WESTFIELD, NJ — Westfield's Board of Education held its first meeting back for the new school year Tuesday night, and the impending Edison Fields artificial turf project was top of mind for Westfield parents.

Although the Board and the town are not planning to take any action on the project as of now, several parents spoke at the meeting and continued to voice concerns about the health and environmental impacts of artificial turf.

Back in May, the Westfield Town Council approved a resolution to award a $14,000 contact to CME Associates to perform an "assessment of the fields," which includes reviewing the cost of the project, maintenance of the fields and comparing the cost of natural grass versus artificial turf.

Read more: Westfield Council Approves $14K Assessment Of Edison Fields Project

Estimated to cost around $9 million, the Edison Fields Project involves installing three new turf fields at Edison Intermediate School.

According to the conceptual plan, that was presented on Sept. 20 of last year, the project is proposed to include:

Board member Michael Bielen said the district's Facilities Committee recently met with Jim Gildea, the town's business administrator, and a representative of CME Associates to discuss the project. He said no report has been released yet but to expect an update in the next few weeks.

Bielen reiterated that there are no action items as of yet on the Edison Fields project.

Toward the end of the meeting, several parents voiced concerns over the project and how it may impact their children.

Resident Mona Zhao, a parent of a student attending Edison Intermediate, said she is extremely concerned about the potential health impact on students.

"At a [time] where we constantly talk about equity and access as a golden standard, taking away Edison students' right and access to fresh air without plastic fumes ... while students of other schools can enjoy their recess in fresh air on natural grass is exactly the opposite of what we are preaching to our children," Zhao said.

Zhao also added, "Even if it's absolutely necessary to have fake plastic fields in our town ... why are we only concentrating that on one school but not spreading it all over town?"

Resident Marisa Carnevale argued that the Board is targeting the south side of Westfield with this project, whereas the north side is "untouched." She said the middle school on the north side of town was never considered for the turf project.

"You talk about equity," Carnevale said. "Don't be a political pawn. You're here for our kids and their best interests and equity of all the students of Westfield."

Another resident, Tim Eaton, spoke about several health concerns that he believes originates from artificial turf.

He said plastic turf contains carcinogens and toxics that can cause cancer, thyroid disease, asthma, liver damage and other diseases. Eaton added that even if the infill, or crumb rubber, used for the turf field is substituted with material that does not contain chemicals, he argued that there are dangerous chemicals in the plastic turf itself.

According to the NJ Health Department, however, evidence on the possible health risks of artificial turf is largely inconclusive.

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment reported on potential health risks of recycled tire crumb rubber on playgrounds and concluded that it is “… unlikely that a one time ingestion of tire shreds would produce adverse [non-cancer] health effects.”

Eaton also pointed out several environmental issues that could result from synthetic turf. He said turf is not recyclable, which could lead to environmental contamination and that the toxins released from the turf "pollute the environment," whereas natural grass keeps the water and soil clean. He argued that natural grass fields help fight climate change as it absorbs carbon dioxide and releases oxygen.

Eaton further argued that the tower lights proposed for the fields are "intrusive" and will allow more games and practices at night. In turn, he said this will generate more noise, traffic and parking issues in surrounding neighborhoods.

Resident Ken Warren questioned why the Board is considering spending $9 million on this project when the district recently laid off several teachers, many from the arts department, due to a budget shortfall.

"The town is asking for $9 million for a sports field while at the same time laying off 24 positions approximately," Warren said. "You may think these are separate buckets, but in reality this is all taxpayer money."

Warren also voiced concerns about the tower lights disrupting residential areas and that people using the fields late at night will cause more traffic and noise.

"This spending spree that satisfies special interest club sports while laying off teachers doesn't send the right message," Warren said. "Where's the logic?"

You can watch the full Board of Education meeting on YouTube.

Check out Patch's previous coverage of the turf debate below:

Read more: $9 Million Project For New Turf Field Worries Westfield Residents

Read more: Westfield Turf Debate Continues: Pro Field Manager Weighs In

More information about the project can also be found on the town's website.

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