Following the discovery that Highland Park’s turf field was installed using defective materials—an issue affecting thousands of fields across the nation—Chelsea’s municipal leadership has determined that legal action will not be pursued. The Record’s reporting revealed the problematic installation at the local facility.
According to City Solicitor Cheryl Fisher Watson, complaints about the turf field have only surfaced in recent months. The city’s search for applicable warranties proved unsuccessful, eliminating a potential basis for negotiating replacement. “We did a lot of research and found that the
turf was installed in 2011 and our contractor at the time has confirmed it was
FieldTurf,” she said. “Our problem in Chelsea is the statute of
limitations has run out since the installment and we have not been able to lay
our hands on any warranties. The City did have the responsibility to maintain
the field.”
City Manager Tom Ambrosino explained that despite conducting a comprehensive review of available remedies, officials discovered they had become aware of the defect too late to take action. “The City Solicitor’s Office has completed what
I consider a fairly thorough investigation of this issue,” he said. “The bottom
line conclusion is that the Statute of Limitations has long since expired on
any claims the City might have. Further, the field is getting close to the
end of its natural life. Accordingly, even if we could pursue a claim,
which we don’t believe we could, it would be hard for the City to distinguish
between defective materials and natural wear and tear. For these reasons, we
are not pursuing any legal action.”
The defective materials originated from a third-party supplier to FieldTurf, which switched to in-house manufacturing once the problem was identified. Nevertheless, numerous installations nationwide—including Chelsea’s and several Boston-area fields—had already been completed with the faulty materials before the company made this change. The Boston area remained largely unaware of the widespread issue until last autumn, when the Record initially investigated the matter.