FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 7, 2014
Coalition to Protect Golden Gate Park
@MMSFOceanBeach
info@protectggp.org
Activist, Concerned Mother, Kathleen McCowin, President of Parents and Coaches for Natural Grass in Golden Gate Park, Arrested for Blocking Illegal Destruction of Golden Gate Park
Kathleen McCowin was arrested today, Friday, at 2:30 pm for blocking heavy equipment involved used by private contractors in the illegal destruction of Golden Gate Park. Ms. McCowin was taken to County Jail where she will be held until her release can be arranged. She will meet with counsel Saturday at 8:30 am.
The Beach Chalet Fields are fields of play for athletes of all ages. They are directly over the City’s Groundwater Supply to be mixed with Hetch Hetchy water for us to drink. As part of the artificial turf project the City and their private partner, the City Fields Foundation proposes to dump 700,000 pounds of environmental toxins in the form of waste tire crumb infill in our beloved Golden Gate Park. We applaud Ms. McCowin’s resolve to stop this horrible project. Ms. McCowin will issue a statement to the press upon release.
Kathleen McCowin on NBC News on Thursday evening.
As an added note: CalRecycle rolled out their Tire Derived Product Grant on Friday, November 7. The San Francisco Green Party and Ms. McCowin’s group, Soccer Parents and Coaches for Grass Fields in Golden Gate Park, had formally requested that CalRecycle Director Caroll Mortensen stop incentivizing the use of toxic tire crumb on children’s playgrounds and playfields. CalRecycle has ignored that request.
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Tires/Grants/Product/FY201415/Guidelines.pdf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, October 31, 2014
Coalition to Protect Golden Gate Park
@MMSFOceanBeach
info@protectggp.org
San Francisco Green Party and Soccer Parents and Coaches call on CalRecycle to stop offering Cash for Trash (Waste Tire Crumb).
SAN FRANCISCO–In a letter supported by petitioners from around the globe, the San Francisco Green Party and Soccer Parents and Coaches for Grass Fields in Golden Gate Park called upon CalRecycle Director Caroll Mortensen to stop offering incentive grants for the use of waste tire products on playgrounds and playfields.
Citing recent anecdotal evidence (a cancer cluster in soccer goalies in Washington state) of the “imminent health threat” posed by toxic chemicals in SBR (waste tire) products and movement on the part of members of Congress and elected officials of other states calling for thorough independent study of the material, the letter calls for CalRecycle to stop paying grant incentives for the use of tire derived products on playfields and playgrounds.
Mike Murphy, Director of the Coalition to Protect Golden Gate Park and writing on behalf of the San Francisco Green Party indicated that “cash for trash business decisions” were made by San Francisco Rec and Park in which CalRecycle grant money took precedence over the public’s concerns. In two cases, material was moved from the original grant location to others in order to preserve grant funding from CalRecycle, suggesting a lack of independent judgement on the part of Rec and Park management. Murphy called RPD decisions “unconscionable”, writing that “not one family should suffer the pain and heartbreak of a loved one’s sickness due to chronic exposure to waste tire material because appointed officials want to pad their operating budgets.”
Kathleen McCowin, President of Soccer Parents and Coaches for Grass Fields in Golden Gate Park, also signed on to the letter. McCowin has called prior testing of SBR waste tire infill “predicative”, and signed on as a “soccer mom” who “is worried about her daughter, Liz, playing on…toxic turf fields”.
Coalition to Protect Golden Gate Park 