In Los Gatos, Calif., some parents have become embroiled in a fight over plans to put in artificial plastic grass at local elementary schools. Similar battles are playing out in states like Connecticut and Vermont with a focus on high schools.
All have involved some level of concern around PFAS, with water contamination in the backdrop. In Woodbridge, Conn., for example, testing has shown PFAS levels rose in surface water yards away from the Amity High School field after its construction, an uptick local advocates attribute to the turf. PFOA and PFOS levels in that water are above the threshold now considered safe by EPA. FieldTurf installed that field and said it would be free of total PFAS measured under EPA’s testing method.
Tracy Stewart has been fighting turf across Massachusetts for nearly a decade, including in the town of Franklin, where she connected used turf discarded near wetlands to increased PFAS contamination. In 2019, she and PEER’s Bennett confirmed through testing that the turf contained elevated levels of Total Organic Fluorine. But the town has yet to address questions around turf, even as concerns over PFAS in drinking water have cropped up.
Advocates concerned about turf say industry’s focus on whether it could harm athletes ignores a bigger fear: that the material could contaminate the surrounding environment. Years in the sun and rain could cause chemicals to enter local drinking water and waterways.
One of the most heated debates over turf is playing out on a Massachusetts island.
Martha’s Vineyard has preexisting PFAS contamination and relies on a single aquifer for drinking water. But school officials have vehemently pushed for a multimillion-dollar turf project, arguing it will bolster the performance of student athletes.
That dispute took on a violent tone earlier this year. Oak Bluffs’ health agent, Meegan Lancaster, had been advising the town’s health board on the potential for PFAS contamination from a synthetic field when she found 10-millimeter shell casings in her personal tote bag. She left the job not long afterward, according to the Martha’s Vineyard Times.
Ultimately, the Oak Bluffs Planning Board voted to deny a permit for the field, citing concern that PFAS could ultimately leach into the water supply. They pointed to calculations conducted by a regional regulatory body finding the field could leach up to 12 ppt of the six PFAS regulated in Massachusetts into the island’s drinking water annually, including PFOS.
Now, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional School District is challenging the decision with a lawsuit, arguing the board should have listened to town-hired consultants, including Weston & Sampson, who said contamination from the field is “likely insignificant.” Opponents say they are unfazed and will continue fighting. Rebekah Thompson, who works with the nonprofit Field Fund in support of natural fields, said the group was surprised by the extent to which the school system would fight for turf.
“It is shocking to see Martha’s Vineyard school officials challenge the authority of the town to take steps to protect a predefined, environmentally sensitive area,” Thompson said.
