West Tisbury considering artificial turf ban 

The town’s board of health would follow Oak Bluffs’ lead. 

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The MVRHS athletic field. —Daniel Greenman

Out of concern for polluting groundwater with contaminants, another Island town could stop the construction of artificial turf fields, following the lead of health officials in Oak Bluffs.

While no fields are planned for the town, the West Tisbury board of health hosted a community forum on Tuesday evening to gather feedback as board members consider a moratorium or outright ban on the controversial athletic playing surfaces. 

A gathering of nine people — none of them supporters of artificial fields — were present for the forum, including several environmentalists and vocal proponents of grass fields.

The issue had dominated Island politics over the past several years as the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School considered building a turf field, although the discussion has died down with Oak Bluffs adopting a townwide moratorium on artificial turf. 

One of the major concerns surrounding the fields are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, a family of chemicals that break down extremely slowly, which has earned them the nickname “forever chemicals.” Even low levels of the contaminant in drinking water can lead to damaging impacts to human health. 

It isn’t just West Tisbury considering artificial turf regulations. The Chilmark board of health will also be mulling a moratorium during a meeting planned for November.

“We’ll entertain it when we [review] other regulatory matters under our jurisdiction,” said Matt Poole, member of the Chilmark health board. Poole said the request was made by the Field Fund, a group that has opposed turf fields on the Island.

West Tisbury and Chilmark follow Oak Bluffs, where the health board, despite widespread pushback, voted to ban artificial playing fields in April over PFAS concerns. It is the only town with such a regulation on the Vineyard.

At Tuesday’s forum in West Tisbury, the board of health contemplated whether a moratorium or straight-up ban was the right call. A moratorium would provide the board more flexibility to revisit the issue. But attendees pushed for an outright ban.

Among the attendees were Vineyard Conservation Society executive director Samantha Look, board member Marc Rosenbaum, and board president Ewell Hopkins, the former chair of the Oak Bluffs planning board; Field Fund co-founder Rebekah Thomson was also present.

The health board will consult with the town’s legal counsel on open questions like whether a regulation would cover only public projects, if it would only apply to playing fields, and if indoor turf would be included if a ban goes through. West Tisbury board is also considering casting a wider net than Oak Bluffs’ ban, to capture other artificial surfaces. 

“Our concern is health, not politics,” West Tisbury health board member Jessica Miller said.

No draft regulation is available yet, but the West Tisbury health board is looking at how other communities are implementing their artificial turf rules for guidance.

In recent years, several other cities and towns in the state have implemented moratoriums of up to five years. Nantucket, Concord, and even Boston have put a pause on the installation of artificial turf in recent years. In 2023, a bill was introduced in the state legislature by outgoing state Sen. Marc Pacheco that proposed banning municipal bodies from entering into contracts “for the purchase, use, or installation of artificial turf for a new or existing field.” 

West Tisbury voters have shown a strong resistance to artificial turf fields. During the annual town election in April, residents voted roughly six to one that they prefer grass over turf in two nonbinding ballot questions. Last year, West Tisbury was the first of three Vineyard municipalities to vote against funding its share of the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School budget during the annual town meeting, to protest a lawsuit between the high school committee and the Oak Bluffs planning board over the field. 

Thomson told The Times the Field Fund is helping other Vineyard communities to lay regenerative grass fields, as at Oak Bluffs School and West Tisbury School. The organization, and other Island conservationists, are working to convince other towns to put their foot down on artificial turf. 

“Our hope is that all of the towns will follow the example of the town of Oak Bluffs,” Thomson, who is also a West Tisbury resident, said.

7 COMMENTS

  1. Article was not clear. Does this only apply only to public turf use, or does it include private use of turf. Some of us have putting greens, or outdoor carpet, at our private homes. I vote to restrict to public use only.

    • If you believe the risk is real then there should be a total ban. Public or private. All you have to do is look at the testing data. The board likely will ignore the testing data sitting on the MVC website because it doesn’t support the ban. Old story. It is just political.

    • If it’s bad and it hurts the aquifer it doesn’t matter where it is. Sorry but should be universal. The world is full of too many double standards due as I say not as I do.

  2. Interesting, the science says turf fields won’t harm the aquifer. This is a Field Fund political move, that’s all. These bans are based on fear, not science. The town of OB health department stated that if the turf field industry makes a turf product that doesn’t use PFAS, they will lift the moratorium. The Field Fund knows this and this is why they are moving to ban them now, before that happens. Targeting one item that hasn’t been proven will hurt the aquifer is wrong, when there are 1000s of other products no one wants to talk about. I.E. septic systems of the new affordable housing push. It’s hypocritical.

  3. If we want to improve the health of the island soils and water, let’s ban lawns and all the chemicals used to support them. Just look at the ultra-green lawns in the Pond development off of Edg-W. Tisbury road.

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