www.SynTurf.org

[No. 14] Oakland, California: AG Reaches Settlement to Reduce Children's Lead Exposure in Artificial Turf. On July 16, 2010, Attorney General of California, Edmund G. Brown announced a settlement that requires two of the largest makers and installers of artificial turf to eliminate nearly all lead from their products. “Because schools, public parks and daycare centers use artificial turf, it's critical that we minimize the amount of lead it contains,” Brown said. “Today's agreement will get the lead out of artificial turf in playgrounds and ball fields around the state.” The statement went on to say:

The settlement requires Georgia-based Beaulieu, LLC, the country’s largest supplier of artificial turf to retailers, and Field Turf, USA, the nation's largest maker and installer of artificial turf fields, to reformulate their products to reduce lead levels to negligible amounts.

The agreement follows a landmark settlement last year with AstroTurf, LLC. Collectively, the three companies control most of the artificial turf market, and their settlements with Brown’s office establish the nation's first enforceable standards applicable to lead in artificial turf.

Brown brought the case in 2008 against these companies for excessive lead levels after testing by the Center for Environmental Health found high concentrations of lead in their products. Brown's office confirmed these findings in independent tests.

Today’s settlement requires Beaulieu and FieldTurf to change their products so that they contain less than 50 parts per million lead. Lab results found some artificial turf products with more than 5,000 parts per million, which is more than 10 times state and federal guidelines for content in children's products. Lead is added to the products to keep colors vibrant.

There is no safe exposure to lead. In lengthy or high exposures, it is toxic to many organs and tissues including the heart, bones, intestines and kidneys. Since excessive exposure can interfere with development of the nervous system, it is particularly dangerous in children and can cause permanent learning and behavior disorders.

Lead in artificial turf usually enters the human body hand-to-mouth. Children playing on it get lead onto their hands and stick them into their mouths. Hand washing is a good way of reducing exposure.

In addition to reformulating their products, Beaulieu agreed to pay for wipe-testing of products in California daycare facilities, schools and playgrounds that were purchased after October 2004. FieldTurf took action in 2003 to reduce lead in its turf products. This settlement requires it to replace turf fields installed in California

before November 2003 at a discount if they test high for lead, and also to reduce the lead content of its new products.

The Los Angeles City Attorney and Solano County District Attorney joined Brown in the case against the three companies. AstroTurf paid $170,000 in penalties, grants and fees, and agreed to improve its products. Beaulieu will pay $285,000 and FieldTurf will pay $212,500.

The AG’s statement is available at http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1953 or click here. For FiledTurf consent judgment click here. For Beaulieu consent judgment click here. 

[No. 13] Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota: Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission decides to ax FieldTurf after the Vikings expressed concerns about the safety of the company’s product; FieldTurf sues. The case is FieldTurf USA Inc vs Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, Hennepin County District Court, Case No. 27-CV-10-12766. It was filed May 21, 2010. According to a news report in the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal (June 17, 2010), on June 17, Judge Robert Blaeser denied FieldTurf’s request for an injunction against the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission that had awarded the bid for the field replacement at Metrodome to Sportexe, a competitor.  FieldTurf, which had installed the existing Metrodome turf in 2004, offered $458,561 for the replacement, while Sportexe’s bid came in at $495,000. The suit alleges that the MSFC’s selection was “arbitrary and capricious. ” In asking for a temporary restraining order to block Sportexe from proceeding with the planned turf replacement in July, FieldTurf asked the court to declare FieldTurf the proper awardee of the contract. “The MSFC, however, says it rejected FieldTurf’s bid after the Vikings expressed concerns about the safety of the company’s product — the main reason for replacing the Dome’s existing turf in the first place.” “’Medically, FieldTurf has proven to increase risk and severity of injury in NFL players,’ the Vikings said, according to documents filed by the commission in response to FieldTurf’s lawsuit.” “The team cites an NFL study that found the rate of anterior cruciate ligament injuries is 88 percent higher in games played on FieldTurf than in games played on grass.” “FieldTurf says the NFL findings were flawed and points to a pair of studies by Montana State University that declared FieldTurf to be safe. A 2004 study on high school sports and a 2010 study on college sports both found that games played on FieldTurf resulted in statistically fewer and less severe injuries than those played on natural grass; the college study was funded by FieldTurf, but the company did not have access to the data until after the report was published.” Source: “Judge won't block new turf at Metrodome — but fight by field-maker continues,” in Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, June 17, 2010, available at http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2010/06/14/daily42.html . Also see, John Vomhof Jr., “Metrodome field surface subject of legal turf war,” in Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal, June 18, 2010, available at http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2010/06/21/story1.html ;  “Report: Court documents claim FieldTurf increases injuries,” in New York Post, June 19, 2010, available at http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/report_court_documents_say_fieldturf_NC315QsCMcSBHmqG7qkjPN?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME= .

SynTurf.org: Note: Judges deny motions for temporary injunction when it is not clear if the plaintiff can likely win on the merit, or if a grant of injunction would harm public interest. The suit can still go forward to the merits stage if the plaintiff chooses to continue after losing on the request of injunction.

[No. 12] Paoli, Pennsylvania: Fields of nuisance; fodder for a lawsuit? For most the term “nuisance” translates to what is annoying, inconvenient or bother. In law-talk, nuisance is a tort – a wrong – such as a use of property or conduct that that interferes with the legal rights of others by causing damage, annoyance , or inconvenience. There is also a notion called “trespass,” which means to commit an unlawful injury to the person, property, or rights of another. What we all expect is a peaceful enjoyment of our property without the repetitive and constant noise blurring from loudspeakers,  light shinning too bright from stadiums, balls clearing our fences, and players entering our property in search of an errant ball. This is all with the compliment of playing fields that abut homes, especially in insensitive municipalities, where the abutters are dismissed as antisocial, anti-sports, anti-kids.

According to a news story on Main Line Media News (June 2, 2010),  “For close to two years people in Paoli who live near the Delaware Valley Friends School have had problems because of the school’s new turf playing field that replaced a grass one. In a residential area, the school is surrounded by homes and apartments. Residents have been complaining about noise, lighting, traffic, privacy and safety since June of 2008 when the turf field was put in.” According to the residents, “the turf field can be used more often because it is not affected by weather in the same way that the grass field was. With the addition of lights, which shine into neighboring homes, the field is able to be used later into the night and longer into the season. Along with the lighting complaints, noise from the athletes and coaches along with cheering during games, as well as noise from the temporary lighting fixtures run by generators, has been a constant nuisance.” “While noise, lighting and traffic may be affecting all residents, one major issue has been affecting certain people more than others. When the turf field was installed, a buffer of tall trees that stood between the school and the homes to the east of the field was removed simultaneously. Without the buffer, these residents now have an up-close view of every practice and game that takes place on the field, and in turn have lost the privacy they once had.” “Residents want the noise, traffic, lighting and safety concerns solved and would like to see the buffer reinstated to provide privacy.” Source: Blair Meadowcroft, “Neighbors say new turf DVFS field a nuisance,” on Main Line Media News, June 2, 2010, available at http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2010/06/02/main_line_suburban_life/news/doc4c067acc9bfc8812225892.txt and video link at site.

[No. 11] Cobb County, Georgia: Lawsuit suspends school district spending on artificial turf fields. According to a news story on CBS Atlanta (February 24, 2010), “A lawsuit against Cobb County schools has halted $16 million in renovations to athletic fields. Cobb County Schools want to install Astroturf at all of their high school athletic fields, but lawyers for the man behind the suit, Walter “Pete” Borden, said spending the money on anything not related to education is illegal. The question is whether under current Georgia education law the funds approved by the district in 2008 have to be designated and used for educational purposes. When a special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) is approved, as it was in 2008, the County has to designate which specific projects the money will be used for and it can only use it for those specific projects. For now, “Cobb County Schools had planned on buying and installing the Astroturf fields in the coming months, but now they’re stalled until a superior court judge says otherwise. No court date has been set for a showdown between the school district and lawyers.” Source: Steve Kuzj, “Cobb County Schools Stalled In Plan For New Athletic Fields,” on CBS Atlanta, February 24, 2010, available at http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/22663499/detail.html .

[No. 10] Cobb County, Georgia: Resident sues school board over planned artificial turf fields. According to a news story in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on February 9, 2010, Walter G. Borden, a Cobb County resident, filed suit in Cobb Superior Court against the Cobb School Board, seeking “to block Cobb County's plan to spend millions of dollars at 16 public high schools for the installation of artificial turf.” The plaintiff alleges that the planned artificial turf fields do not qualify as “capital improvement to an ‘educational facility’ as required by state law.” For more, go to Mashaun D. Simon, “Lawsuit filed to block artificial turf at Cobb schools,” in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 11, 2010, available at http://www.ajc.com/news/lawsuit-filed-to-block-299324.html?cxtype=rss_news_128746

[No. 09] Los Angeles, California: Unified School District sues turf installer for nondisclosure of harmful substances. According to a news report by the Court House News Services (January 29, 2010), “Los Angeles Unified School District says the company it hired to install artificial turf on school playgrounds did not inform it that it would underlay the turf with carcinogens - carbon black and lead, in crumb rubber - that would come into direct contact with children. LAUSD hired Forever Green Athletic Fields of the West in 2005 to artificial turf systems on playgrounds and playing fields at 13 schools. In its Superior Court complaint, the school district says it knew that one of the materials used would be crumb rubber, which contains lead and carbon black. But LAUSD says it did not know that the chemicals would be in direct contact with children who play on the turf. The state of California says lead and carbon black are known to cause cancer, reproductive harm, neurological harm, decreased IQ and developmental toxicity. The chemicals can be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. LAUSD says it ‘understood that the crumb rubber would be applied only as an underlayment, as a foundational layer beneath the upper artificial grass turf,’ and that it would not be in direct human contact. But Forever Green used it as ‘infill’ between plots of synthetic grass in places where it would be in contact with children and exposed to intense sunshine and heat, which contribute to the breakdown and release of chemicals, according to the complaint. LAUSD claims Forever Green knew that the crumb rubber was being sold throughout California in large quantities. The chemical exposure was ‘knowing and intentional,’ the district says. The district issued a Proposition 65 violation notice in November 2009 and sent it to the California Attorney General and the Los Angeles City Attorney. The district alleges violation of Proposition 65, breach of contract, product liability and negligence. It seeks civil penalties, compensation and costs.” Elizabeth Banicki, “L.A. Schools Worry About Toxic Playgrounds,” in Court House News Service, January 29, 2010, available at http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/01/29/24191.htm or click here.

[No. 08] Queens, NY: Falcons want their grass field. According to a news report on NY1 News (September 17, 2009),  “A youth football league in Queens says it is being forced to move away from a grassy field at Juniper Valley Park for a synthetic field miles away. Parents are concerned about their children playing on turf, because of possible toxins in the field. As a result, the Queens Falcons are suing the city over the move.” “The turf burns us and grass, you usually bleed and that’s a football sport, so grass is ten times better,” said one player. For more on this story see “Team Sues City Over Queens Turf Switch,” on NY1 News, September 17, 2009, available at http://www.ny1.com/Content/Top_Stories/105939/team-sues-city-over-queens-turf-switch/Default.aspx or see “Queens Falcons fight for home” at http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/local&id=7019798 ; “Parks Dept. sacks Queens grid kids” at http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/parks_dept_sacks_queens_grid_kids_hL2Mg4gKETLOuaitf1HhBN ; and “Youth football league sues Parks Dept. for kicking its teams off longtime playing field in Queens” at http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/09/17/2009-09-17_qns_youth_football_league_sues_parks_dept_for_kicking_its_teams_off_longtime_pla.html#ixzz0RQU20lPC .

[No. 07] California: Consent judgment entered against one turf manufacturer; other cases pending. According to a press release by the Office of the Attorney General of California (August 14, 2009), “Fighting to ensure the safety of children’s playgrounds and ball fields, Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed off on an agreement requiring Georgia-based AstroTurf, LLC to virtually eliminate lead from its artificial grass, creating the country's first enforceable lead standards for artificial turf products.” The Press Release is available at http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/release.php?id=1782  or click here. The Consent Judgment entered in the case is available at http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/press/pdfs/n1782_astroturf_cj,_final-signed.pdf  or click here. For the previous reporting on this case, see http://www.synturf.org/lead.html (Item No. 13). Here are a few excerpts from the Press Release:

“In 2008, Brown filed suit against AstroTurf and two other companies [FieldTurf Tarkett and Beaulieu of America] for excessive lead levels after testing by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) found high levels in artificial turf products. Brown's office independently tested AstroTurf and other artificial turf products and confirmed CEH's findings. AstroTurf immediately took steps to begin reformulating its products.”

 

“Today's consent judgment requires AstroTurf to reformulate its products so that they contain less than 100 parts per million (ppm), and to further reduce lead levels to 50 ppm by June 2010. Lab results found that some AstroTurf products contained more than 5,000 ppm lead. Lead was added to keep the colors vibrant over time. AstroTurf will be prohibited from selling any existing stock that doesn't meet these standards.”

 

“AstroTurf will also provide a grant of $60,000 to the Public Health Trust to fund "wipe testing" of dislodgeable lead on artificial turf fields at daycare centers, schools and public playing fields in California. If the level of dislodgeable lead exceeds the specified replacement level, AstroTurf will provide replacement turf to the daycare center, school or public field at no cost.”

 

“AstroTurf will also provide a mailed warning to all customers who purchased its products in California in the past five years. The warning will (1) inform customers that the turf products contain lead; (2) explain "good maintenance practices" that can effectively reduce exposures to lead; and (3) advise the customers of the availability of the program to test and replace old turf products. AstroTurf will also establish a website to provide information to the public on lead content in its products.”

 

“In addition to its obligation to replace products that exceed acceptable lead levels, the company will pay $170,000 in civil penalties, grants and attorney fees.”

SynTurf.org Note: In September 2008, California filed a complaint for civil penalties and injunctive under Proposition 65 because the named artificial turf manufacturers and vendors had failed to provide clear and reasonable warnings that their artificial turf products contain lead, and that use of, and contact with, those products results in exposure to lead, a chemical known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm. Under Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, Health and Safety Code section 25249.6 businesses must provide persons with a “clear and reasonable warning” before exposing individuals to these chemicals, and that the Defendants failed to do so.

Under the consent judgment, No portion of the turf products may have lead levels in excess of 50 ppm; except for field lines and markings (such as yard lines, goal lines and team names or logos) may not have 100 ppm or less. While the 50 ppm level of lead in the product is laudable one must seriously question whether it also does not represent a concession to the artificial turf industry. The American Academy of Pediatrics “recommends” 40 ppm or less as “safe,” if at all.   

Under the consent judgment, AstroTurf will provide “a grant of $60,000 to the Public Health Trust to fund “wipe testing” of dislodgeable lead on artificial turf fields at daycare centers, schools and public playing fields in California. If the level of dislodgeable lead exceeds the specified replacement level, AstroTurf will provide replacement turf to the daycare center, school or public field at no cost.” This too is a concession to the artificial turf industry and owners/operators of turf fields. “Wipe testing” provides a snap shot of an amount of lead that the wipe can pick up from the artificial carpet or the infill at any given time. “Wipe testing” right after a rain event or irrigation will not read the same level of lead than in an unwashed state. Testing in the earlier months of an installation would not result in the same reads as the time when the carpet becomes worn. “Wipe test” will say nothing about the total load of dislodgeable lead available or present in the product.

According to Christine Gasparac, a spokeswoman for the California Attorney General’s Office, said the state is “exchanging information and in productive settlement negotiations” with FieldTurf Tarkett and the Beaulieu Group. A.J. Perez, “AstroTurf to eliminate lead from fields,” in USA TODAY, August 14, 2008, available at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2009-08-14-astro-turf-lead-fields-agreement_N.htm

and video available at http://www.keloland.com/videoarchive/index.cfm?VideoFile=071009storm .

The court decision is available at http://www.sdjudicial.com/opinions/downloads/y2009/24835.pdf  or click here. 

[No. 05] San Carlos, California:  Turf controversy lands in court. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. May 16, 2009. On May 13, 2009, the community group Save San Carlos Parks sued the City of San Carlos and the San Carlos City Council. For  a background on this story, see http://www.synturf.org/grassrootsnotes.html (Item No. 52) and pages cited therein.

Filed at San Mateo County Superior Court, the suit concerns the City Council's decision in April to certify the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the replacement of the playing surface of the Lower Highland Athletic Field with a Synthetic Playing Surface. Click here for the Complaint.

The Plaintiffs are represented by the legal firm of Kenyon and Yates in Sacramento, California. San Carlos has retained the law firm of Cassidy, Shimko, Dawson & Kawakami in San Francisco to defend it. The City Attorney estimates that the cost to defend the City against this lawsuit will be in the thousands of dollars. Meanwhile As a result of the litigation, the community meetings set by the City for May 21, 2009 and May 27, 2009 to meet with the neighbors of the Lower Highlands Field area to discuss the athletic field conversion project have been postponed indefinitely.  

In a press release, dated may 14, 2009, to SynTurf.org, Save San Carlos Parks took issue with the City for its inadequate environmental review of its decision to convert Highlands Park from natural grass to synthetic turf, the City thus running afoul the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). “No one wants to go to court over this issue. We proposed a settlement conference to try to find a compromise, but unfortunately the City declined that offer. That left us no choice,” said Harris. “In their rush to move forward they have failed to consider the significant adverse impacts on the community.”

Save San Carlos Parks says that a legally adequate environmental review will, among other things, do at least four things: (1) Evaluate alternative surfaces and compare their impacts or benefits to the City’s synthetic turf proposal; (2) Analyze the health impact of synthetic turf and crumb rubber on young children; (3) Address community concerns over the required infrastructure to support the increased traffic and parking; (4) Analyze he City’s economic viability to support this park over the long run.

The Complaint charges that the City of San Carlos prepared and adopted an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (“IS/MND”) that failed to satisfy the procedural and substantive mandates of CEQA.  The IS/MND violated CEQA because there was substantial evidence in the City’s administrative record that supported a “fair argument” that the project may have significant, adverse environmental effects, thus requiring the preparation and certification of an environmental impact report (“EIR”) prior to approving the project. Further, IS/MND failed to adequately investigate the project’s potentially significant adverse environmental effects. Te IS/MND failed to incorporate changes to the project or to identify legally adequate mitigation measures with enforceable performance standards that will clearly mitigate all of the project’s potentially significant, adverse environmental effects to less-than-significant levels.

The City Council on its part, Complaint alleges, prejudicially abused its discretion by adopting the IS/MND and failing to incorporate changes to the project or adopting legally enforceable mitigation measures that reduced or avoided the project’s potentially significant effects to less than significant levels prior to approving the project. It prejudicially abused its discretion by invalidly deferring the adoption of mitigation measures until after the adoption of the IS/MND and approval of the project.

The Complaint alleges that “substantial” evidence in the record of the project identified the following potentially significant adverse effects: the potentially significant  adverse impacts associated with “crumb rubber” in synthetic turf, made from ground up car and truck tires, causing inhalation and ingestion of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals; potentially significant impacts associated with increased risks of bacterial infections; potentially significant increased risk of heat exhaustion due to elevated temperatures on synthetic turf fields; potentially significant adverse impacts on water quality caused by pollutants released from synthetic turf; potentially significant adverse impacts associated with the flammability of the synthetic turf; potentially significant adverse impacts associated with an increase in automobile traffic and parking on narrow park access roads; and potentially significant impacts associated with the loss of the park’s open space for multiple public uses.

The Complaint seeks a restraining order to preserve the environmental status quo ante at the project site until the matters in this litigation can be brought to full resolution through entry of a final judgment upon the completion of any available appeals. As part of the final judgment, the petitioners request a permanent injunction prohibiting the City from moving forward with any aspect of the project based on the project approvals challenged in the litigation. For violations of CEQA, the petitioners want the Court to find that the City’s approval of the project was void from the beginning. The petitioners also request the City to pay petitioner’s reasonable attorneys fees related to these proceedings upon the filing of a proper motion.

For a newspaper account of this story, see Mike Rosenberg “San Carlos residents sue city over synthetic turf, in San Mateo County Times, May 15, 2009, available at http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_12381695 .

[No. 04] California: Turf lawsuit update. SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. May 3, 2009. On September 2, 2008, the State of California brought suit against three manufacturers of artificial turf fields after tests showed dangerous levels of lead. The readings of the lead levels from some 12 fields around the state violated Proposition 65 (The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986) which is  administered by Cal/EPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA). It requires warning label for products that contain harmful chemicals, including lead. For background, see http://www.synturf.org/lead.html (Item No. 31). The parties to the lawsuit against the turf manufacturers are in negotiations, and some (undisclosed) agreements may have been reached already. The parties involved will re-convene in July. The discussions have been revolving around the product and how to deal with fields already in use. Meanwhile, some of the companies are already reworking their products to align with Proposition 65.

[No. 03]  Vermillion, South Dakota: Injured player taken turf to the mat! Later in March 2009, the South Dakota's Supreme Court will be hearing 9 cases. In one of these cases, the professional indoor football team Sioux Falls Storm is appealing a 2002 court ruling which gave $500,000 in damages to Gaylen Klutman, who injured his knee while playing football on the team's artificial turf field. The Storm wants the Supreme Court to review why the lower court limited expert testimony concerning artificial turf and why the lower court denied a motion for a new trial based on new evidence in the case. Source: Brian Allen, “The South Dakota Supreme Court will hear several appeals cases in just over two weeks,” on KSFY-TV, (March 6, 2009), available at http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/40883292.html?video=YHI&t=a (video and text), also http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/40883292.html (video and text). Klutman, age 23, claims that he tore the ligaments in his knee when he caught a pass and turned to run when his foot got caught in a fold or flap in the turf. The complaint alleged that the defendant arena knew that the turf was in bad shape when it invited spectators to play on it. Statement of the issues on appeal are found here found at http://www.sdjudicial.com/downloads/24835.pdf .

[No. 02] New York City: Federal judge rules against phthalates: Should turf be next?  On Tuesday, February 3, 2009, US District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan ruled that “[t]oys containing a plastic-softening chemical [phthalate] linked to infertility and testicular cancer in men must be removed from store shelves.” According to Bloomberg News, the ruling “rejected the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s claim that legislation banning the manufacture of toys containing phthalates by that date didn’t also bar the sale of toys already made.” The CPSC “has decided to seek neither a stay nor an appeal,” the agency told Bloomberg News. The suit was brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council (Aaron Colangelo, attorney), a New York-based nonprofit organization, which was joined Public Citizen, a Washington-based consumer advocacy group. Source: Bloomberg News, “Judge orders toys off store shelves: Banned chemical prompts ruling, in The Boston Globe, February6, 2009, available at http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/02/06/judge_orders_toys_off_store_shelves/ .

SynTurf.org Note: Artificial turf has phthalates. Phthalates are linked to infertility and testicular cancer, among other things. The Congress and EU bans them in some products. Yet it is okay for our kids to be exposed to it when it comes to turf fields. Hello: is anyone out there!? And – this was the same US Consumer product safety Commission that ruled last summer on the safety of lead-laden turf fields! For background on phthalates, see http://www.synturf.org/phthalates.html. For background on phthalates in turf, see http://www.synturf.org/wrapuparticles.html (Item No. 09). For a peer-critique of the CPSC opinion on lead-laden artificial turf fields, see http://www.synturf.org/cpsc.html .

[No. 01] Dashon Jenkins vs. Moreno Valley Unified School District and others (filed 2008). SynTurf.org, Newton, Mass. December 19, 2008. For Dashon Jenkins, a football player at Valley View High School, September 8, 2007, began like any other game day. By the time the game ended against Great Oaks High, Jenkins would not play football ever again. For, you see, Jenkins’ football cleats failed to break loose from the artificial turf surface and so his ankle and leg received the full force of the opposing player’s weight, causing Jenkins’ leg to break in two places. Due to complications in receiving treatment for his injuries, Jenkins has sustained a leg wound that became infected, which resulted in the need for approximately 12 additional surgeries to date, his leg muscle had to be removed, and he lost the use of his left leg and now has to wear a leg brace for the remainder of his life. All of this is because a host of bad actors failed in their duty of care, to inform players that one should not be playing on artificial turf fields with cleats that are not designed for artificial turf fields. As a member of the Valley View football team, Jenkins had only played games on natural grass fields and had never played any football games on a surface covered with artificial turf until that fateful day.

Dashon Jenkins' plight is now the subject a lawsuit filed in March 2008 against the responsible school districts, the providers of medical services, and the manufacturer of the artificial turf field, and maker and seller of the football cleats, and others. Filed in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Riverside (Case No. RIC 494617) in March 2008, the suit seeks unspecified compensatory and special damages involving, among other things, Jenkins’ past medical services, a life-care plan, future medical care,  psychological care and treatment, counseling, home care, rehabilitation, physical therapy, loss of future earning capacity and emotional distress.

[No. 00] Chicago, Illinois: Turf field controversy lands in court. In August 2008 the Park District approved a plan to install an artificial turf soccer field at Lincoln Park, in the northeast of the city. The proposal was not without its opponents whose concerns were ignored by several city agencies -- in a manner that is typical of the usual sort of David-versus-Goliath struggle that is waged by the grassroots activists and residents against the politicians and their patrons in the sports and business communities.

Everything was moving along just swimmingly for the construction project -- until Tuesday, October 14, 2008, when Protect Our Parks (www.protectourparks.org), a not-for-profit corporation (http://www.cklpp.org) and Eurydice Chrones, a Lincoln Park resident, filed a three-count lawsuit against, among others, the Latin School of Chicago, Park District, Board of Commissioners, Chicago Plan Commission, City of Chicago, Commissioner of Chicago Department of Environment, Chief Environmental Officer of City of Chicago, the turf manufacturer and others. The press release announcing the commencement of litigation is available at http://www.cklpp.org/assets/2008/10/15/Release__Lead_Suit_10-13.pdf or click here. The Complaint is available at http://www.cklpp.org/assets/2008/10/15/Pop_Environmental_Health_Complaint.pdf or click here. For more information on the suit and how to help in the cause, contact The Committee to Keep Lincoln Park Public at info@cklpp.org (telephone: 312-276-5165).

The suit alleges that the soccer field is toxic because the field’s artificial turf contains lead. The suit seeks an injunction against the construction of the turf field at the south end of the park and removal of all artificial turf from the field. The suit alleges that artificial turf can cause serious health problems for children and adults when the crumb rubber’s chemical compounds are released into the air and ground water. On environmental grounds, the suit alleges that the defendants have failed to design a drainage system that protects Lake Michigan, which will receive the drainage, discharge and runoff from the field directly and without any treatment or processing.