PFAS, Forever Chemicals, Testing
2023 Testing of the Norwalk River for PFAS
NRWA, East Norwalk Blue and Copps Island Oysters conducted baseline testing of the Norwalk River for PFAS around sites for proposed Artificial Turf fields in Wilton and Norwalk in 2023 and in New Canaan in 2024. Artificial turf is reported to contain PFAS forever chemicals which can leach into waterways and are harmful to human health and the environment. Wilton and Norwalk voted down the addition of new fields near drinking water sources and they were not installed. New Canaan approved additional fields near Grupes Reservoir, which serves as a drinking water source.
In an effort to shed light on the issue of PFAS in artificial turf, NRWA hosted this webinar exploring the science behind water quality concerns and artificial turf fields.
Here are the tests commissioned by NRWA of Allen’s Meadow north of Wilton High School and of Playing Field Retention pond south of the High School artificial turf fields. The pond below the fields showed twice the PFAS levels that were observed above the fields.
Here are the tests of Grupes Reservoir.
The results of the broader testing of the River shows it contains PFAS from its start in Ridgefield to where it flows into Norwalk Harbor. These rivers feed into the Sound at the center of Connecticut’s $30 million shellfish industry. In Florida, oysters have been found to be contaminated with PFAS, and both the Westport and Norwalk Shellfish Commissions are extremely concerned about the threat posed by PFAS. See the graph below for an overview of some of the testing:
Each bar represents a different PFAS chemical likely to be found in artificial turf. Farmingville Road is at the start of the Norwalk River in Ridgefield; Cannondale Bridge and Wilton Y Bridge are in Wilton near the high school; Broad Street and Rt 123 are in Norwalk’s Silvermine neighborhood; and Wall Street Bridge is in East Norwalk where the river flows into Norwalk Harbor.
Wilton Questioned the Results of Our Testing
The Wilton First Selectwoman’s office, a proponent of the new artificial turf fields, questioned the quality of the PFAS testing NRWA commissioned from York Labs in Stratford in the local newspapers. However, the tests were carried out by professionals at a State Certified Lab and the results were similar to those commissioned by the town where the test sites were the same.
This article in Good Morning Wilton provides an overview.