Letter: Misleading And False Statements Abound Regarding Track/Field Redesign

The following letter was sent to the Amherst Town Council and the Amherst School Committee on December 1, 2022.

I have been dismayed by the inaccurate and misleading statements about artificial turf made during public comment and the recent council and school committee meetings. I have listed some of these below. Misleading and false statements are in italics.

1.Option 2 (grass field) will offer minimal gain over current conditions:  Option 2 will enlarge the track to eight lanes and enable the school to host large track events. It will also enlarge the field and improve drainage which would make the field more functional. 

2. Artificial turf is safe.  This is contradicted by the scientific consensus. I have found no support from independent scientists or labs to support that contention that exposure to or ingestion of low levels of PFAS are safe.  All synthetic turf fields contain and shed PFAS because these substances are in the plastic grass blades and the padding. All synthetic turf fields also require infill and even the alternatives to crumb rubber, for instance corkonut, contain a wide array of chemicals the safety of which has yet to be evaluated (TURI study – see below). These substances are inhaled and absorbed by those playing on the field and leach into the ground and underlying water table. All synthetic turf fields leach PFAS into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

3. We have already collected all of the information that we need on PFAS .The council requested but has not yet received advice from the Board of Health, due to meeting scheduling. It is irresponsible to make a decision without the input of our public health team. Other communities have brought in environmental health consultants, exposure scientists, and toxicologists to assist them in making a comprehensive assessment of the health hazards posed by synthetic turf. I see no evidence of a similar effort to understand the health hazards here in Amherst.

4. Artificial turf is cheaper than grass. The Weston and Sampson proposal states that it is more expensive to install and maintain artificial turf. Artificial turf is NOT recyclable at this time.  W&S mention a new plant that is to come on line next year. Dr. Kyla Bennett, an expert witness at the Nantucket hearing says they have been making this claim for years. The initial cost of synthetic turf is at least $1 million more than grass, a sum that could be put toward substantial maintenance of grass fields.

5. Not doing option 3 will condemn generations of students to substandard fields. The boosters won’t raise money for an option that does not have artificial turf. This attitude WILL disadvantage (and punish) athletes. But putting that aside, there is almost enough money to finance option 2 (grass) if CPA funds, the regional school funds, and the Amherst free cash are used. No doubt, others opposed to artificial turf would donate to that plan. Also, the track and artificial turf would need to be redone/replaced in 10 years. If a safe synthetic turf exists in the future, it can be laid then. Currently, there is no safe artificial alternative.

6.  Grass is too expensive to maintain: The town does not maintain its facilities well. The track should have been resurfaced 10 years ago. An artificial turf field is not maintenance free. If it is not maintained, including frequent grooming, replenishing the infill, repairing damage, disinfecting, cleaning, etc. it will be dangerous to play on and won’t yeild a full ten year use life. . We don’t own any of the specialized equipment needed to maintain an artificial turf field and this has not been budgeted.  Replacement/disposal costs have also not been included in long term capital planning.

7. Proponents of artificial turf contend that data cited by critics is old and does not consider safer, new formulations of synthetic turf.  This is false.  New data are released almost daily. And with each passing month the dangers appear more ominous not less and support the argument that there is no such thing as safe synthetic turf. Many towns are grappling with this issue now.

8.  Grass fields require too much water to maintain and are difficult to sustain during drought conditions. People even suggested that the school might need its own well to maintain them sufficiently. This plan only replaces one of the eight fields with synthetic  turf. The other seven will still need to be watered and artificial turf also requires watering, particularly on hot days to decrease the extreme temperatures on the field

9. PFAS levels in synthetic turf are so low as to be insignificant: Fact: PFAS are so dangerous that their presence is measured in parts per trillion.  And they are bioaccumulating so that they build up in the soil and in people who take them in through ingestion, contact, and inhalation.  The truth is, we don’t know what the long-term effects of such intake are but as exposure scientist Courtney Carnignan testified at Nantucket – the dangers can’t be dismissed and need to be studied.  The consensus of the expert panel at Nantucket is that there is not a safe level of PFAS exposure.

Maura Keene M.D.

Maura Keene is a retired obstetrician-gynecologist at BayState Health Systems. Her four children are graduates of the Amherst schools. She has lived in Amherst since 1982. She is a frequent contributor to the Amherst Indy.

Selected Bibliography:

Videos

Nantucket Public Workshop On Synthetic Turf And PFAS Risk with a select panel of scientists and representatives from Weston and Sampson (2022)

Toxic Use Reducation Institute Webinar: Environmental Health Impacts of Synthetic Turf and Safe Alternatives (2021)

PFAS In Synthetic Turf: Why It is There And How It Escapes Into The Environment. Graham Peaslee, Professor of Chemistry, Physics and Biochemistry, University of Nortre Dame. Special Meeting, Woodbridge Connecticut.

Articles
Boston Bans Artificial Turf In City Parks Due To Toxic Forever Chemicals. The Guardian
Our Community Has Been Deceived.  Turf Wars Mount Over PFAS.  Greenwire.  (2022)
Synthetic Turf Hazards: What We Know About Synthetic Turf Fields. Nontoxic Communities (2022)
Turf Wars Play Out Across Massachusetts, WGBH (2022)
Mt Greylock School Committee Advances Grass Playing Field Option. Iberkshires.  (2022)
Artificial Turf Cancer Lawsuit. Jared Firestone/Expert Institute (2022)
Synthetic Turf Laboratory Testing And Analysis Summary Report. Martha’s Vineyard Commission (2021)
Wayland Enacts Turf Field Moratorium.  Elects Grass Option.  Patch.com
National Football Players Association Asking All Teams To Switch To Grass Fields. AP (2021)
Settlement Means US Women’s Soccer Team Will No Longer Have To Play On Artificial Turf. USA Today. (2020)
Per- and Poly-fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Artificial Turf Carpet. Toxics Use Reduction Institute (2020)
Horsley Witten Group Case Study Of High School Athletic Field Proposal For The Martha’s Vineyard Commission (2020)
Toxic PFAS Found In Blades Of Artificial Grass In Frankiin. Boston Globe (2019)
Artificial Turf May Equal Real Litigation. Atty James L. Ferraro (2016)

Letters

Nantucket Land Council’s Recommendation Against Installation of Artificial Turf (2022)
Letter From Children’s Environmental Health Center. Icahn School Of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital (2021)

Case Studies On Natural Turf
Natural Grass Playing Fields.  Dennison Univeristy (2021)
Springfield’s Organic Natural Grass Playing Field Case Study. (2019)