A Walk in the Park: artificial turf

Showing posts with label artificial turf. Show all posts

Friday, December 27, 2013

EPA Retracts Artificial Turf Safety Assurances

Country Wide

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has retracted its prior assurances regarding the safety of artificial turf.

The agency

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) filed a complaint against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more than three years ago under the Data Quality Act which requires information distributed by federal agencies be complete, objective and reliable.

Incrementalism is alive and well," PEER's Executive Director Jeff Ruch told A Walk In The Park in reaction to the news.

On December 16, the EPA stated that its study of lead levels in artificial turf fields and playground was outdated and agreed to "more accurately reflect and study objective and results" on a press release and its website.

PEER also filed a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commission which has ordered an enforcement review of marketing of artificial turf products for children because the agency has found lead levels in artificial sports fields above statutory limits in children’s products.

The federal agency finally responded to the complaint with, "glacier-like speed, " Mr. Ruch said.

- Geoffrey Croft

Country Wide

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stepped back from prior safety assurances about artificial turf in response to an administrative complaint filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the non-profit group said in a press release.

The agency has posted new cautions concerning unexplored chemical exposure to more than 30 compounds found in synthetic shredded tire turf, including arsenic, lead, cobalt, mercury and trichloroethylene, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) which had filed a complaint with the agency.

On March 21st, PEER issued a retraction demand to EPA that a 2009 study and press release expressing a “Low Level of Concern” about synthetic turf was based on flawed and limited science, in violation of federal information quality standards. In an initial response to the PEER complaint dated December 16, 2013, EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development Lek Kadeli ordered the press release summarizing the study to be prominently stamped with a notice that it was “outdated” with a link to a new posting stressing the need for “future studies” to enable “more comprehensive conclusions.”

“We are gratified that EPA has taken this small and grudging step toward a more responsible position reflecting synthetic turf exposure risks,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting industry claims that approximately 4,500 synthetic turf fields have been installed across the U.S., each sitting atop in-fill consisting of between 20,000 and 40,000 shredded tires. “EPA now admits that it has no idea about the extent of chemical exposure to children and athletes playing on these surfaces.”

The sole study on artificial turf that EPA conducted was back in 2009 when it took air and surface samples from three athletic fields and from one playground. The testing looked only at one chemical on brand new fields without levels of activity typical on a field or playground and ignored the role of heat in chemical release. EPA has refused to retract the study but now states that the study was “very limited” and provides no basis “to extend the results beyond the four study sites…”

The PEER complaint was filed under the Data Quality Act which requires information distributed by federal agencies be complete, objective and reliable. While EPA guidelines suggest the agency should respond to these complaints for correction within 90 days, in this case EPA took nearly nine months. PEER has the option to appeal this decision and seek full retraction of the now discounted study.

Back in 2009, EPA’s own Office of Inspector General took it to task for endorsing reuse of industrial materials such as coal ash and shredded tires without conducting any credible risk assessments of those practices. While EPA promised to address this criticism, documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by PEER indicate that no reportable progress has been made.

“By blindly promoting so-called ‘beneficial’ reuse of tire crumbs and other toxic industrial wastes, EPA has shirked its public health duties,” Ruch added.

“EPA claims that minimizing chemical exposures to children is one of its top priorities yet through its slow-walking of synthetic turf studies, children on playgrounds and sports fields across the country are left to serve as human guinea pigs.”

In response to another PEER complaint, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has ordered an enforcement review of marketing of artificial turf products for children because the agency has found lead levels in artificial sports fields above statutory limits in children’s products. Significantly, there is no safe lead exposure level for children.

PEER - December 27, 2013

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

EPA Retracts Artificial Turf Safety Assurances

New York City has allowed hundreds of fields to be installed in parks and schools without testing. With no regular maintenance many of the costly fields began falling apart within a few years, further endangering the public. The elected officials forced the taxpayers to barrow the funds in order to pay for them. (Photo: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Parks Advocates) click on image to enlarge.

"Incrementalism is alive and well," Jeff Ruch Executive Director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) told A Walk In The Park in reaction to the EPA news.

PEER filed a complaint against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more than three years ago under the Data Quality Act which requires information distributed by federal agencies be complete, objective and reliable.

The federal agency responded to the complaint with "glacier-like speed," Ruch said.

Country Wide

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stepped back from prior safety assurances about artificial turf in response to an administrative complaint filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

The agency has posted new cautions concerning unexplored chemical exposure to more than 30 compounds found in synthetic shredded tire turf, including arsenic, lead, cobalt, mercury and trichloroethylene, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

“EPA now admits that it has no idea about the extent of chemical exposure to children and athletes playing on these surfaces.”

“By blindly promoting so-called ‘beneficial’ reuse of tire crumbs and other toxic industrial wastes, EPA has shirked its public health duties,” Ruch added.

PEER - December 24, 2013

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Artificial Turf Health Hazards Questioned Again In NYC Parks

J. J. Walker Field - Manhattan. The field at James J.Walker Park (bordered by Hudson, Clarkson, Carmine and St. Luke’s Place) was tested for lead on January 8, 2009 and registered 240 ppm — but the city is only now getting around to removing it. Its replacement, in the design phase, will cost $1.6 million. The field is heavily used by Little leagues. (Photos By Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

Chelsea Now has a front page 2,000 plus word article on the controversy surrounding health issues involving artificial turf, entitled, City parks: Paradise, paved over, hazardous to health? The City is spending millions of dollars to replace three Chelsea fields. The City continues to misrepresent heath and safety issues to elected officials, community boards, and stake holders like little leagues, when questioned about artificial turf safety. The article includes a number of embarrassing misrepresentations made by a Bloomberg administration Parks Department official.

“All turf fields were tested in 2009, and elevated lead levels were NOT found in the fields,” Philip Abramson, DPR spokesperson stressed. But a look at the Parks Department’s own website — which lists lead levels in city parks in all five boroughs — shows that many park surfaces come close to or exceed the new 100 ppm standard established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in November 2008.

The article comes on the heals of an artificial turf expose published in City Limits which recently won an Ippie Award for Best Investigative Story of 2010 for its in-depth examination of how New York City became the world's largest buyer of fake grass. - Geoffrey Croft

Manhattan

It is finally time for those pale, winter-weary bodies to get in shape at one of the city’s 800 athletic fields. But if you’re expecting “natural” to be part of nature, wake up and smell the artificial turf. Paradise has been paved over — and some of it may be hazardous to your health.

Misled about lead

In December 2008, the NYC Health Department tested and found elevated lead levels in the crumb rubber infill material at Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem — 502 ppm (parts per million, equivalent to milligrams per kilogram) — four times greater than allowed in soil. They closed down the field, which has since been replaced. The field at James J.Walker Park (bordered by Hudson, Clarkson, Carmine and St. Luke’s Place) was tested for lead on January 8, 2009 and registered 240 ppm — but the city is only now getting around to removing it. Its replacement, in the design phase, will cost $1.6 million.

Chelsea Park Field - Manhattan. Installed in 1998 for $1.3 million, the Astroturf-style nylon-carpet field in Chelsea Park on West 27th Street and 10th Avenue was the Parks Department's first artificial turf field. Its replacement, slated to open sometime this spring, is a 50,000-square-foot state-of-the-art field made from synthetic rubber. It is calculated to cost between $1.9 and $2.3 million, almost double the original amount.

“These fields are only being replaced because of their age and due to wear and tear, said Philip Abramson, a spokesperson for the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation. “All turf fields were tested in 2009, and elevated lead levels were NOT found in the fields,” he stressed. But a look at the Parks Department’s own website — which lists lead levels in city parks in all five boroughs — shows that many park surfaces come close to or exceed the new 100 ppm standard established by the federal Environmental Protection Agency in November 2008.

“The city did a composite test, which is problematic because this method hides hot spots,” stated Geoffrey Croft, head of the watchdog group NYC Park Advocates. For most of the fields and play areas, the method was a composite sample of crumb rubber collected from five areas within each field or play area, which were then analyzed for lead. They took individual tests in Thomas Jefferson Park, the way it’s supposed to be done, and it was shut down.

“One hundred million pounds of recycled tires have been dumped into our park system. They’ve taken out natural turf to put in this petroleum-based plastic in our fields,” said Croft. “Over 49 chemicals are in these fields, including some that are carcinogenic, and they never did a single test before the material was put in, in addition to spending hundreds of million of dollars on it. We finally forced the city to test in 2009 — ten years after they began installing the product — and that’s when they found those high lead levels.

“There is no doctor in the world that will tell you that exposure to any level of lead is acceptable. The city wants to hide the fact that they never did any tests,” Croft added.

According to the Parks Department website, there are 136 athletic fields across the city that are composed of synthetic turf material (99 crumb rubber infill, made from recycled ground-up car and truck tires; 19 alternative material infill and 16 carpet-style. In addition to the playing fields, there are 19 small play areas (15 crumb rubber infill and four carpet-style), often within playgrounds that are made of synthetic turf.

Lead was first discovered in an Astroturf field in Newark, N.J., in fall 2007 — the same material used in Chelsea Park. It was found to have up to ten times the amount of lead that is allowed in soil. A Parks Department source, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that discovery alerted the agency to potential problems. But Abramson said, “moving forward,” the city is indeed mandating that contractors comply with the new 100 ppm lead levels. “Contractors must submit heavy metal test results for both fibers and infill prior to a field’s installation. We no longer install infill made out of crumb rubber from recycled tires. Newer technologies have emerged, which have replaced it. They include alternative infills, like virgin rubber, elastomer coated sand, acrylic-coated sand, thermoplastic elastomer and coconut fiber,” he said.

Chelsea Waterside Park at 23rd Street. Under Construction - Fall 2010. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn allocated $ 500,000 as part of the field's replacement. The field is part of Hudson River Park.

The Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) manages Chelsea Waterside Park at 23rd Street. Their new synthetic field, put in three months ago, cost $279,000. But adding in the cost of the new perimeter fence raises the expenditure to $876,150. Council Speaker Christine Quinn provided $500,000 of the funding in the FY2010 capital budget. “The field was replaced due to the conditions of the turf, which was ripped up, had holes in it and had to be patched with Duct tape instead of turf,” said HRPT spokesperson, David Katz, Vice President, Marketing & Events, in an email.

“We are aware of the health and environmental concerns about certain artificial turf products that have been raised and discussed publicly over the last few years and have been tracking the issue closely. This includes monitoring product reports and independent studies, including one conducted by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation on artificial turf’s use in New York City. We also conducted tests on existing fields in the park. Nothing in the research or findings has persuaded us to discontinue selected use of artificial turf in the park because of health or safety concerns. Hudson River Park has been using artificial turf at the fields at Chelsea Waterside and Pier 40 since 1999,” Katz stated.

A handful of City Council members introduced a bill in 2008 (though the hearing was in 2009) to seek the banning of crumb rubber and crumb rubber infill on surfaces used for recreational purposes, but it did not pass because it faced a lot of opposition, not only from the Parks Department, but also from athletic groups and others who came to testify, a City Council source told Chelsea Now.

In September 2008, California’s state attorney general sued three artificial turf manufacturers for violating the state’s Proposition 65 environmental law “by knowingly failing to disclose that their products contain lead,” reported the Los Angeles Times. “Children and other individuals can ingest harmful levels of lead by absorbing it through the skin or by rubbing the ersatz grass and then touching food or their mouths, the suit contends…Although artificial turf presents little or no danger when it is new, lead levels rise to potentially harmful levels as it gets older...it forms more dust…and could contain levels of lead that are more than 20 times what’s allowed by Proposition 65,” the deputy attorney general stated.

New York State has not enacted any artificial turf legislation that would require testing or disclosing to the public that a product contains lead. One of the three companies named in the lawsuit was FieldTurf USA Inc. of Florida, the company that put down the turf at Chelsea Waterside Park. “We are aware that this is one of the brands that was previously sued,” said Katz, “but FieldTurf agreed to eliminate lead from their products, among other changes.”

Feel the heat — and other hazards

Another danger posed by artificial turf is the heat it generates. In July 2010, NYC Park Advocates took temperature readings at a dozen city parks before noon. Artificial turf fields measured over 170 degrees, the highest temperature recorded in three years of monitoring. By 9:15am, the temperature had risen to over 140 degrees. “Young children are particularly susceptible as it can take only two seconds to burn on solid surfaces greater than 140 degrees, according to doctors,” said Croft. “Exposure to artificial turf can lead to blisters, dehydration, nausea and heat stroke, which can lead to death.”

In addition to the burn risk, in February 2009 then Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum testified before the Committee on Parks and Recreation Hearing on Artificial Turf that it could potentially contribute to the urban heat island effect. “The heat gets trapped in there,” said Croft. “Grass runs about 70 to 80 degrees cooler, it’s natural, creates oxygen, cleans the air and absorbs water.” Croft recently debated a spokesperson for the synthetic turf council on NY1, and the man admitted that the fields are “only hot on sunny, cloudless days.”

The Parks Department has issued a heat advisory on its website, instructing field staff about potential heat-related risks involving synthetic turf, “including overheating and dehydration.” Parks has posted signs at all synthetic turf fields cautioning the public about heat-related illnesses and is using a number of alternative infill materials that retain less heat than crumb rubber, acknowledged Abramson. The City Council passed a local law in 2009 that requires signs to be posted in parks that warn of the heat dangers. But there was a feeling at the time from advocates that the language wasn’t strong enough, the City Council source said.

“We have also installed water ‘misters’ near the benches of fields that might get particularly hot in an effort to allow players to cool down more easily, and we continue to look for ways to reduce the summertime temperatures on synthetic turf fields,” said Abramson. “It is important to note that playing on an asphalt lot would present the same heat-related concerns.”

Another concern, noted Gotbaum, is that because synthetic turf does not absorb water like natural turf, it increases storm water run-off, which “may also carry toxic elements picked up from the turf into our sewers and waterways,” she said.

Chelsea Now asked Abramson what happens to discarded turf — is it dumped into landfill or rivers — but his answer was succinct and only related to Chelsea Park. “The field at Chelsea that was removed was made out of carpet — not crumb rubber — and it was removed by our contractor as construction debris,” he replied.

July 11. 2010. Falling Apart - Brooklyn, NY. Throwing Good Money After Bad. Despite investing hundreds of millions of dollars in artificial turf - like natural turf fields - the City has no maintenance plan, or money for upkeep. Some fields are falling apart after only a few years.

Wear, tear and maintenance

One of the primary reasons the city has been laying down synthetic turf is its alleged durability and low maintenance. Said Abramson, “A synthetic turf field is expected to last eight to ten years, whereas a heavily used natural grass field wears down quicker without adequate rest, reseeding and extensive care. Synthetic turf fields are typically utilized for about 3,000 hours of play per year, with no rest required, the equivalent of three to four well-maintained natural turf fields. In addition, synthetic turf maintenance costs are two to three times less than natural turf, since no mowing, irrigation or chemicals are needed.”

The Parks Department calculates the annual cost for the upkeep of one grass athletic field as $14,000, including equipment and staffing — although there has never been any evidence to support that figure, reported City Limits. For instance, the Central Park Conservancy, a public-private partnership, hasn’t replaced the grass fields of the Great Lawn since it was renovated over 12 years ago.

The Parks Department source told Chelsea Now that the synthetic turf “has a lot of failings,” lasts five to seven years “and then starts to unravel and deteriorate in different ways.” City Limits did a random survey of 56 artificial fields last summer and discovered 25, or 46%, “in serious state of disrepair, with gaps, tears and holes forming obvious hazards.” The Parks source said the Parks Department knows all of this. “We have tried to tell them since 2004.” In fact, an internal Parks Department memo from 2006 reported that inspected turf installed only three to five years before “displayed problems” and “defects ranging from disintegrating fibers and carpet wrinkling to shredded seams and playing lines ripped out completely.”

The source continued, “Fiscally, it’s problematic because when it starts to deteriorate, it’s capital money to put down a new carpet and the old, plastic carpet goes to landfill. It’s a better playing surface than asphalt fields, but it wasn’t good for replacing natural turf or passive use areas.”

But now, the city is beginning to use artificial turf in passive areas as well, i.e., where people lounge to take in the sun. “There is even less justification than for athletic fields. They no longer use crumb rubber, but there is still the heat issue, and we don’t always know what is in the material they are putting down,” the City Council source stated. Legislation is currently pending to ban the use of artificial turf in passive areas, sponsored by Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito, whose district includes Thomas Jefferson Park.

Croft posits that the city refuses to allocate maintenance dollars to take care of fields. “It’s called recapitalization of parks. You fix it up, watch it disintegrate over the years and then need to spend money again. The public needs to demand accountability of these elected officials. They are just allocating without asking questions.”

To date, according to Croft, only three fields that have registered lead levels have been replaced — Thomas Jefferson, J.J. Walker and Chelsea Park. “The city has not exactly rushed to fix the problem,” he stated. “And we are not even talking about all those schoolyards and playgrounds. It’s irresponsible.”

Read More:

City parks: Paradise, paved over, hazardous to health?

Chelsea Now - March 23, 2011 - By Bonnie Rosenstock

NYC Synthetic Turf Expose Wins Journalism Award

A Walk in The Park - March 25, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Parks Dept. Removes City's First Artificial Turf Field - Denies Health Risk

A Walk In The Park - November 15, 2010

Artificial Turf Suit Settled By California AG

A Walk In The Park - July 17, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Park Surfaces Top 171 Degrees!

A Walk In The Park - July 7, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft

Artificial Turf Not Holding Up According To Survey

A Walk In The Park - July 4, 2010

Wild Rabbits Disappearing from City Parks

A Walk In The Park - April 4, 2010

Dangerous Artificial Turf Fields in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

A Walk In The Park - March 6, 2010

Harris Field Contamination Debacle Continues

A Walk In The Park - January 18, 2010

David Yassky on Development & Three Promised Parks

A Walk In The Park - November 24, 2009

Syn Turf. org

Friday, March 25, 2011

NYC Synthetic Turf Expose Wins Journalism Award

"According to documents Arden obtained through the Freedom of Information Law, a group of doctors at Mt. Sinai Hospital even pleaded with the city's Health Department not to release the"deeply flawed" study exonerating turf, calling the report "superficial and one-sided." The report "does not present a fair and balanced assessment of the issues surrounding the potential health hazards of synthetic turf," the doctors wrote."

The September 2010 issue of City Limits was honored on March 3, for its in-depth report on artificial turf entitled, "Was New York City Shift To Artificial Grass A $ 300- Million dollar mistake? A Risky Play." The story was written by former Metro senior reporter Patrick Arden.

City-Wide

By Geoffrey Croft

Journalist Patrick Arden has won an Ippie Award for Best Investigative Story of 2010 for his in-depth examination of how New York City became the world's largest buyer of fake grass, investing more than $300 million to put artificial turf down at hundreds of parks and schools. The story was published in the September issue of City Limits magazine.

Arden found that overuse and chronic neglect has run the turf ragged years ahead of schedule; price comparisons generally favor natural grass, even in the long term; and the health risks of turf – largely dismissed by the city after the destruction of one artificial field for high lead levels in late 2008 – are much broader and deeper than previously reported.

While the story received some attention for its findings about wasteful spending, and the cost advantages of grass over turf, damning information on the health risks – and an apparent cover-up by the city – has been unfortunately ignored.

The city was forced to stop buying turf infill made from recycled shredded tires in 2008 after public outcry raised health numerous health concerns, but the problem material still accounts for the overwhelming majority of existing turf fields. And after having to destroy the one field in East Harlem for high lead, Arden discovered, the city changed its testing methods in an ostensive attempt to dilute lead readings.

According to documents Arden obtained through the Freedom of Information Law, a group of doctors at Mt. Sinai Hospital even pleaded with the city's Health Department not to release the "deeply flawed" study exonerating turf, calling the report "superficial and one-sided." The report "does not present a fair and balanced assessment of the issues surrounding the potential health hazards of synthetic turf," the doctors wrote, identifying several "proven and potential" hazards of synthetic turf made from recycled tires: "excessive heat," with field temperatures reaching as high as 172 degrees; MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection that can be acquired through "turf burns"; and chemical exposures. "Several credible studies" had found the crumb rubber contains "known human carcinogens" and "neurotoxic chemicals," as well as lead, chromium and arsenic.

The report, a $ 100,000 internet literature review, was prepared for New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The study titled, "A Review of the Potential Health and Safety Risks From Synthetic Turf Fields,” received a $100,000 grant from the New York Community Trust and was routinely dismissed as not credible. However this has not prevented the city from frequently promoting the report's "findings" to community boards and elected officials when questioned about artificial turf safety.

In his previous work as the senior City Hall reporter for Metro New York, Arden had exposed an orchestrated campaign by the Bloomberg administration to discredit other health professionals who raised red flags. City officials used the report discredited by doctors to insist the recycled-tire turf is "perfectly safe," a phrase Arden's City Limits story finds repeated by Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "I would never endanger a child," he said.

Since the story's publication, the city began replacing a field in Chelsea Park and is in the process of replacing a field in J.J. Walker Park in West Greenwich Village. Both were found to have elevated lead levels. Unfortunately the City continues to misrepresent this public health and safety information.

Also at the March 3 ceremony: Ithaca College's Park Center for Independent Media awarded an Izzy Award (named after the legendary maverick journalist I.F. Stone) to City Limits for 2010. The Izzy judges said the magazine's work last year provided “a model of in-depth urban journalism that examines systemic problems, challenges assumptions and points toward solutions.”

Read More:

Izzy, Ippies Honor City Limits

City Limits - March 3, 2011

Parks Dept. Removes City's First Artificial Turf Field - Denies Health Risk

A Walk In The Park - November 15, 2010

Artificial Turf Suit Settled By California AG

A Walk In The Park - July 17, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

Park Surfaces Top 171 Degrees!

A Walk In The Park - July 7, 2010 - By Geoffrey Croft

Artificial Turf Not Holding Up According To Survey

A Walk In The Park - July 4, 2010

Wild Rabbits Disappearing from City Parks

A Walk In The Park - April 4, 2010

Dangerous Artificial Turf Fields in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

A Walk In The Park - March 6, 2010

Harris Field Contamination Debacle Continues

A Walk In The Park - January 18, 2010

David Yassky on Development & Three Promised Parks

A Walk In The Park - November 24, 2009

Monday, November 15, 2010

Parks Dept. Removes City's First Artificial Turf Field - Denies Health Risk

The City is finally getting around to removing Chelsea Park Ballfields - two years after they found elevated levels of lead. Tests show that one of five dust samples from the park exceeded federal safety standards for lead. The city closed the artificial turf field - the first synthetic field installed by the Parks Department - on Monday September 20 after more than twelve years of use. The carpet style turf is being replaced by an infill type which will use "virgin rubber." The switch to the more costly virgin rubber comes after the city was finally forced to stop using infill made from recycled tires after public outcry over health and safety concerns. The tires contain a host of chemicals including some that are known to be carcinogenic. The city allowed the installation of more than 100 million pounds of recycled tires throughout our parks and playgrounds without conducting a single test before phasing out its use. The Parks Department is insisting the fields in Chelsea Park are not being removed due to health related issues.

Construction was ready to begin this Spring but the city waited until the Summer season was over in order to accommodate the increased seasonal use. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on Image to enlarge.

Manhattan

The Bloomberg administration is spending $2.2 million to replace a Chelsea athletic field -- 12 years after the site spurred a safety debate by sporting the city park system's first artificial-turf playing surface, according to the New York Post.

The Astroturf-style carpet at Chelsea Park, on West 27th Street and 10th Avenue, will be replaced with a state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot field made from synthetic rubber.

Health inspectors testing for lead found the field worn out from years of heavy use. The new field is expected to be completed by spring.

Records show that one of five dust samples from the park exceeded federal safety standards for lead. But Deputy Parks Commissioner Liam Kavanagh says the levels are so low as to pose no harm to regular users. The turf, he insists, is being replaced solely because it has surpassed its 10-year expected life span.

This is one of the heaviest-used fields in the city – there’s few like it on the West Side [of Manhattan]," he said.

But Geoffrey Croft of the watchdog group New York City Park Advocates ripped the city for "re-carpeting" the field. He estimated the city is paying twice as much by not using grass and is leaving the public open to potential "health and environmental issues" associated with synthetic turf.

Since Chelsea Park added artificial turf in 1998, the city has quickly grown into the largest municipal buyer of turf in America – adding more than 140 synthetic fields throughout its park system, according to the Independent Budget Office.

In the process, these artificial fields have become battlegrounds.

Read More:

$2M kick in the Astroturf

New York Post - By Rich Calder - November 15, 2010

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Brooklyn's "Dust Bowl" Field Naming Controversy

Unwilling to maintain and properly secure the two natural turf baseball fields in Lief Ericson Park in Bay Ridge, the City recently dumped $ 2.8 million dollars into an artificial turf field. When he was Park's Commissioner Henry Stern officially named the field "Dust Bowl," a sad symbol of the City's neglect.

Brooklyn

So what if it harkens to an environmental catastrophe in American history — if Bay Ridge wants its Dust Bowl, it will get it, according to organizers of a contest to rename a once-gritty section of a popular area park, according to The Brooklyn Paper.

“If our neighborhood chooses to [make official] a long-standing nickname, we are totally and completely supportive of that,” said Dena Libner, a spokeswoman for Councilman Vince Gentile, who, along with the Parks Department, organized a contest to rename a section of Leif Ericson Park, at Eighth Avenue and 65th Street.

The Dust Bowl, so named for its inability to grow grass, was the recipient of a $2.8-million renovation, and is now covered with a verdant carpet of synthetic turf, prompting the contest.

So does the “Dust Bowl” name kick sand in the face of history? Historians think so.

“There’s probably a more innocent name to call a piece of ground that’s dusty,” said Bob Brigman, the coordinator of the historical markers program for the Texas Historical Commission.

“Several generations removed from the event, the emotion and all the physical impact has been forgotten,” he said. “It’s like calling a boat that sinks today ‘Titanic-like’ — and they lost only three people. It’s like an echo or ripple from the original event.”

Andrew Needham, an environmental historian at New York University, agrees that naming a park “The Dust Bowl” at least reveals a lack of knowledge of the grim history of the event.

“People don’t really understand the scope of the Dust Bowl,” he said. “This is something that had people in the East Coast cleaning off dirt from the Great Plains on their window sills in Boston and New York. But it’s fallen out of people’s minds.

Today, they associate it mainly with the Joad family of ‘The Grapes of Wrath,’ or maybe ‘The Beverly Hillbillies.’ ”

He said that because the Dust Bowl has fallen out of people’s minds as an environmental disaster, the name is not offensive as, for example, naming a regulary flooded wetland, Katrina Park.

Indeed, Needham said he was far more surprised that the Parks Department would want to associate the park with the agency’s failure to properly maintain it. But that’s what former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern intended all along.

Bay Ridge’s ‘Dust Bowl’ park — insensitive to America’s great national tragedy?

The Brooklyn Paper - September 7, 2010 - By Gary Buiso

Friday, September 3, 2010

Locals Furious Over Mahoney Park Renovation- Lack Of Community Input Cited

"None of my phone calls were returned. The treatment has been very shabby, the attitude uncaring.”

Ground was broken last Thursday morning, marking the long-awaited asphalt-to-turf renovation of Mahoney Playground on Jersey Street in New Brighton Staten Island. City Councilwoman Debi Rose and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe were among the attendees. The City is installing yet another artificial-turf field in a park. Local residents complained they were never consulted on the renovation project.

Staten Island

On a sunny, cloudless summer day last Thursday morning, ground was broken in an official ceremony marking the long-awaited “asphalt-to-turf” renovation of Mahoney Playground on Jersey Street in New Brighton, according to The Staten Island Advance.

Phase 1 of the project, with a $1.7 million price tag, includes a state-of-the art synthetic-turf youth soccer and mini-football field, as well as two basketball courts, spray showers and misting stations, swings, drinking fountains, benches, and trees.

....a lot of grumbling was heard from long-time neighborhood residents, before and during the ground-breaking event.

“None of the neighbors knew about this,” said Evelyn Marshall, who has operated a day-care center on Crescent Avenue since 2000.

“It should be more kid-friendly,” said Kevin Greene, who lives on St. Mark’s Place. “This is like an adult park,” he said, after looking at the large, detailed schematic plan that was on display.

“This is a lot of crap,” fumed Donald McCombs, who lives on nearby Winter Avenue and said that he has organized programs for kids in Mahoney Park for the past 15 years.

“They shut down the park in June, and we were never notified. I put in permits with the Parks Department, and they were denied. None of my phone calls were returned. The treatment has been very shabby, the attitude uncaring.”

One flashpoint for local residents is that the renovated park will have only two basketball courts. “We used to have six courts here,” said McCombs, “before they put in the mini-pool in the 1980’s.”

Gloria McCombs, another local day-care-center operator, was furious. “They never asked what was important to us. They never talked to us. We have basketball tournaments here — we’ve been fighting for years to get lights and more basketball courts. They should have had a community meeting.”

Mahoney Park makeover draws fire from locals

The Staten Island Advance - September 2, 2010 - By Virgina N. Sherry

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Artificial Turf Suit Settled By California AG

By Geoffrey Croft

California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown announced on Friday that it had settled a lawsuit against the final two artificial turf companies it had sued in order to reduce children's lead exposure in artificial turf fields.

On September 3, 2008, the Attorney General, and the Los Angeles City Attorney and the Solano County District Attorney sued three artificial turf companies - Field Turf, USA, AstroTurf, LLC and Beaulieu, LLC - for violating Proposition 65 the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 and for unlawful business practices. The complaint alleged that the defendants failed to provide clear and reasonable warnings that their artificial turf products contain lead, and that use of, and contact with, those products resulted in exposure to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm.

The complaint further alleged that under Proposition 65,” businesses must provide persons with a “clear and reasonable warning” before exposing individuals to these chemicals, and accused the defendants failing to do so. The complaint also alleged that these acts constitute unlawful acts in violation of the Unfair Competition Law.

The settlement requires Georgia-based Beaulieu, LLC, the country's largest supplier of artificial turf to retailers, and Field Turf, USA, the nation's largest maker and installer of artificial turf fields to pay $285,000 and $212,500 in civil penalties respectively and to reformulate their products to reduce lead levels to negligible amounts.

The agreement follows a landmark settlement last year with AstroTurf, LLC. Collectively, the three companies control most of the artificial turf market, and their settlements with Brown's office establish the nation's first enforceable standards applicable to lead in artificial turf.

Brown brought the case in 2008 against these companies for excessive lead levels after testing by the Center for Environmental Health found high concentrations of lead in their products. Brown's office confirmed these findings in independent tests.

Yesterday's settlement requires Beaulieu and FieldTurf to change their products so that they contain less than 50 parts per million lead. Lab results found some artificial turf products with more than 5,000 parts per million, which is more than 10 times state and federal guidelines for content in children's products. Lead is added to the products to keep colors vibrant.

"There is no safe exposure to lead," Attorney General Brown said in a statement. "In lengthy or high exposures, it is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines and kidneys. Since excessive exposure can interfere with development of the nervous system, it is particularly dangerous in children and can cause permanent learning and behavior disorders.

Lead in artificial turf usually enters the human body hand-to-mouth. Children playing on it get lead onto their hands and stick them into their mouths. Hand washing is a good way of reducing exposure."

"Because schools, public parks and daycare centers use artificial turf, it's critical that we minimize the amount of lead it contains," Attorney General Brown continued. "Today's agreement will get the lead out of artificial turf in playgrounds and ball fields around the state."

Proposition 65 was enacted as a ballot initiative in November 1986 to protect California citizens and the State's drinking water sources from chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm, and to inform citizens about exposures to such chemicals.

In May of 2008, the California Senate passed Senator Abel Maldonado’s bill for a statewide study to examine both the environmental and public health impacts of synthetic grass in comparison to natural grass.

Unlike California, New York State does not have the same protections. New York State has refused to enact any artificial turf legislation including a law which would require testing.

Dozens of fields in New York City have been discovered to contain levels of lead. In December 2008, the Parks Department was forced to close Thomas Jefferson Field in East Harlem after the City discovered lead levels up to four times greater than those allowed in soil.

Artificial turf fields from ground up tires have been discovered to contain as many as 49 different chemicals, including a number which are carcinogenic. The fields also reach temperatures greater than 170 degrees. Environmental groups and some elected officials have called on the City to adopt a moratorium on the installation of any new fields until a protocol can be established and variety of health tests can be performed on existing fields. So far the City Council has resisted such measures. The City recently passed legislation to create a nine-member Mayorally controlled advisory committee to review any new materials being proposed for artificial turf fields and make suggestions for alternative materials. The committee's recommendations will be non-binding but will be posted online.

Reacting to the Attorney General settlement, Nancy Alderman, President of Environment and Human Health said these actions did not go far enough to protect the public.

"....the State of California has dealt with the lead that is often found in the green fibers of artificial turf to keep the green color vibrant - but they did nothing to deal with the chemicals and heavy metals found in the ground-up rubber tire in-fill. There are enormous amounts of zinc in the used rubber tire crumb in-fill as well as other harmful chemicals such as carbon black and benzene that are also often found."

California

The nation's largest artificial turf supplier and manufacturer have agreed to eliminate nearly all lead from their products as part of an agreement to settle charges that they violated California's Proposition 65 law by not including warning labels, state officials said Friday.

Beaulieu Group and FieldTurf USA Inc., both based in Georgia, had been charged with the violation in 2008 by the California attorney general, Los Angeles city attorney and the Solano County district attorney. Their products are used at public facilities, such as schools.

As part of the settlement, Beaulieu — a supplier of the turf — additionally agreed to pay for testing the lead content in its products purchased after October 2004 and installed at schools, day-care facilities and public playgrounds in the state, said California Deputy Atty. Gen. Dennis Ragen. The company is required to replace any turf that tests high in lead.

Manufacturer FieldTurf agreed to pay for testing of its products installed before November 2003 at the same kind of public facilities. It will offer discounts to replace turf found to have high lead content.

Neither company agreed to test or replace products bought by consumers.

Also in the settlement: Beaulieu will pay $285,000 and FieldTurf will pay $212,500 in civil penalties, Ragen said.

Beaulieu Group and FieldTurf USA agree to eliminate nearly all lead from their

products to settle charges that they violated California's Proposition 65

The Los Angels Times - July 16, 2010 - By Nathan Olivarez-Giles

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