WESTFIELD—Westfield will be adopting a three-year moratorium on the use of synthetic fields that use crumb rubber infill on all city-owned property.
The moratorium comes after city councilors who were in attendance voted unanimously to adopt a resolution proposing the moratorium. The resolution had previously come with a unanimous positive recommendation vote from the City Council’s Natural Resources Committee, where Ward One Councilor and committee member Mary Ann Babinski had proposed and created the resolution.
Ward one councilor Mary Ann Babinski during the July 6 city council meeting. (photo by Amy Porter)
The resolution would put a three-year moratorium “on the construction or installation of certain synthetic turf” with crumb rubber. The moratorium is applicable to city-owned property, and according to previous meetings and articles, could be revisited as additional information comes out on studies related to crumb rubber.
Concerns have been raised in the city related to the use of the material and possible health impacts, coming from some residents, as well as some city councilors. Also, according to Babinski, Joe Rouse, the director of the Department of Health, agreed with the resolution. She also said that he gave input into the resolution, along with the law department.
Previously however, the Board of Health voted to not ban the material in a meeting in May, claiming that there weren’t studies showing whether or not a health risk exists with the material currently. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) though, are currently still conducting studies on the material and its potential effects.
In addition, several city councilors spoke in favor of the resolution during the meeting.
“I’m very supportive of this because we don’t know the public health effects,” Ward Three Councilor Andrew Surprise said.
“I’m also in agreement with this, this is a very, very good thing for the city,” Ward Six Councilor Bill Onyski said.
Others speaking in favor were At-Large Councilor Cindy Harris and Ward Two Councilor Ralph Figy.
