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Silent danger at the rinks ~ StarTribune.com <br />StarTribune.cam <br />Silent danger at the rinks <br />Blake Whitecotton was one of 12 children on a <br />Maple Grove peewee hockey team who were <br />hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning in <br />2009. About 20 of the state's 194 indoor ice rinks <br />now use electric-powered groomers. <br />Close calls with carbon monoxide prompt <br />Minnesota officials to push for lower <br />emissions from ice grooming machines. <br />By JESSICA VAN BERKEL, Star Tribune <br />Last update: March 31, 2010 - 6:58 AM <br />Community Center in Morris last year, Jeff <br />Whitecotton faced a scare he never expected. <br />His son was one of 12 children on the Maple <br />Grove peewee hockey team, ages 11 and 12, who <br />went to the hospital for carbon monoxide <br />poisoning. Five spectators also got sick. <br />Turns out ice grooming equipment, like the <br />Zamboni stored near the players' locker room, <br />leaves behind more than a smooth skating <br />surface. It also creates a potentially hazardous <br />trail of carbon monoxide and nitrous dioxide that <br />lingers in indoor arenas. Medical emergencies <br />from bad air quality also have occurred in <br />Woodbury and Osseo, prompting state officials <br />to consider changing air-quality rules for skating <br />rinks for the first time in more than 30 years. <br />State lawmakers have advanced legislation that <br />would make Minnesota the first state in the <br />nation to lower the emissions standard in <br />skating rinks to a level that medical experts say <br />is needed to protect hockey players and others <br />from the dangerous fumes. <br />Under the bill proposed by Rep. Rick Hansen, <br />DFL-South St. Paul, arena managers would be <br />required to put pollution controls on ice <br />grooming equipment, post warning signs about <br />emissions and monitor the air more closely. The <br />bill passed the House Finance Committee last <br />week and the Senate is set to review a similar <br />proposal next week. <br /> <br />D[~~Bi~~E FAY~U'~S' <br />ALL REGULAR GANIFS FAY $~~0.' <br />fvllDf~IQ~-fT S~ESSPQrV Q!V SA~t~RQAY, ~;t'RtL 'IQ ~~~~1 ~, L~1 KE <br />,FACf{AG€S CAST° Jl1S~' ~~~ ~ns~MO • +~or~~ <br />.- .. <br />_ owe,manoc~~enre,~sn~e~ex~.~~„~sa..~wrmuar, mysticlake.COr4 . <br />Whenever an adolescent player is slammed into <br />the boards, hockey parents wince at the <br />reminder of how dangerous the sport can be. But <br />at a regional hockey tournament at the Lee <br />~_~ <br />Print Powered By i`i~ € Format:Dynamics'" J <br />http://www.startribune.com/sports/preps/89567652.html?elr=KArksWUoDEy3LGDi07aiU 04/06/2010 <br />Elizabeth Flores, Star Tribune <br />