Shutesbury, MA Board Of Health Recommends Against Installation Of Artificial Turf

by Maria Kopicki
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Shutesbury Board of Health voted unanimously on Wednesday April 19, to recommend against the installation of artificial turf at the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School. The decision means that the Boards of Health of all four member towns in the Regional School District have now advised, unanimously, against this product (see here, here, and here).  

The Shutesbury board noted that it took up the issue at the request of Shutesbury residents and, although the field itself is located within the Town of Amherst, Shutesbury students who attend the regional schools would be impacted by the turf project.

The project to resurface, enlarge, and reorient the high school track and replace the interior with an artificial turf field was put forward by the Regional  School Committee about a year ago. In the fall of last year, it became more widely known that artificial turf fields contain PFAS, a class of “forever chemicals” with significant detrimental effects. The negative health, safety, environmental, and climate impacts have also come to the fore, prompting resistance from other governing bodies to the project as proposed. 
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The project has failed to receive Community Preservation Act funding from all three member towns that have voted on it since the larger public has become aware of these issues. 

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