Today at 3:13 PM, I sent to the Commission and copied to Steve Feller and Phil Weis:
Commissioners,
I am forwarding a comment that just came through on Lebo Citizens. Evidence that shows you are opening up the municipality to a lawsuit continues to build daily.
With Dave Brumfield being a personal injury attorney, I don't have to tell him the history of asbestos in schools. For the rest of you, this may help you to understand that your rationale of artificial turf being used safely in Mt. Lebanon for over 40 years is flawed. http://www.asbestos.com/asbestos/schools.php
Please stop your plan to turf any fields in Mt. Lebanon. You are playing with fire.
Elaine Gillen
-----Original Message-----
From: Anonymous <noreply-comment@blogger.com>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Sent: Sun, Jun 29, 2014 02:37 PM
Subject: [Lebo Citizens] New comment on Dr. Phil on artificial turf UPDATED 3X.
Anonymous has left a new comment on your post " Dr. Phil on artificial turf UPDATED 3X":
Sorry Elaine I was out of town. Here is a link that is easy to understand. Look at the numbers! http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/autism-rise-driven-by-environment/
Take a look at this one... http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/02/toxic-chemicals-linked-to-brain-disorders-in-children/
And this past week about 10 more "common" chemicals were added to the growing list to be studied. I again add that Brumfield and CREW might want to get their legal team together.
Posted by Anonymous to Lebo Citizens at June 29, 2014 at 2:30 PM
I have been sending articles almost daily to the commission and copy Feller and Weis, so that Bendel and Brumfield can't deny it. I finally got one response.
From: Kristen Linfante <klinfante@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>; <commission@mtlebanon.org> <commission@mtlebanon.org>; Steve Feller <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: Fwd: Ticks everywhere at ball fields!
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2014 4:23 pm
FYI If you are truly concerned about toxins, perhaps you may want to look into the risks of pesticides as well.
By all means, feel free to post on your blog.
Regards,
Kristen Linfante
Sent from my iPhone
Please forgive any texting typos
Begin forwarded message:
From: Kristen Linfante <klinfante@mtlebanon.org>
Date: June 29, 2014, 4:11:16 PM EDT
To: Kelly Fraasch <kfraasch@mtlebanon.org>
Cc: Tom Kelley <tkelley@mtlebanon.org>, Stephen Feller <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>, "commission@mtlebanon.org"
<commission@mtlebanon.org>, David Donnellan <ddonnellan@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: Re: Ticks everywhere at ball fields!
What type of "spraying "??. In the midst of "hysteria" over toxic everything, shouldn't we know what "spraying" will mean in terms of chemicals? Why should this be treated differently than "toxic turf " issues?? Maybe we should bring Dr Johnson back to discuss before proceeding with any type of spraying of chemicals.
Kristen
Sent from my iPhone
Please forgive any texting typos
On Jun 29, 2014, at 3:37 PM, Kelly Fraasch <kfraasch@mtlebanon.org> wrote:
Tom, David and Steve,
I am hoping that something is being done and that spraying is being coordinated.
Can you let the Commission and this resident know the planning?
Many thanks,
Kelly
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: (removed to protect citizen's privacy)
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2014 at 2:48 PM
Subject: Ticks everywhere at ball fields!
To: commission@mtlebanon.org
Hello,
My kids play softball and baseball. We have been to Jefferson, Dixon, Lincoln, Foster, Markham, and Howe in the last month. Every one of those fields is infested with ticks! The children are coming off the fields with several ticks on them. The parents are picking them up in the stands. On Dixon, on the yellow fence rail that goes around the field there were literally hundreds of ticks there Friday night.
We are in an endemic area for Lyme disease. Please see to it that the park and fields are sprayed for ticks immediately before someone gets terribly sick! The findings are that 70 % of all ticks are infected with Lyme disease. Please act to protect the children of Mt. Lebanon. I look forward to your response.
Thank you,
(Removed to protect citizen's privacy)
I just received this follow up email from Kelly Fraasch.
From: Kelly Fraasch <kfraasch@mtlebanon.org>
To: Kristen Linfante <klinfante@mtlebanon.org>
Cc: E.T. Gillen <egillen476@aol.com>; <commission@mtlebanon.org> <commission@mtlebanon.org>; Steve Feller <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>
Subject: Re: Ticks everywhere at ball fields!
Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2014 4:55 pm
No worries, I asked the ESB to look into organic and alternative forms of the toxic pesticides that you are talking about awhile ago. I can follow up with them. Some places are using alternative forms without toxins in them for parks, fields etc.
Since Elaine is also on this thread.
Elaine, I did verify with Mr. Kelley and we have not used pesticides on any areas as previously assumed during public comment at the last two meetings.
Several residents mentioned that turf is no more toxic than pesticides. However pesticide application has not been used on our fields to maintain the grass.
It has been an ongoing practice to not use pesticides.
That is why I did ask the ESB to look into alternatives for our parks/fields several months ago, because I had heard we hadn't been using such application in our routine maintenance which is good to not use a toxic option but several grass companies offer organic options. It would help to learn about these for our parks and fields ongoing maintenance needs.
K
Update June 30, 2014 10:24 PM I sent this to the commission tonight.
Kristen,
This is going to be on KDKA news tonight. Tick-like bugs causing unnecessary concern in Allegheny County
Elaine Gillen
Her response sent only to me:
Re: Tick-like bugs causing unnecessary concern in Allegheny County
From Kristen Linfante klinfante@mtlebanon.org
From Kristen Linfante klinfante@mtlebanon.org
To egillen476 egillen476@aol.com
Thank you. Yes, we already received notification.
Regards,
Kristen Linfante
Commissioner, Ward 3
Sent from my iPhone
Please forgive any texting typos
Although deer are the preferred hosts of deer ticks, and the size of the tick population parallels that of the deer population, ticks cannot acquire Lyme disease spirochetes from deer. Rather, deer ticks acquire Borrelia microbes from infected rodents, such as the white-footed mouse.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Linfante, there is a vaccine for mice. U.S. Biologic is working to get the new vaccine approved by the USDA. The pellets would be sprinkled around in parks, on hiking trails and other areas where people are most likely to get infected.
“It’s cheaper than what you feed your dog. Very cheap,” Monath told NBC News.
Excuse me ?
ReplyDeleteIn the midst of "hysteria" over toxic everything
Are we hysterical when exercising
caution and weighing risks for our families ? It
is our role as parents to do our due diligence as
so it is your duty as Commissioner to do the
same.
i think it is wildly known that commissioner linfante talks poorly to constituents. tho i am surprised to see her talking to a fellow commish the same way if i am reading the email correctly. she is badgering commissioner fraasch isn't she?
ReplyDeleteLinfante, of course knows because she comprehends everything, that FieldTurf recommends using RoundUp to prevent weeds and moss from growing in their artificial turf.
ReplyDeletePerhaps she should pay a little closer attention!
Not the first time she has gone after Commissioner Fraasch.
ReplyDeleteIf Linfante is against pesticides as she sarcasticly suggests in her email, she should lay down on the grass field in front of the bulldozers to prevent them from tearing it up and and covering it with ground up tires.
Linfante claimed to worry about the environment-- energy efficiency, not filling landfills and all that, butshe'll vote to tear out carbon dioxide absorbing-oxygen producing natural grass and replacing it with expensive oil based plastics and tire rubber crumbs that polute our fields and streams.
ReplyDeleteTwo faced Blue Devil, eh?
I pulled a tick off of my dog's nose last week and there was one on my windshield after having parked my car in the driveway. My husband saw three at one time on his office window last week, in downtown. He and my daughter walked across the 16th street bridge on the way to have lunch together last week and he picked one off of her.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like they are alive and well inside and outside of the bubble, in the city and suburbs.
-Charlotte Stephenson
Make sure we aren't confusing the ticks for weevils. If they have wings, they are not ticks. There has been a lot of weevils downtown lately with people mistaking them for ticks.
ReplyDeleteixnay on the ickstay!
ReplyDeleteLinfante gets word of them and she'll press for an expensive count, then push for a cull by hunters armed with cans of Raid and protected by Hartz Mountain Flea & Tick collars. ;-)
It's very important to ensure people aren't making mistakes in identifying tics. It's not normal to see tics on aluminum posts etc.
ReplyDeleteAvoid Direct Contact with Ticks
Avoid wooded and bushy areas with high grass and leaf litter. Walk in the center of trails.
Parents should get in the habit of thoroughly scrubbing their kids after sports outings anyway...in preparation for the toxic turf.
If your child does get a tic bite in which you find the engorged tic, like I did, it will need to be carefully removed and then you can obtain prophylactic antibiotics from your pediatrician. The child will likely only need 2 doses or so over a couple of weeks.
No "hysteria" required.
Of note, when the crumb rubber arrives, this removal of "tiny black" items from children is going to get tedious. Time to get new prescription eyeglasses.
Elaine I was out with my 16 year-old son Sunday doing the Learn to Drive thing. He decided to turn off Castle Shannon Blvd onto Crystal. We were going up the hill and and car was coming down. The car coming down hit a huge hole throwing the car into our side. My son had to slam on the brakes and steer into the yard to avoid hitting the other car. Isn't Crystal the street that Brumfield lives on? Has he missed this hole? Does someone need to get hurt or worse?
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid so, 2:33 AM. He's a personal injury attorney, remember? Someone has to get hurt and then you will have his attention. I am sorry that your son had that experience.
ReplyDeleteI have been at commission meetings where people have complained about the condition of our roads. I seem to remember our municipal engineer saying something to the effect that we could spend a million dollars on fixing our roads. This is the same meeting where the badass commissioners talked about the million dollar turf project. Toxic turf is wrong on so many levels.
Elaine
Before the commissioners spray for anything, they need to look into Damion's scenario. Weevils are a huge problem this year, with many people getting "hysterical" thinking they are ticks.
ReplyDeleteI hate to be Mr Obvious but if you have an issue with ticks, maybe you need to use a tick repellent. You could try over the counter products or just brew one up yourself (a quick internet search can yield easy to make recipes)
ReplyDeleteI don't know why the commissioners would be so against spraying for ticks though. They don't seem to give a hoot about what chemicals are going on that field. Maybe they're hoping the lead will kill the ticks?
Could this be Linfante's long term goal? Get rid of all natural, trees, plants and grasses and replace them with plastic and tire rubber.
ReplyDeleteNo edible plant life in the bubble, the deer go away followed by the tickets.
I notified the commission about the story on KDKA tonight on tick-like bugs causing unnecessary concern in Allegheny County. See the update for the link.
ReplyDeleteElaine
hahahaha Eat some humble pie Kristin. You got served.
ReplyDeleteSo we DO have a Health Department after all?
ReplyDeleteThey do track insect stories but they do not track environmental health concerns for children.
I See How It Is Now. Thank you, CBS.
I'll let the CDC, EPA, NIEHS, and WHO know that their whole environmental health/toxic chemical spiel causes much too much "hysteria" for small-town America and is just plain old unbelievable.
I've hit that hole on Crystal and it is getting bigger. I can't believe that nothing has been done to repair it. Don't count on Brumfield doing anything because till his "Field of Dreams" is completed NOTHING else matters. He's got to get that lacrosse scholarship sealed up... All else needs to wait.
ReplyDelete