Questions About Article 1 asked by Medway Youth Lacrosse: Answered

Medway Youth Lacrosse sent out an email to it's subscriber's list on June 7th.  The petitioners have collaborated to answer some of the questions posed in Medway Youth Lacrosse email, our responses are in green, links in blue.

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From: Dan Doherty <Notification@leagueathletics.com>

Date: Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Subject: We need your support: Special Town Meeting on 6/9!

Supporters or Medway Youth Lacrosse,

There is a special town meeting being held at the Medway HS on 6/9.  We are asking for your support and attendance as there is an article that is very important to the youth sports programs in Medway.  The proposed article would put a moratorium on building and construction improvements too our new turf fields: This is incorrect.  In a meeting and discussions with the Town of Medway in early May, the petitioners agreed to include language in the article to clarify that Article 1 does NOT affect the maintenance, repair or use of current fields is to be inserted into the article on the floor through our main motion.  This Moratorium addresses NEW construction, NOT existing fields.

(see article below and entire town meeting articles attached)

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ARTICLE 1: (Synthetic Turf and Tire Derived Materials Moratorium) To determine whether the Town of Medway will adopt a moratorium on the engineering, planning, construction or installation of any synthetic turf (monofilament carpet with infill), any surface covering of loose fill and playground pour-in-place surface covering made from tire derived material on any land, of any size, owned by the town for a three-year time period starting on June 1, 2016 and ending on June 1, 2019: or take any other action relative thereto. This moratorium does not include pour-in-place surfaces that are currently in use on running tracks or intended for use on running tracks e.g. the Hanlon Field running track. Town land includes, but is not limited to, that of the Medway Public Schools but does not include private land. CITIZEN PETITION

1. Citizen’s main motion will include a strike of the playground pour-in-place language as noted above.
2. Language to clarify that Article 1 does NOT affect the maintenance, repair or use of current fields will be inserted into the article on the floor through our main motion.

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Although Medway has no plans to build any new fields, there are some open questions regarding potential unintended consequences if the town is to pass this moratorium with specific language related to "monofilament carpet with infill" or "tire derived material".  These include, but are not limited to:

• Why should we do this now?

            ANSWER from PETITIONERS:  

With regards to building of new fields: The best time to say you are not going to do something, is the time when you don't intend or plan to do something. 

Even though tire crumb rubber sport and play surfaces are widely played on, little is known about their risks to health and safety -- especially to vulnerable populations, like toddlers, and to participants with especially high exposure who come in frequent contact with the tire-derived rubber infill. To date, studies on the health effects from exposure to tire-derived crumb rubber have only been partial assessments or did not accurately reflect realistic playing conditions.

In February 2016, Mount Sinai announced a very clear position on the use of Crumb rubber advising a moratorium nation-wide:  Dr. Robert Wright, chair of the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City states:  "We are advising against the use of crumb rubber fields until safety is proven. This is because the product is made from recycled automobile tires, which are well known to contain metals and other toxic chemicals. Some components of tire rubber are linked to cancer and others are toxic to the nervous and other systems."  

Furthermore:

“Position: Based upon the presence of known toxic substances in tire rubber and the lack of comprehensive safety studies, The Children’s Environmental Health Center of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai urges a moratorium on the use artificial turf generated from recycled rubber tires.”

In February of 2016, the Federal Government announced the launch of a multi-agency investigation into the safety of tire derived materials, find out more here: https://www.epa.gov/chemical-research/federal-research-recycled-tire-crumbs-used-playing-fields

A quick synopsis of the Federal Study taken direct from their website: “This coordinated Federal Research Action Plan on Recycled Tire Crumb Used on Playing Fields and Playgrounds includes outreach to key stakeholders, such as athletes and parents, and seeks to:

   

•  Fill important data and knowledge gaps

•  Characterize constituents of recycled tire crumb

•  Identify ways in which people may be exposed to tire crumb based on their activities on the fields.”
 

• Is there a risk of suspending use?

ANSWER from PETITIONERS:  
The petitioners are not suggesting suspending use of the current fields, Article 1 simply pauses the use of any more tire-derived materials for 3 years, on NEW creation only.  The current fields will be open for use, repaired or maintained and replenished as the Town and various sports groups see fit.

• Could we potentially have to stop using these fields completely?

ANSWER from PETITIONERS: No, Article 1 does not affect the use of the current  synthetic turf fields in the Town of Medway.  Until the Federal agencies complete their study, there is no advisement or direction from the Federal agencies on use of current fields.

• Does this now imply that the Town of Medway acknowledges some sort of health risk?

ANSWER from PETITIONERS:  No, this is a citizen’s petition of fellow parents and residents. A vote YES would simply pause any NEW engineering, planning, construction or installation of tire-derived loose material for three years.

 

• Is there any potential financial liability to the Town as a result of this if passed?

ANSWER from PETITIONERS: We suggest this question be answered by the Town of Medway Finance Committee, at this time (June 7 2016) there has been no response from Town Legal Counsel on the fiscal liability question.
The petitioners believe that the potential financial liability to the town would be greater if the Federal Government/EPA comes out with guidance that negatively impacts the use of tire-derived loose material without the moratorium in place.
Additionally, the main concern of the petitioners is the health and safety of our children.  

There are many questions still to be answered but there seems to be a lack of awareness that this meeting is happening outside of the group of petitioners.  In cases such as this, often the organizing group attends the meeting and is able to approve the article as proposed with little or no opposition. This may NOT be in the best interest of the programs that are using the fields! ANSWER from PETITIONERS: it is in the best interest of our entire community because:

A three-year moratorium will allow time for the current research on synthetic turf and tire-derived surface materials to be carried out.  From the data gathered, scientists and public health professionals will be better able to assess the risks involved in using these materials.  We will continue to monitor this research and its conclusions and wish to communicate it to the relevant town boards. Since there are no known artificial turf fields or playgrounds currently being planned, this moratorium will ensure that the Town of Medway will have ample time to make a considered and informed policy about these materials for the future use.  A vote in favor of this Moratorium would provide our Community the option to avoid the unknown while still improving our recreational facilities.

Please take an hour Thursday night and come and be heard.  We spent a lot of state and town money to create great facilities that are now the envy of our neighboring towns. It would be a shame to risk that because we are unaware or too busy to attend this meeting.

Thank you for your support!

We hope to see you Thursday night!

Sincerely,

Medway Youth Lacrosse