Statement read during the public testimony portion of the meeting of the Greenwich Board of Education on February 20, 2020
Good evening Members of the Board of Education
My name is Marija Mikolajczak and I am a mom of a CMS student, but tonight I am speaking on behalf of Greenwich Conservation Advocates, a grassroots group of residents who live in all areas of town which supports and promotes local water conservation and water quality protections. Our mission includes protecting open space as a significant element impacting water quality and supply. We are here to support improving and maintaining natural grass fields at all of our schools.
Natural grass fields at our schools are open space which currently provide many benefits to our town such as stormwater absorption and infiltration, flood prevention, water quality improvement, habitat for soil organisms such as insects, worms and microbes which improve the soil, and cleaning of the air as all living plants do.
In contrast, the lifeless, compacted soil under artificial turf, and artificial blades of grass can do none of these things. Artificial turf becomes a pollution vector leaking chemicals into the soil and water which will result in additional remediation costs in the future. Here in Greenwich, we are painfully aware of the high cost of soil remediation at our schools. We have school fields that are currently sitting unused at Western Middle School, and Greenwich High School due to soil contamination.
It is illogical to use tax dollars remediating contaminated soil- at great expense- only to promptly begin contaminating it yet again with artificial turf. As you have heard earlier from the articulate 6th grade science students, artificial turf includes toxic chemicals which break down over time and are released to the air, soil, and ground water. In school areas which do not already have soil contamination issues, the last thing we should be doing is undertaking new projects that will contaminate our school soils and the ground water below it. We argue that there is a failure of logic and fiscal responsibility to take uncontaminated natural grass fields at CMS by starting a project that is going to create contamination there. we should be looking at other options that are healthy for our kids and our environment.
Therefore, we advocate to improve the natural, living grass fields-- not only is it better for Greenwich’s ecology and quality of life, it is the responsible decision for Greenwich taxpayers. We support using our tax funds to better manage the drainage and groundwater infiltration, and organic maintenance methods to improve the fields we have for all of our students and the benefit of our entire ecosystem because we all need clean water.
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Please sign the petition for natural grass fields.
Return to home page.
Good evening Members of the Board of Education
My name is Marija Mikolajczak and I am a mom of a CMS student, but tonight I am speaking on behalf of Greenwich Conservation Advocates, a grassroots group of residents who live in all areas of town which supports and promotes local water conservation and water quality protections. Our mission includes protecting open space as a significant element impacting water quality and supply. We are here to support improving and maintaining natural grass fields at all of our schools.
Natural grass fields at our schools are open space which currently provide many benefits to our town such as stormwater absorption and infiltration, flood prevention, water quality improvement, habitat for soil organisms such as insects, worms and microbes which improve the soil, and cleaning of the air as all living plants do.
In contrast, the lifeless, compacted soil under artificial turf, and artificial blades of grass can do none of these things. Artificial turf becomes a pollution vector leaking chemicals into the soil and water which will result in additional remediation costs in the future. Here in Greenwich, we are painfully aware of the high cost of soil remediation at our schools. We have school fields that are currently sitting unused at Western Middle School, and Greenwich High School due to soil contamination.
It is illogical to use tax dollars remediating contaminated soil- at great expense- only to promptly begin contaminating it yet again with artificial turf. As you have heard earlier from the articulate 6th grade science students, artificial turf includes toxic chemicals which break down over time and are released to the air, soil, and ground water. In school areas which do not already have soil contamination issues, the last thing we should be doing is undertaking new projects that will contaminate our school soils and the ground water below it. We argue that there is a failure of logic and fiscal responsibility to take uncontaminated natural grass fields at CMS by starting a project that is going to create contamination there. we should be looking at other options that are healthy for our kids and our environment.
Therefore, we advocate to improve the natural, living grass fields-- not only is it better for Greenwich’s ecology and quality of life, it is the responsible decision for Greenwich taxpayers. We support using our tax funds to better manage the drainage and groundwater infiltration, and organic maintenance methods to improve the fields we have for all of our students and the benefit of our entire ecosystem because we all need clean water.
###
Please sign the petition for natural grass fields.
Return to home page.
