Keavany: Put moratorium on synthetic turf

June 06. 2016 11:51PM

There has been much discussion and a great deal of heated rhetoric lately regarding the use of synthetic turf (comprised of monofilament carpet with tired derived “crumb rubber” infill) in Medway. Those in favor argue that synthetic turf is a cost effective alternative to natural grass. However those opposed to synthetic turf are very concerned about the long-term effects that these materials may have on our children. To date limited studies on synthetic turf have estimated that any potential release of toxic chemicals would be “below the levels of concern.”
On February 12, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched a multi-agency action plan to study key environmental human health questions related to crumb rubber exposure. In April 2016 a group of concerned parents from Medway got together and filed a citizens petition (Article 1) which would put a three-year moratorium on the installation of synthetic turf with crumb rubber infill in the town. Their goal is to obtain more information about the long term effects of tire derived crumb rubber infill and its potential effects on the children that play on these fields.
For the record I am not a scientist, researcher or doctor. I am simply a concerned parent of three school-aged children (10, 9 and 5 years of age) who play sports regularly. I do not know what the results of the EPA study will be but I see NO downside to approving a temporary halt of any further installation of tire derived crumb rubber until we have a better idea of the long term impact to our children.
On Thursday, June 9, the residents of Medway will vote on Article 1, which will put a 3-year moratorium on the engineering, planning, construction or installation of any synthetic turf (monofilament carpet with tire derived infill). What does this mean? Voting YES on the article only affects the future use of tire-derived crumb rubber, nothing more. Existing fields can still be used and public parks projects can still move forward using alternative materials. I urge all Medway residents to vote YES on Article 1 to allow the EPA the time to research this topic more extensively.
LUKE KEAVANY
Medway

http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20160606/OPINION/160607119