Santa Clara County prepares for heated debate over banning of plastic turf at sports fields
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Santa Clara County could join the cities of San Mateo and San Marino to ban — either partially or fully — the use of plastic athletic turf in county-owned facilities.
"We need fields. But not at the expense of our health. And not at the expense of our children's health," said Melissa Gonzalez, of Latinas Contra Cancer, a nonprofit which supports a ban.
Outside the Santa Clara County government building on Friday, people and groups opposed to plastic athletic fields raised the temperature on the simmering debate about how to increase the number of areas for play while also protecting the community's health.
"The future is not plastic, and should not be plastic," said District 3 Supervisor Otto Lee.
He plans to submit an ordinance on Tuesday banning the use of athletic or synthetic turf at all new athletic fields constructed in Santa Clara County.
There would also be a second ordinance that would allow exceptions, such as compliance with pre-existing leases, or if the use is for animals and is not greater than 2,000 square feet.
Proponents charge the small, rubber pellets within the plastic turf pose health risks such as cancer and that playing on turf can cause greater bodily harm compared to playing on grass.
"Studies show athletes are more likely to suffer from ACL injuries, ankle sprains, and other lower body injuries on plastic turf compared to natural grass," said Dr. Fahd Khan, president of the Santa Clara County Medical Association.
Lee's proposed complete ban wouldn't remove existing artificial turf, but prohibit it from being used in new construction or to replace older plastic turf.
The ordinance would encompass the San Jose Earthquakes' proposed soccer park at the county fairgrounds, which would have grass fields for the team, but synthetic turf for the community.
"Hey, if you're building so much grass for your players, why not do the same for us as well?" asked Lee to a crowd of people, many of whom held signs supporting a full ban on plastic athletic fields.
Opponents say the proposed ordinance should be voted down because they say turf fields are needed to build more athletic fields for use.
They point to the scarcity of places for kids to play. Turf, some argue, provides a financially feasible option to build and maintain more fields and get more children away from a sedentary lifestyle.
Sandra Todd, a county resident who was heavily involved in youth sports for 20 years, says talk of the black pellets causing cancer is overstated and reeks of fearmongering.
"There's a lot of studies that show there's no correlation there. Yes, we should be concerned about plastic chemicals, but we should not be scaring our youth and parents that going out and playing sports is going to cause cancer," she said.
Officials say both ordinance options will be discussed Tuesday beginning at 2 p.m. If passed, the ban would take effect in March.
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay bureau. Follow him on the Instagram platform, @jessegontv and on Facebook, @JesseKTVU