Kelly Fraasch - on NPR in Philadelphia! UPDATED

Kelly Fraasch was on NPR's WHYY The Pulse in Philadelphia today at 6:00 PM. Could there be a link between artificial turf and cancer? Click on the link. Just under the title of the article is an arrow/play button to the radio broadcast. Way to go, Kelly! [I told you that Mt. Lebanon is getting national attention, Lebo Citizen readers.] 

Below is a segment of the November 8, 2014 rally that took place at Clearview Common in Uptown Mt. Lebanon.



Kelly speaks at the end of the rally and asks residents to contact State Representative Dan Miller, Senator Matt Smith, Congressman Tim Murphy, and City Council Sue Means. As soon as I get that snippet, I will add it to this post.

Unfortunately, Mt. Lebanon residents were unable to get an attorney to file an appeal with the Environmental Hearing Board. The Environmental Hearing Board has jurisdiction over appeals of DEP permits. Here is a link to their website: http://ehb.courtapps.com/public/rulesDecisionsAndResources.php.

That website has information regarding the process, however to file an appeal you must register on this website, if you plan to file electronically.  You can also download paper forms and mail them:  ehb.courtapps.com

An aggrieved party typically has 30 days to appeal the issuance or denial of a permit.

The permit was issued October 16. I imagine tomorrow would be the last day to file.

Update November 14, 2014 12:53 PM Letter sent to commissioners.

From:	egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
To:	commission <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Cc:	sfeller <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>; philip.weis <philip.weis@bipc.com>
Subject:	Another group of local pediatricians speak out against toxic turf
Date:	Fri, Nov 14, 2014 12:52 pm

---

Commissioners,

A second pediatric group is now warning their parents about toxic turf. Pediatrics South just added a post on the dangers of artificial turf on their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pediatrics-South/115097255209738 This is in addition to the pediatric group, Pediatric Alliance, I mentioned during Citizen Comments at the November 11, 2014 commission meeting.

In case you missed it, Kelly Fraasch was on NPR in Philadelphia last evening. Here is a link to it and a portion of the rally from November 8.

http://lebocitizens.blogspot.com/2014/11/kelly-fraasch-on-npr-in-philadelphia.html

Any update on the new costs? Considering you started the project almost four weeks ago, I would think you would know something by now. Personally, you should have known the new cost PRIOR to the start of construction. From your website, we were told that the total cost of the project would be $888,000. See below.

On July 8, 2014, the Mt. Lebanon Commissioners awarded the contract to Vasco Sports Contractors for Base Bid 1 - Blended Turf with Thatch Zone with Sand and Rubber Infill ($859,000) 

Add Alternate 6 - Storm Filtration System ($21,000) and 

Add Alternate 9 - Water Fountain ($8,000) 

for a total price of $888,000, subject to: 

a) Receipt of the NPDES permit, 

b) Receipt of $250,000 of non-municipal funds, and 

c) Review and approval of all contract language by the Solicitor and Municipal Manager. 

What a sham!

Elaine Gillen

Update November 14, 2014 3:42 PM Kristen Linfante is more confident than ever about her vote.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kristen Linfante <klinfante@mtlebanon.org>
To: egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com>
Cc: sfeller <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>; philip.weis <philip.weis@bipc.com>; <commission@mtlebanon.org> <commission@mtlebanon.org>
Sent: Fri, Nov 14, 2014 1:23 pm
Subject: Re: Another group of local pediatricians speak out against toxic turf

Ms Gillen,

I'm so glad you brought this to our attention. Pediatrics South is the practice I use. Of course, I immediately called them to find out where they stand on the issue. This is what I was told. I was told that an "irate" woman has been repeatedly calling their office and demanding that they address the issue because other pediatricians have. They told me that after so many repeated calls by you - I mean by "the woman " - that Dr Tyson said he was NOT willing to make a statement or take a stand on turf, but that to appease the irate caller and to get her to stop calling, he agreed to allow the article to be posted on their Facebook page. That is all. Pediatrics South has not taken a stand against turf. I know Dr Tyson personally, and I feel more confident than ever about my vote.

I would suggest that you stop badgering doctors and allow them to spend their precious time treating patients rather than dealing with calls like the ones you are clearly making.

Kristen Linfante

Commissioner, Ward 3 

Sent from my iPhone

Please forgive any texting typos 

To which I replied with:

From:egillen476 <egillen476@aol.com> To:klinfante <klinfante@mtlebanon.org> Cc:sfeller <sfeller@mtlebanon.org>; philip.weis <philip.weis@bipc.com>; commission <commission@mtlebanon.org> Subject:Re: Another group of local pediatricians speak out against toxic turf Date:Fri, Nov 14, 2014 1:28 pm

---

Wow, Kristen. You've really gone too far. I went to school with Scott. He was also my son's pediatrician. I never called his office or any pediatrician's office.

I wish I had the money to sue you. You are as toxic as the turf.

Elaine Gillen

Keep these in mind for Saturday UPDATED again

What a monumental task! Going through a list of Google Docs, I have tried to list significant documents obtained either through Right To Knows at various government levels or emails. I hope it is helpful for those attending Saturday's Anti-Turf Project Protest.

*November 19, 2013, Linfante announces to a turf supporter that it will pass with 3 votes
and again here 3 votes plus White going after Fraasch again

Nobody wants organic infill according to Deiseroth

Gateway donates to turf project

White mocks ESB and "diffuse Kelly F"

Linfante battles with Fraasch

Linfante/Hrabovsky and igniting/ignoring

Darren Gill, VP of FieldTurf contacts Elaine Gillen

Technical deficiencies, including proposed zinc treatment system, identified by the Allegheny County Conservation District

Franklin's research papers including 2009 Ridgewood Park, NJ study ---> April 2011 Ridgewood repairs turf after flooding  ---> August 2014 Ridgewood repairs artificial turf fields after costly flooding

Deiseroth requests infill with the least amount of lead

Franklin "rain on the organic parade"

Turf Project Task Force Presentation Spin Initial contributions and annual contributions

Deiseroth not billing us for his time spent fundraising

Addresses for April 24, 2014 "neighborhood meeting about the turf project"

McGill no Planning Board recommendation required for turf project

*Parks Advisory Board pushes back

* Environmental Sustainability Board's statement to the Commission concerning artificial turf and an audio montage of Linfante lying about the ESB's position on artificial turf

Fundraising updates, ESB reviews, Planning Board review - none occurred

McNitt "neutral third party to the project"

Bendel vetting McNitt

McNitt fee Not from Penn State, but from his own business

Morgans instructs McNitt - don't discuss potential harmful effects of artificial turf

ESB NOT cosponsoring McNitt presentation

McNitt's rehearsed answers for Q and A before presentation

Turf donation checks including $50,000 from Mt. Lebanon Baseball and $50,000 from Mt. Lebanon Soccer Gateway and other corporate donors are not identified by the Mt. Lebanon Community Endowment.

Silverman's economic plan

Deiseroth's future turf replacement cost estimate based on 108,000 sq. ft.

Evans misrepresenting himself to GeoTurf, Silverman contacted about hazardous materials in turf, Franklin berating Fraasch, Notes from initial Turf Project Task Force meeting

Application for NPDES Permit

Post Construction Stormwater Management Report

Department of Environmental Protection Responses and authorizing NPDES permit

Almanac Commissioners hear flooding and financial concerns

It never floods. Cedar Blvd. Closed due to Flooding

Fraasch on artificial turf

Update November 3, 2014 3:19 PM In addition to the videos that Albert Turfstein provided, please view the October 3, 2013 Sports Advisory Board Meeting. Click on Turf Project and watch Tim White say, "Mr. Bendel pissed away all the money we had."

*added at 9:51 PM 

Update November 4, 2014 12:56 PM The Sports Advisory Board Meeting Agenda is available here. Comments are limited to five minutes. They are allocating ten minutes for Citizen Comments.

Update November 7, 2014 5:43 PM The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the Middle and Wildcat Fields artificial turf project 

They added the parking lot!!!!!!

A Lebo Citizens reader emailed me these photos, along with this note.

Thought you might be interested to know someone sneakily dropped an envelope off at my doorstep within the past hour containing the below 2 page document. Notice the project area now includes the parking lot.

Here is a copy of the Notice of Intent (NOI) also known as the NPDES permit application.

Also, a copy of the Post Construction Stormwater Management Plan (PCSM) is here.

OK, they got the permit. UPDATED

I am sure that there will be dancing in the streets today. The NPDES permit has been granted.

Update October 17, 2014 4:11 PM Wildcat Middle Construction Begins Monday!

Is Lebo in deep doo-doo? UPDATED

Update October 8, 2014 A Lebo Citizens reader saw a promo indicating that Channel 11 or NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams is doing a story on the dangers of turf fields at either 5 or 6 p.m. today.

I never knew what a NPDES permit was until the four commissioners voted to artificially turf two fields in a flood-prone area on Cedar Blvd. For those unaware of this permit, it stands for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. According to The NPDES Permit System website, the Federal Clean Water Act and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams law requires wastewater dischargers to have a permit establishing pollution limits, and specifying monitoring and reporting requirements. A Post Construction Stormwater Management (PCSM) Report, which deals with erosion and sedimentation, must also be filed with the Allegheny County Conservation District when submitting a NPDES application. Thinking about the new swimming pool, I emailed Steve Feller and asked him about the NPDES permit and PCSM Report for that project. Through a Right To Know, here is his response. "There is no PCSM report for the Swim Center as the disturbed area was less than an acre."

The Mt. Lebanon Pool disturbed area totals more than 1.5 acres. See section E in the link? That section connects the pool to the fields on Cedar. 

Looking down to the field

The Shadow Knows

See 12/16/13 Update. 

• Began installation of storm water piping at the bottom of the slope

But wait. There's more.

From the Mt. Lebanon website, Mt. Lebanon installed a new gas line which went all the way to Cedar Blvd. The disturbed area for the gas line was not included in the 1.5+ acres calculation.

During Citizen Comments, I asked for a report concerning the meeting between Gateway and the DEP. There is no report, I was told. Of course there is no report, Kristen. You're not going to get one. The stormwater pipe connecting the pool to the fields was on the DEP's agenda to discuss with Gateway! Dan will never admit that he screwed up. This area was clearly marked on the bid documents that I bought. 

The DEP has already told you that you are not adequately filtering the toxic run-off. It isn't safe enough for our streams. I can't imagine what it is doing to our children. 

Insert handy comment template asking for resignations here.

	CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews)
10/1/14, 6:48 PM Today top women soccer players sued FIFA for gender discrimination over changing playing fields to artificial turf. @elainequijano explains

Finally! A Turf Project Update from Mt. Lebanon

During Citizen Comments at the September 9, 2014 Commission meeting, I expressed my frustrations over the lack of transparency with the Turf Project Field Enhancement Project. I have had to ask repeatedly for non-municipal funds updates, file Right To Knows, and hear too many times, that the municipality is hoping to receive the NPDES permit soon. I ended up filing a RTK with a government agency outside of Mt. Lebanon, in order to get answers. I learned that a letter was sent to Recreation Director, David Donnellan highlighting six deficiencies with Mt. Lebanon's NPDES permit application. At the commission meeting, Manager Steve Feller agreed to publishing that letter along with Mt. Lebanon's response to the Allegheny County Conservation District on Mt. Lebanon's website, along with a hard copy for my records. Here is Gateway's response.* Copies were also sent to Representative Dan Miller and Senator Matt Smith. Thank you, Steve.

*Large document