Tell the County Council: Deny PFAS Plastic Fields in MCPS Budget

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Tell the County Council: Deny PFAS Plastic Fields in MCPS Budget

Safe Healthy Playing Fields
The MoCo Board of Ed approved PFAS laden synthetic turf fields at Poolesville High School, right above the sole source aquifer, along with new plastic fields for several other schools. Now the Council has the opportunity to deny the funding requests, improve grass field management and save $40 Million in a particularly tough budget year.

And yet -the straw vote at the Council just came back 6-5 in favor of plastic turf.
With the budget speeding toward passage, the Council needs to hear from you. (We understand Councilmembers Friedson, Luedtke, Evans, Katz, Fani-Gonzalez and Sayles have voted in favor of plastic fields. This after Fani Gonzalez and Sayles had committed to not support plastic fields in a recent Sierra Club questionnaire. Your letter will go to all Councilmembers).
The hundreds writing into the Council to oppose plastic turf - among them student groups and the Coalition of County PTAs- are all getting the same response from Council President Fani-Gonzalez - the Council can't earmark how MCPS spends allocated funds. Good News - the Council CAN choose to allocate funds for the much cheaper proper upkeep of grass fields and deny the extra **$40 Million** MCPS needs to install these plastic carpets - all while protecting public health and the public purse.
Click "Start Writing" to make the case to Councilmembers today - and thank you!

Much More Background below:

Plastic Fields are known to leach harmful PFAS and other chemicals into local wells - when Poolesville has already spent millions (so far) mitigating PFAS in wells

They are banned in New York State, Colorado and cities in Massachusetts and California

They are harmful to athletes - the NFL players union does not want to play on it citing increased injuries - all Men's World Cup locations must be natural grass the women's team sued to get all grass venues. PFAS coats the skin of athletes when they play and the Children's Health Center of Mount Sinai Hospital has come out against all artificial turf fields

They are more expensive than grass fields and need to be regularly replaced. The price tag is $3.6 Million to install the proposed PHS fields and they will need replacing in 8-10 years along with annual maintenance costs.
They risk introducing chemicals into Ag wells, endangering the safety and salability of Ag Reserve products - bringing uncertainty to a $281 Million dollar sector of the County economy.
Much, Much more info here.

Click "Start Writing" to make your voice heard and thanks for your action!

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Tell the County Council: Deny PFAS Plastic Fields in MCPS Budget

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