The Oak Bluffs board of health discussed the option of implementing a moratorium on synthetic turf across the town this past week.
The health board considered the option during a meeting Thursday, with the possibility of a synthetic turf field being allowed to go forward following a potential court ruling.
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) Committee has filed a lawsuit against the Oak Bluffs planning board and the town after the planning board denied a permit for the proposed synthetic turf field, citing concerns over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — a group of chemicals that can cause harm to human health and the environment. The committee and the planning board are pursuing a resolution.
Board of health member Tom Zinno said it seems people have forgotten that a draft moratorium was considered. In May 2022, the board leaned toward the idea of a two-year moratorium on synthetic turf fields in Oak Bluffs as a part of an effort to regulate PFAS in the town. Zinno said the state and federal governments have been developing new PFAS regulations. The state threshold for acceptable PFAS levels is currently 20 parts per trillion, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a possible new regulation to have a federal PFAS threshold of 4 parts per trillion.
“I think our whole point was everything is changing, and we don’t know,” he said. “We need to be cautious about this because we’re trying to protect the water, and that’s our public health issue.”
Zinno added that the Oak Bluffs Select Board and the planning board should be reminded that this turf moratorium is a potential option the board of health can review in order to stop the field from being built.
Meeting attendee Walter Vail asked why the board of health didn’t implement the moratorium already, and questioned the benefits of the moratorium, considering PFAS has been found in the soil already.
Board of health chair William White said the moratorium was not implemented because they wanted to “wait and see” where the lawsuit would be headed. Considering the situation was “in flux,” the moratorium was not necessary, according to White.
White said whether the moratorium will be implemented depended on the result of the lawsuit and what further information was revealed about PFAS from entities like the Environmental Protection Agency. “I’d rather err on the side of caution than anything else,” he said.
When Vail again brought up that PFAS is present in other sources, White pointed out that a synthetic turf field would be adding a new source of the chemicals, and said further that this was an ongoing issue.
“We’ll address that when the time is necessary,” White said. “Right now, it’s not necessary because everything is in flux.”
Zinno suggested sending a letter to the select board and the planning board to “put everybody on notice,” but the other board members felt no action was needed at this time.
Board of health member James Butterick pointed out that finding PFAS in water will be another issue the town will need to look at. Butterick also said a court hearing is expected in the next couple of weeks.
“There’s a lot of work ahead on multiple levels,” Zinno said.
Oak Bluffs municipal government is starting to resemble an organized crime syndicate with regard to this field issue. There seems to be an angle that is missing from the reporting on this topic. As always, the answer is proabably money. Someone makes money from a grass field, someone else profits from synthetic. Useful idiots are employed to make it seem like a discussion of some other matter of dire importance. There is an unseen hand that is driving this insipid argument. It would be wonderful to see some actual reporting on the issue.
This is so ridiculous! We need a new high school building ..just wait build the new school ..put the turf on the roof only to be used when resting the other grass fields … have the water run off be treated on site with a filtration system designed by university students … just stop bickering and get it done.
Turf on the roof.
What a clever idea.
How many bleacher seats?
How many elevators for the physically challenged and turf maintenance equipment?
University students?
How about State licensed advanced degree engineers with ten years of field experience?!
The Last Hail Mary to stop this field. Amazing the energy the minority has. Turf manufacturers are making PFAS free turf. Test the septics! Test the natural turf! Moratorium on it all. Excited to see what the courts think
Minority? Sure didn’t look like that at Town Meeting (s)!
Last time I checked we have 16,000+ residents on island full time. I’d say likely 8,000 registered voters. Approx 200 people in these town meetings actually didn’t vote against the turf, they voted to require moneys donated over $5,000.00 be reported and to require grass fields, which is illegal because you can’t put a restriction on public lands. So yes, in no way was this a majority of people on island and those who showed up for this vote was barely enough for a quorum. The results may have been different if the question was a vote to approve the turf if you included down island voters as well.
jonguault is in the minority, just like Trump.
this is easy–just put it up for an island wide vote. The citizens of the island are the ones that are paying for it and living with the consequences of whatever it is .
It’s mostly the citizens of the State and Country.
Follow the money.
I don’t care what they use as long as it is the most expensive.
We need the jobs.
Kudos OB Board of Health. The PFAS issue is here and growing, new deeply concerning data emerging on its toxicity emerging.
The argument that states it’s already here so it doesn’t matter is ignorant. Better to realize we must stop adding more, remediate where we can and prevent further damage.
I’m an OB resident, we had our water tested. It came back with borderline PFAS and other carcinogenic chemicals. That water had been filtered by a whole house system. We got a reverse osmosis filter for our drinking water. The results are astonishing.
What is borderline. It is either measurable or it isn’t.
Thnx, should have been more specific. PFAS measurement was barely in the “allowable” range. So recommendation from testing lab was to get filter.
Would it be acceptable to install PFAS free turf? It is already manufactured. Would you accept this? Think hard. BOH has made this about pfas. No need for a moratorium if it is pfas free. Just condition the permit.
Indeterminate.
Detectable but not quantifiable.
I am wondering if the OB Board of Health asked to have the sod that was laid down at the High School tested for PFAS before it was put down over our sole source aquifer. I realize it was not plastic but from all I’m reading…. I mean, if PFAS are everywhere and they are I wonder how much was in the sod used to make our fields better. How much nitrogen was in the sod now leaching into our waters. `
Later in the day ….
I started to ponder a deeper PFAS thought. if the sod put down at the MVRHS Had PFAS and it was more than the soil At the high school, doesn’t that equate to adding more PFAS to ground in order to improve fields. No one seems to be too concerned about that. Or perhaps the tags on the sod said minutiae amounts of PFAS or no PFAS. Are
We to Simply believe the manufacturer of said item. I mean someone is making money on the sod. If there is any PFAS in it we should never use it. Correct!!! Is that what I read? Is that a correct Pattern of thought ? Or
Is everything at the discretion of powerful
Board members. This includes whatever was put around sunset pond in OB or not questioning what might have been in the sod. So fascinating all that I read. There is some hypocrisy in all this and I just wonder if Anyone else Sees it? Oh and the wait til
The judge decides on this case to make a decision on moratoriums or not….either PFAS is important in everything sewers, sod, soil, turf, rain, and whatever is around sunset lake to make a walking path, or it’s not so …Important. This issue just so very interesting, complicated and feels some what arbitrary.
PS: I do understand how huge the PFAS issue is to tackle. I’m Not so Sure, it’s something we can pick And choose based on our Preference. From my additional
Reading….it appears sewers/septics are a HUGE. magnificent source of PFAS perhaps the OB BOH should be thinking about that and ways to mitigate septic PFAS.
As Always hoping for the best solutions to complicated issues.
SYNTHETIC TURF IS PFAS FREE
OUR GRASS FIELDS AREN”T
TRUTH HURTS
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