Save Woodinville Play Fields

The recent proliferation of tire waste athletic fields is being PROMOTED AND MARKETED BY AN INTERNATIONAL TIRE MANUFACTURER CONSORTIUM, (Goodyear, Bridgestone, Michilin, Continental, Dunlop, Kleber, And Pirelli), to address their growing public relations headache of accumulating tire waste.

Despite manufacturer's efforts, their claims of product safety are just now being called into question;

• NEW YORK STATE LAWMAKERS have called for a state wide ban of tire waste turf
• CALIFORNIA state legislators have called for a moratorium
• NEW JERSEY state legislators have called for a moratorium
• MINNESOTA state legislators have called for a moratorium
• ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH, INC. has called for a moratorium
• The SWEDISH Chemical Agency recommended in April that the material not be used in artificial turf because the tire waste releases hazardous materials
• The ITALIAN Minister of Health found that synthetic turf fields are potentially carcinogenic
• The SOUTH KOREAn Education Ministry began investigating the safety of recycled rubber granules over the summer following student complaints of nose and eye irritation
• A recent DUTCH investigation concluded that "the leaching of zinc is a major concern"
• NORWAY has banned synthetic turf

Silver Terrace (San Francisco)

Safety studies are just in their infancy in the United States. Legal and public safety opposition groups have started up in CALIFORNIA, MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, FLORIDA, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, UTAH, WASHINGTON, AND NEW YORK.

States control where used tire waste can be dumped. LIABILITY CONCERNS HAVE BEEN RAISED about municipalities putting large quantities of a well documented hazardous material into an unregulated environment and in accessible public space. "Municipalities should be willing to face the potential for a variety of lawsuits, from personal injury to class action."

Due to warranty restrictions, wheelchairs and other walking aids are discouraged from using the fields. ADA (AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT) COMPLIANCE COMES INTO QUESTION.

The NFL Players Association have conducted bi-annual surveys of more than 1500 players from all 32 teams. The results clearly showed that the majority of football players not only prefer natural turf as a playing surface but also have a deep distrust of artificial surfaces. The facts revealed in the survey include:

• 96% of NFL players believe that artificial turf causes more soreness and fatigue than natural grass
• 91% feel that artificial turf is more likely to contribute to injury than natural grass
• 87% feel that artificial turf is more likely to affect a player’s quality of life after football
• 85% feel that artificial turf is more likely to shorten a player’s career
• More than 1/3 of players feel they’ve had at least one injury caused by artificial turf that would not have occurred on natural turf
• 85% of players prefer to play on natural grass

When players were asked to rank the best and worst playing fields in the league, results showed that the top four fields all had natural turf while seven of the worst ten fields contained artificial turf.