Las Virgenes Unified School District plans to replace natural grass fields with artificial turf at six schools (Chaparral Elementary, Bay Laurel Elementary, Round Meadow Elementary, AC Stelle Middle School, AE Wright Middle School, and a new field at Agoura High). This multi-million-dollar expenditure will expose our children to toxic PFAS chemicals and pollute our environment. Tell LVUSD NOT to install artificial turf fields and to choose nature-based solutions for their fields instead. 

What can you do?

1. Sign & share this petition! Parents deserve to be informed and have a say in their kids' environment at school.
2. Call the district to let them know you have concerns about the artificial turf plan; the district main office is 818-880-4200. Tell them you don't want artificial turf to replace natural grass at schools for both safety and environmental reasons. 
3. Show up to the next District Board of Education meeting, Tuesday, June 6 at 5:30 PM, held at Las Virgenes Unified School District Office, 4111 North Las Virgenes Rd., Calabasas, CA 91302 (details here:  https://go.boarddocs.com/ca/lvusd/Board.nsf/Public ). They need to know parents are paying attention!
    

All artificial turf contains hazardous polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals, including the product proposed by LVUSD’s artificial turf contractor, Hellas Construction. These “forever chemicals” have been identified as carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors that can cause asthma, attention deficit disorder, early puberty, and are associated with a long list of cancers. The damage from PFAS chemical exposure is cumulative, and therefore especially harmful to students who would be exposed from ages 5 to 18.

Artificial turf is too hot, too hard, and may come with liability issues. Artificial turf can reach temperatures up to 80 degrees higher than air temperature, leading to heat stress and turf burns in children. It can also cause a “heat island effect,” raising the surrounding temperature in the local environment. The turf uses an inordinate amount of water for cooling before use on hot days. Plastic grass is actually more expensive than planting and maintaining natural grasses; it needs regular cleaning and maintenance, watering, and the infill replaced (the Agoura High School and Calabasas fields are getting new infill less than 5 years after their fields were installed). With time and use, artificial turf can also become extremely hard, resulting in increased sports injuries. There are also potential liability issues: the EPA has begun issuing regulatory limits on some PFAS, states are making more stringent regulations, and there have been class action suits for contaminated water and exposure to artificial turf’s cancer-causing PFAS  chemicals. 

Artificial turf pollutes local waters, soils and our ocean. Stormwater run-off from artificial turf can cause PFAS to leach into groundwater, contaminating our drinking water. The EPA has recently reported there is no “safe” amount of PFAS for drinking water. Artificial turf sheds microplastics that pollute the soil and waterways, ending up in our oceans. Eventually, the artificial turf will need to be removed; because it has many mixed chemicals, it cannot be recycled, so it winds up in our landfills, where it continues polluting the environment. There are several creeks near Agoura High, and pollution of these local watersheds must be taken into account. 

Nothing lives in plastic grass. Not only does artificial turf not support life, it actually kills the soil and the living organisms in it for generations to come. In addition, artificial turf takes away habitat from insects, birds, and local wildlife. This is opposed to the lessons we teach our children about caring for one another and the planet. Students benefit from interactions with natural surfaces and nature.

 

Artificial turf is NOT a safer playing surface, does not significantly reduce water usage, and is not a sound investment. Installing artificial turf does not take into account the true cost to our children’s health and the health of our environment. Tell LVUSD NOT to install artificial turf and to instead choose nature-based solutions, such as drought-tolerant grasses that use less water, thrive in our climate, and are safer for everyone. 

 

 

Sources:

Safe Healthy Playing Fields, Inc., https://www.safehealthyplayingfields.org/

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, https://peer.org/?s=artificial+turf

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Los Angeles’ Artificial Turf Plan Misguided, 10/18/22, https://peer.org/los-angeles-artificial-turf-plan-misguided/

Nantucket School Commission 2/8/22 public workshop and expert panel discussion on PFAS risks from synthetic turf, recording https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74ALKRBy7uw

National Center for Health Research, 4/18/22,  https://www.center4research.org/nchr-letter-to-members-of-the-board-of-the-los-gatos-union-school-district-on-artificial-turf-and-playgrounds/

Associated Press, EPA to limit toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water, by Michael Phillis https://apnews.com/article/epa-pfas-forever-chemicals-water-contamination-regulations-560d0ce3321e7fa8ed052f792c24f16f

Associate Press, Toxic “forever chemicals” about to get their first US limits , by Michael Phillis, https://apnews.com/article/pfas-epa-water-regulations-d2d5052c36a5a95f4e56866f028c9c4f