Rich Sands of Beverly Road, Arlington, submitted this letter to the editor:
We’ve heard arguments both for and against artificial turf, and passions are running high. Environmental advocates and team sports enthusiasts are talking past each other. For good reason — Article 12 highlights a fundamental disagreement about values.
Studies increasingly implicate PFAS as an especially dangerous health and environmental mistake in mankind’s long history of mistakes. Just as science gradually implicated human activity in driving climate change, and the evidence is now incontrovertible, the science about the harms of PFAS is headed the same way, and science flipping and determining PFAS are benign seems very unlikely.
Even so, we don’t know all the facts. With uncertainty, we rely on risk analysis. So, what are the consequences of making the wrong choice? Choose to construct new fields with grass, and we may have less opportunity to play team sports, or the town may pay more to maintain grass fields or find and use additional fields and facilities. Choose artificial turf, and we may cause long-term harm to our environment, and “gift” a legacy of dangerous chemicals to future generations.
These outcomes aren’t equivalent. One is small, local and can be overcome with money and will. The other is, like many environmental issues, global in scope, and poses risks both to our natural environment and our public health, and even more so for our kids and theirs. How bad? We don’t know, but that is exactly the point.
Arlington has collectively, as a community, prioritized the environment and fought to avoid environmental hazards. We’ve repeatedly demonstrated these values by consistent votes at Town Meeting to sacrifice short term economic benefits, convenience, and town amenities in favor of aggressive environmental action. This is who we are, and I am proud of Arlington — all of us — for this proven commitment to do our part making the world healthier, safer and better.
Now we’ve reached a crossroads on artificial turf. I believe Arlington should continue to honor its values in environmental leadership. I understand that we don’t have enough good quality fields to meet our need for participation in team sports. But as important as this need is, I believe it is even more critical that we continue to honor our values, for the sake of the planet, ourselves, and our children.
Make no mistake: We, individually and as a community will be judged by the choice we make, now, and in the future. This choice is informed by science, but it ultimately is about values, justice and morals, not about facts.
What about Poets Corner? I strongly support creating a new and better community park at Poets Corner. But this vote on Article 12 is not about Poets Corner. The project hasn’t come before Town Meeting yet, and the particulars are still being negotiated.
A vote to charter a study committee and impose a short-term moratorium on artificial turf will send an unmistakable message to our town leadership: Arlington is concerned about the potential hazards of artificial turf, and values the environment enough to make sacrifices. We require and expect our town government to reflect those values, and fight to achieve the best outcomes we can, negotiating based on both our principles and practicalities. Such a moratorium will give us time to learn more about the science through the committee’s work, and give town government direction and a mandate to act in our collective best interests, reflecting our community’s values.
Despite team sports enthusiasts trying to make this vote on Article 12 into a vote on Poets Corner, it is not. If the town fails through negotiation creatively deliver both a great public amenity and a solid win for the environment at Poets Corner, Town Meeting could decide to exempt this project from the moratorium as part of a comprehensive warrant article this fall. Or not. That’s the point: Article 12 is not about Poets Corner, it is about what Arlington stands for.
Our choices have consequences. You and I and the town of Arlington will be judged by the choices we make. In the face of uncertainty, let’s choose our long-standing values in favor of public health and the environment.
Arlington residents: if you share these values, please contact your Town Meeting members directly and ask them to vote YES on the Article 12 substitute motion. Here is a link to a handy list of TMMs sorted by precinct. Please find your TMMs email or phone them, and ask them to vote YES.
Town Meeting members: Please vote YES on the Article 12 substitute motion, and by doing so, affirm our town’s established values.
This letter was published Sunday, May 7, 2023.
