Artificial Turf - 2019
On Wed., Dec. 18, Warwick school district voters must decide a bond issue that includes two artificial turf fields. Sustainable Warwick has taken no official position on the artificial turf question, but we feel it is our responsibility to inform the public of information which may not be generally known.
Artificial turf is plastic (petroleum-based) and must be replaced about every ten years and sent to a landfill or, the company claims, recycled (for an undisclosed cost, with undisclosed pollution in the process).
Artificial turf can contain a variety of harmful chemicals, including lead. Questions about runoff from the turf and about health and safety of playing on these fields are far from settled. Testing is currently being done, but meanwhile, the Children’s Environmental Health Center of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai called for a moratorium on new artificial fields in 2017. It is understandable that LAN, the engineering firm selling the turf, would claim that there are no problems with it, but that position is obviously biased.
Unfortunately, the turf proposal has been bundled with other capital improvements. This leaves residents with a difficult decision. Those unwilling to accept the environmental and health and welfare issues with artificial turf may choose to vote “No” on this proposal.
Voting is at locations where you vote on school budgets: Pine Island Fire House, Warwick Middle School, and Kings School.
For more information, see an article and letters to the editor (including one from a student athlete and one from a former Town Board member):
https://www.recordonline.com/opinion/20191210/vote-no-for-artificial-turf-in-warwick-school-district