Groups Urge a Moratorium on City Use of Artificial Turf

Print the attached letter and send it to the Mayor about this important issue!

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Several environmental and civic groups are calling for a moratorium on the use of artificial turf in new sports fields in the city, and question the seriousness with which the Bloomberg administration is investigating the turf’s potential hazards.

In a letter to the city’s parks and health commissioners, dated Thursday, the groups say the installation of such fields should be suspended pending the results of a review of health risks being conducted by the health department.

“The city has a responsibility to protect children, and a vested interest in protecting the environment,” the letter states. “Yet even as evidence suggested that artificial turf may pose health risks and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene initiated its review, the Parks Department continued to make plans to install dozens more artificial-turf fields. The Parks Department has shown little interest in studying artificial turf’s effects on health and the environment.”

The letter adds, “This brings into question the agencies’ commitment to conducting a thorough health and safety review of artificial turf.”

The call for a moratorium is part of a growing concern among parents, public health officials and environmentalists about synthetic-turf fields. Thousands of the fields have been installed nationwide in recent years, including 77 in the city during the past decade. Twenty-three more are planned.

from:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/29/nyregion/29turf.html