To read The Atlanta Journal-Constitution article, click here.
A turf battle has broken out in Forsyth County, Ga. The fake turf has won. The Forsyth County school system is spending $1.5 million this summer to roll out artificial turf on the fields of its four high school stadiums. Under the state's watering restrictions, the four schools have not been able to use sprinklers since last fall. That's only compounded the beating that the fields already take from football, soccer and lacrosse games.
ALSO: Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School in Baltimore is getting a new, artificial-turf athletic field, thanks to a $1 million donation from a Baltimore Ravens foundation. The facility will have field turf, extra bleachers to double the seating and a ticket booth.
To read The Baltimore Sun article, click here.
FROM MAY 2008: In many places across the country, artificial turf fields are becoming as hotly contested as some of the soccer and football games that are played on them. A new generation of synthetic grass, made in part with ground-up rubber from used tires, has proven popular for schools and parks as a way to reduce maintenance costs and raise the usage of athletic fields. But in communities ranging from Connecticut to California, some environmentally conscious parents have raised questions about the fields, focusing on the potential for children to be exposed to toxins from used tires and to lead contained in the dyes used in many types of artificial grass.
Click here to read The Chicago Tribune article.
