the holiday season and working around two snow storms,” wrote Bill Viqueira of Maplewoodvotes.org. in an e-mail to SynTurf.org.
Maplewoodvotes.org is spearheading the drive to overturn the town’s decision to issue a $2.8 million bond for purposes of constructing DeHart Park, including synthetic turf fields. The decision to bond the project was decided by Township Committee on November 20, 2007, even though in April 2006 the town’s Environmental Committee voted down the project and advised the town not to proceed with artificial turf at the site. On January 1, 2007, the town will be voting on another $1.4 million in additional monies for the project. To find out how you can help Maplewoodvotes.org in its efforts to save the environment, please visit http://www.maplewoodvotes.org/index.html or contact bill@maplewoodvotes.org. To read more on this story, see the following: http://www.localsource.com/articles/2007/12/06/maplewood/local_news/doc4758339b18f03652305475.txt;
Philip Sean Curran, “Referendum against turf fields gains support,” in LocalSource.com, December 19, 2007, at http://www.localsource.com/articles/2007/12/19/maplewood/local_news/doc47698f6a981a2006681497.txt.
Update: December 28, 2007. On December 26, 2007, the Maplewood Township's Clerk certified the petition. The Clerk will advise the Essex County Clerk on a possible date for the ballot question once she has discussed the matter with the Township Committee and the Township Attorney.
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[No. 21] New York City Council holds hearing on Artificial Turf. SynTurf.org, Newton. December 16, 2007. In the morning of December 13, 2007, New York City Council’s Parks and Recreation Committee held an oversight hearing on the use of artificial turf in city parks.[1] The Committee is chaired by Helen D. Foster, a Democrat from the Bronx.[2]
According to the briefing paper that was prepared by the Committee’s staff, the hearing was to examine the relative merits of using artificial compared to natural turf and when and how Department of Parks and Recreation would look into if there are adverse health and environmental effects by using artificial turf.[3]
The Committee invited a variety of interested parties to participate in the hearing. The list of invitees included representatives of the Departments of Parks and Recreation, representatives of Friends of Columbus Park, Prospect Park Alliance, FieldTurf Inc., Center for Climate Systems Research, The Juniper Park Civic Association, Healthy Child Healthy World, New Yorkers for Parks, elected officials, athletic organizations and other concerned community groups. The other attendees also included Joel Kupferman from New York’s enviornlaw.org (http://www.nyenvirolaw.org) and Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates (http://nycparkadvocates.org), who testified at the hearing. NYC Parks Advocates is in a relentless pursuit of infroming the public about the disappearance of the grass playing fields in the New York City area.
Following a brief explanation of the various forms of constructing playing fields, the Briefing Paper defended the use of artificial turf fields as a necessary complement to New York City’s landscape as a matter of durability and playability of fields. The Briefing Paper, however, could not ignore the recent clamor about health and environmental implications of artificial turf:
“The use of artificial turf has raised some long-term environmental and health concerns not only in New York City, but in other regions throughout the United States, as well. Although artificial turf offers all-weather playability and lower maintenance costs than natural turf, it increases surface temperatures dramatically, not only contributing to global warming and the local heat island effect by absorbing sunlight and emitting heat, but possibly affecting the health of children using the fields. Furthermore, removing grass takes away habitats that serve birds and plant life in the city as well.”[4]
The Briefing Paper acknowledged the findings of the Crain-Zhang toxicology test of crumb rubber, which found harmful substances far above safety standards set by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, including a concentration of highly carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene that was found to be more than eight times above acceptable soil levels. Yet the Briefing Paper seemed to dismiss this study on the grounds that “the study did not determine if the chemicals could be absorbed into the body.”[5]
The Brief paper also acknowledged that “further testing of artificial turf to determine whether there are any adverse health effects has become an important issue with concerned communities who have children/athletes using artificial fields.”[6] The Briefing Paper noted the City’s denial of requests for further testing of the crumb rubber on its fields even though the funding for such testing has beeb secured by researchers indeonet of the City. “Questions still remain,” stated the Briefing Paper.
According to one source who attended the meeting, the comments by the turf industry representatives were dismissed of the concerns about the health and environmental implications of artificial turf. According to a source at www.maplewoodvotes.org, the two NYC offices that seem to favor the turf fields are the Department of Health, which insists they are safe, and Department of Parks and Recreation that is in the business of increasing and maintaining the inventory of the city’s playing fields. According to NYC Parks Advocates, since 1997 the city has installed 77 artificial turf fields, with some 23 additional ones in planning stages. “To make matters worse,” Croft testified, “DPR has also removed more than 47 former natural turf fields and replaced them [with] artificial turf. They are in the process of removing many more.” As of this writing no result has been reported from the hearing. For the pre-hearing coverage of the event, see Patrick Arden, “Toxic turf concerns get Council hearing,” in Metro USA, NY, December 13, 2007, available at http://ny.metro.us/metro/local/article/Toxic_turf_concerns_get_Council_hearing/11086.html.
The other participants included the Riverkeeper, National Resources Defense Council, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, and Citizens for a Green Riverside Park.They equally expressed deep concern about the City’s plans to continue installing artificial turf, as many called for a moratorium on new installations until further research into a health risks of turf fields.
William Crain, Professor of Psychology at The City College of New York and President of Citizens for a Green Riverside Park is an old hand at the struggle to keep the parks natural grass. He believes that children benefit from rich contact with nature. So when the New York City Park Department planned in 2004 to replace four acres of natural soil and grass fields in Riverside Park with synthetic turf, he became livid. He asked several local residents, including members of the West Side Green Party, to help try to get the Parks Department to change its mind. They wrote letters to officials, held forums and rallies, and gathered over 600 signatures on a petition, but to no avail.
In the past two years however the discussion about artificial turf has moved past the therapeutic advantages of natural settings and playing in grass. In part thanks to Crain himself and several other researchers, the science has unveiled some disturbing facts about actual and potential toxicity, carcinogenicity and other harmful aspects of the ingredients of artificial turf fields. In his testimony Crain outlined the recent findings, particularly with respect to environmental and health dangers of crumb rubber (shredded used tires).
“I hope research eventually shows that the granules are safe,” Crain wrote to the Committee, “[I]n the mean time, I recommend a moratorium on the installation of new synthetic fields.” Regardless of the result of eventual toxicological tests, he hoped people “consider the importance of natural soil and grass for children’s emotional and cognitive development.” For Crain’s written testimony [“Synthetic Turf: Its Potential Impact on Children”] in its entirety click here.
Updates since original publication on December 16, 2007: January 18, 2008.
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[No. 20] In Nyack, the turf is dead for now! Newton, SynTurf.org. December 12, 2007. Yesterday, voters in Nyack, New York, defeated a bond referendum which contained $millions for artificial turf playing fields. With a 62% versus 48% overall tally, in each of the four districts – Valley Cottage, Upper Nyack, Hilltop and Depew – the $16.5 million measure lost. Check here for the results. http://www.aninconvenientturf.com/. While this result rewards the hard work of many who opposed the artificial fields – especially www.aninconvenientturf.com -- it is by no means the end for turf. One must presume that the fiscal and other concerns helped achieve the outcome. In due course, a combination of private sector and public sector funding may end up still financing an artificial turf field or two in the school district. The public education undertaken by www.aninconvenientturf.com may need to continue until the idea of artificial turf becomes in itself least desirable of all options in the community.
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[No. 19] Delaware Riverkeeper slams artificial turf on cost and other issues! October 16, 2007. In a letter addressed to the Radnor Township [Pennsylvania] School Board, Delaware Riverkeeper (www.delawareriverkeeper.org) sought to dispel the myth associated with installation of artificial turf playing field at a middle school in the town. The letter pointed out, among other things, artificial turf costs excessively more than natural grass under every cost scenario applicable to the situation, and the environmental, educational and social affects of artificial turf could not be justified. See the text of the letter at http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/newsresources/factsheet.asp?ID=53 (October 16, 2007).
DelawareRiverkeeper.org has a very well informed Fact Sheet on Artificial/Synthetic Turf. It can be accessed at http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/newsresources/factsheet.asp?ID=50 (September 9, 2007). It discusses the actual and potential adverse impact of artificial turf fields with regard to stormwater considerations, water quality issues (leachate and discharge containing harmful particulates and substances), heat island effect, and costs in dollars and cents terms.
From a cost standpoint, Fact Sheet states: “It is generally agreed that artificial turf costs more to install than natural grass, while natural grass costs more to maintain. Installation and maintenance costs for each must be assessed on a case by case basis depending on site specific conditions. But generally speaking, when the installation and maintenance costs of artificial turf are assessed for the life span of the turf, particularly when the cost of disposal is added, the cost of installing and maintaining natural grass is far less. The guaranteed life and/or lifespan of artificial turf is 8 to 10 years. Some attempt to claim a longer life in order to assert a lower annual cost.” Footnotes omitted.
The comparative cost figures for artificial turf and natural grass as set forth in Delaware Riverkeeper.org’s Fact Sheet:
Per San Francisco Recreation & Parks (2005):
Installation: turf $800,000 v. natural grass $260,000
Annual maintenance: turf $6,000 v. natural grass $42,000
Cost of disposal: turf unknown (significant/hazardous waste) v. natural grass $0
Av. annual cost for 8 yrs: turf $106,000 v. natural grass $74,500
Av. annual cost for 10 yrs: turf $86,000 v. natural grass $68,000
Av. annual cost for 15 yrs: turf $59,333 v. natural grass $59,333
Per Facts about Artificial Turf and natural Grass (Turfgrass Resource Center):
Cost of construction and maintenance per sq. ft.: turf $7.80-$10.75 v. natural grass $6.50-$7.95 (with high quality soil amendments), or $2.50-$5.25 (with native soils)
Cost of disposal per sq. ft.: turf $1.75-$2.25 v. natural grass $0
Springfield College case study installation and maintenance: turf &105,000 v. natural grass $78,000
Av. annual cost for 8 yrs(without disposal cost): turf 800,000 install and annual maintenance of $5,000 v. natural grass $400,000 and $28,000, respectively
Av. annual cost for 10 yrs (without disposal cost): turf $85,000 v. natural grass $68,000
Av. annual cost for 25 yrs (without disposal cost): turf $58,377 v. natural turf $54,666
Per A Guide to Synthetic and Natural Turfgrass for Sports Fields:
Cost of installation per sq. ft.: turf 7.80-$10.75 v. natural grass $2.50-$5.25 (if done with native soils), $3.50-$5.25 (if done with combination of native soils and sand), $6.50-$7.95 (if done with sand drainage)
Annual maintenance: turf $5,000-$25,000 v. natural grass $4,000-$11,000 (per the case studies provided)
Disposal per sq. ft. (exclusive of transportation and landfill surcharges for environmentally controlled products): turf $1.75-$2.25 v. natural grass $0.
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| [No. 18] Maplewood, New Jersey. December 8, 2007. Maplewoodvotes.org is spearheading a citizens’ petition drive calling for a referendum on the townships’ decision to issue a $2.8 million bond for purposes of constructing DeHart Park, including synthetic turf fields. The decision to bond the project was decided by Township Committee on November 20, 2007, even though in April 2006 the town’s Environmental Committee voted down the project and advised the town not to proceed with artificial turf at the site. On January 1, 2007, the town will be voting on another $1.4 million in additional monies for the project. To find out how you can help Maplewoodvotes.org in its efforts to save the environment, please visit http://www.maplewoodvotes.org/index.html or contact bill@maplewoodvotes.org. To read more on this story, please see news article at http://www.localsource.com/articles/2007/12/06/maplewood/local_news/doc4758339b18f03652305475.txt. |
[No. 17] New Jersey environmentalists question spending “Green Acres” money on turf. November 23, 2007. According to NorthJersey.com, environmentalists are questioning why state officials are letting towns pay for synthetic turf fields with "Green Acres" funds. One such person is Dee Ann Ipp, a Teaneck resident, who told NorthJersey.com that many voters would be upset to learn they supported an open space fund "in which millions of dollars can be spent on something that isn't green at all." Source: Colleen Diskin, “Critics worry about artificial turf’s impact on ecosystem,” in The Record, northern New Jersey, November 23, 2007, available at http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MjI0OTg5JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg.
In New Jersey and other parts of the country a large number of the turf projects have been or are being financed, in whole or in part, by the so-called “green acres program,” “legacy fund,” “conservation fund,” “community preservation fund,” or “open space program,” to name a few. It is highly doubtful that the framers of the legislation that established the funds intended it to be used for artificial turf. Because the funds are raised under revenue or tax laws, the letter of the law generally is interpreted strictly and any ambiguity is resolved against the party wishing to expand the meaning of the law. In Newton and Wayland Massachusetts citizens have gone to court to stop the municipality from using inappropriate funds for turf projects. |
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[ No. 16] Howard and Anne Arundel counties, Maryland. The officials in two Maryland counties would like to spend some $7 million form the Open Space Program to install artificial turf fields. The funds in the Open Space Program, which is administered by the state Department of Natural Resources, is funded from a pool created by a 0.5 percent tax on real-estate transfers. The fund is intended to preserve and develop parklands and other “natural” open space settings. The fund is not for making the parks safe or easier to maintain, as laudable as those goals may be. The fund is supposed to prevent the open spaces in Maryland to vanish in the face of sprawl and over-development.
In 2007, Anne Arundel officials intend to add artificial-turf fields at 11 of the county's 12 public high schools. At the other one, Broadneck High School in Annapolis state money would be spent to reimburse the booster club for a $685,000 field it had paid to install a turf field. So far the opposition to this scheme has been anemic, including among the environmentalists who should be up in arms about turning acres of the landscape to plastic grass and loose used-tire crumb rubber granulates on the fields. At least Dru Schmidt-Perkins of the group 1,000 Friends of Maryland seems to have his priority straight: "This is not our first, most ideal use of the moneys; there's so much highly valued environmental land that's at risk right now….We first and foremost like to see money being used for that." Source: David A. Fahrenthold, “Wide-Open, Um, Plastic Spaces in Md.: Funds for Parklands Eyed for Fake Turf,” in Washington Post, November 23, 2007, page A01, available at www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/22/AR2007112201489.html.
Woe to the self-styled guardians and stewards of the environment in Maryland.Know you nothing of the carcinogenic and other health dangers of crumb rubber, heat island effect, carbon footprint, expensive maintenance and surface replacement costs, and athletic injury and infection risks associated with artificial turf? |
[No. 15] Nyack, New York. Vote "No" on December 11! On December 11, 2007, the voters in Nyack School District will be deciding on a $16.5-million bond referendum, of which some $4 million will be spent on installing artificial turf fields. In October, legislation was introduced in Albany calling for a moratorium on artificial turf fields until the health and environmental risks of this controversial product can be studied. A couple of communities in New York have called off their earlier decision to go ahead with artificial turf projects and one recently postponed a scheduled turf-bond referendum. In communities in California, Massachusetts and Connecticut some school districts outright voted down the artificial turf projects due to unresolved questions about its impact on health and the environment. From a fiscal point of view alone, if this measure passes, Nyack taxpayers will be paying for this project for many decades. Not only the cost of installing a singe field is exorbitant, but also every 8-to-10 years the taxpayers will have to fork over $500,000 as well to replace the carpet on a single field. For more information on the grassroots effort to defeat the turf-bond referendum -- and how you can help -- go to www.aninconvenientturf.com or call Rick at (917) 689-1799.
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[No. 14] Fayetteville-Manlius, Onondoga County (Syracuse), New York. October-November, 2007. Three years ago, the voters of this Central New York community turned down a $6-million proposal to build a new stadium at F-M High School, complete with artificial turf fields. Like a bad penny, the idea resurfaced again this year when in September some thousand petitioners asked for a $4-million turf project. Losing no time, on October 29, 2007, the Fayetteville-Manlius School Board approved the plan for the project to go before the voters on December 13 of this year. See WSYR-TV, Channel 9 report: http://www.topix.com/city/manlius-ny/2007/10/turf-field-vote-approved-in-fayetteville-manlius; http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=0475ace4-fc2a-4c39-a070-5e7d846fbb6b&rss=112.
The hurry-up offense of the proponents of the project soon ran into a block when it was learned that only 5 days earlier two Assemblymen in Albany had introduced a bill in favor of 6-month moratorium on the sale and installation of artificial turf fields until the health effects of turf fields could be studied (for the Englebright-Colton bill, see this site’s page “Moratoriums”).
The news of the moratorium legislation bolstered the position of the grassroots Anti-Synthetic Turf Action Group of F-M (http://www.geocities.com/fmturf/health.html, email: fmturf@yahoo.com). It launched a website and concerned parents like Valerie Clarke and other citizens began a campaign of public information about the health implications of artificial turf fields and the need for further studying of the product.
By November 15, 2007, the Board of Education was prepared to consider putting off the vote on the turf project. See Elizabeth Doran, “F-M may put off vote on Stadium – District: Turf’s possible health hazards is reason for postponement of Project,” in Syracuse.com, November 15, 2007, at http://www.syracuse.com/state/index.ssf?/base/news-12/119512094741570.xml&coll=1.
On November 19, 2007, the Board of Education voted to postpone the turf project. The Board indicated it would discuss the project in December anyway and it may put it before the voters in March 2008, hoping for a project start date sometime in the fall of 2008. The Board member Dawn Cottrell was quoted as saying, “We are responsible and liable for the safety of our students. Any word that this might endanger our students’ health should be investigated before we put this for a vote.” Elizabeth Doran, “F-M delays vote on new stadium,” in Syracuse.com, November 20, 2007, at http://www.syracuse.com/articles/news/index.ssf?/base/news-12/119555254742880.xml&coll=1.
Comments of officials like Cottrell smack with genuine insincerity and pretend- ignorance. In fact, the health and safety risks associated with artificial turf fields were known wide and far already at the time of the Board’s vote in October. In fact, a group of parents and concerned citizens made a presentation to the Board on October 29 about the subject. See http://www.geocities.com/fmturf/health.html. And yet, Cottrell had the audacity to claim after the vote on November 19 that any word of turf endangering students’ health warranted a postponement of the turf project!
What had changed suddenly between October 29 and November 19? SynTurf.org would speculate the Board changed its mind for now because the proposed moratorium legislation might nix the state financial help for the project. This would put the entire financial burden of the project on the residents/taxpayers, who already in 2004 had shown no stomach for such extravagant projects. Therefore, by taking a necessary wait-and-see attitude, the Board at the same time placated the anti-turf action group, which was quick to commend the Board of Education for its prudent decision. See http://www.geocities.com/fmturf/health.html.
The following is an excerpt from a concerned parent in the Fayetteville-Manlius community, which offers a sober analysis of the isuues that require attention:
“[I]t is important that the public becomes informed about the pros and cons of synthetic turf and the potential health hazards associated with tire crumbs. There is a plethora of information to sift through. We must be certain that we scrutinize the articles we read in order to evaluate the information as biased or unbiased, strong or weak, valid or invalid. We are in an advantageous position to learn what there is to know about tire crumbs and to make an educated choice about whether or not to install this type of turf on high school playing fields. We can either choose to follow the recommendations from certain groups who advise that more data is needed in order to properly assess the potential health hazards associated with tire crumbs before exposing our children to this material, or we can choose to proceed with the installation of this type of synthetic turf playing field because we are comfortable with the available evidence that it is indeed safe. The choice is ours, but we cannot turn back the clock and pretend that we didn’t know both sides of the argument.” For more of this editorial/guest column, see Valerie Clarke, “Synthetic Turf: Is it safe?” in cnylink.com (Eagle Newspapers), December 12, 2007, available at http://cnylink.com/cnynews/article.php?article_id=tP1197476171t4760094b0ac94.
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[No. 13] Newton, Mass.: Green Decade Coalition Takes a Stand
The following is a reprint of a message from Green Decade Coalition/Newton published in its flagship newsletter Green News, vol. 17, no. 6 (November/December 2007), page 3, available at http://www.greendecade.org/download/GD.News11-12.07.pdf. Also available in print edition of Newton TAB, Septemebr5, 2007, and on Newton TAB website at http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/archive/x1185659873.
Turf issues. The Green Decade Coalition/Newton (GDC/N) urges the Board of Aldermen to require a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impact for the proposed Newton South High School synthetic turf, prior to moving forward with any decision. The GDC/N understands that there are many factors (economics, usage, maintenance, etc.) that must be weighed in determining whether or not to install synthetic turf. However, we feel that the environmental factors have not been weighed adequately to make an informed decision.
Included in an environmental assessment, the City should perform a comprehensive environmental life cycle assessment of the synthetic turf against the best natural alternatives, which would be a grass field using organic fertilizers and the appropriate drainage system to mitigate runoff problems. This life cycle assessment would include the evaluation of installation impact, water use, fertilizers, maintenance, and replacement over a 50-year life period.
A geotechnical analysis must also be conducted. We understand this analysis is part of the proposal to build the Field Turf. The decision should be made separately from one related to synthetic turf, as it could have similar implications for natural turf.
Finally, since the fields ultimately drain into the Charles River, we need to include assessments from the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA), allowing us to analyze the runoff implications. This assessment should investigate water runoff implications of the installation as well as the impacts of regular use.
We understand that there is an environmental cost to maintaining the natural fields or installing synthetic alternatives, and that there is great pressure to use and enjoy the public lands. However, the environmental factors will ultimately have direct impact on the health and safety of our children and the City, and we feel that it is imperative that we understand these implications before moving forward with the synthetic turf option.
This statement from GDC/N was sent to all members of the Board of Aldermen and published in the Newton TAB newspaper.
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[No. 12] Fairfield, Conn., November 8, 2007 -- Environmental Agency Nixes Turf Project. On November 6, 2007, the Connecticut Inland Wetl | |
