The Nantucket Board of Health on Dec. 18 ended a listening session on the use of artificial turf for school athletic fields and agreed to schedule a special, focused workshop in January to allow a structured interchange among independent experts, school officials and community members.

The board emphasized the meeting had been a listening session and that no vote would be taken that night. Chair opened item 8 as a "listening meeting," set time limits and invited two distinct sets of concerns: student-safety and field access from proponents, and PFAS contamination and environmental risk from opponents. After extended public comment, the board voted to convene a special meeting in January to allow further fact-finding and a more structured roundtable.

Supporters — including students, parents, coaches and school leaders — said turf is necessary to meet heavy field demand, reduce maintenance and conserve water. "Turf fields are necessary for the safety of Nantucket athletes," said an NHS athlete who described repeated injuries on grass fields (speaker introduced as a Nantucket High School athlete). Beth Hallett, superintendent of Nantucket Public Schools, said the school committee voted 4-1 to proceed with a turf surface at Vito Capizzo Stadium and described engineered safeguards including a permeable backing, rock infill (no crumb rubber), walk-off mats and on-site stormwater management to keep runoff from leaving the site. "No stormwater will leave the site," Hallett said, describing drainage features and noting the districts intent to test the exact turf batch to be used (SEG 739-776).

Opponents and independent scientists urged stronger testing and precaution. "The attached test results ... are not sufficient to say they are PFAS free," said Dr. Kyla Bennett, a PhD ecologist who said detection limits reported by the applicant are far too high to rule out PFAS at parts-per-trillion regulatory levels and that SPLP (synthetic precipitation leaching procedure) testing is necessary to assess leaching under UV, abrasion and acid rain (SEG 811-873). Dr. Philip Landrigan, a pediatrician, warned of heat and chemical hazards on synthetic turf and cited recorded surface temperatures above 130 degrees Fahrenheit in some studies (SEG 1649-1714).

Technical reviewers said modern turf suppliers have responded to concerns. Steve LaRosa of Weston & Sampson, who reviewed manufacturer data for the school, said the samples he reviewed showed no detectable individual PFAS at detection limits well below Massachusetts soil thresholds and recommended independent third-party batch testing of any material shipped to Nantucket (SEG 672-732).

The public hearing phase and subsequent motions were procedural and iterative. The board debated whether to open a formal public hearing that night, voted to schedule a special meeting to permit a roundtable with experts and requested town counsel be present. Members also discussed whether draft regulations should be prepared in advance or drafted based on workshop input. The chair said the board will post meeting details and reach out broadly to stakeholders once a date is set.

Whats next: the board voted to schedule a special January workshop focused solely on the turf/PFAS question and agreed to coordinate scheduling with town counsel and provide enhanced outreach to interested groups. No regulatory decision or ban was adopted at the Dec. 18 meeting.

Votes and formal actions related to this item were procedural decisions to schedule further work; the board did not adopt a regulation or ban at the meeting.