A Nantucket Company wanted to ship yard waste to the mainland. The island's PFAS reputation thwarted its plan

March 20, 2026

Read the full article by JohnCarl McGrady (Nantucket Current)

"Is Nantucket’s grass too toxic to truck off-island? Some residents of Newbury, New Hampshire, think so. It’s a striking example of how the island’s reputation for contaminated dirt and water has spread to the mainland, hampering at least one local company’s business efforts.

Last fall, with space running out at its composting facility on-island, Toscana looked to ship leaf and yard waste to a gravel pit property it owns in Newbury, NH. The large Nantucket construction company was already planning to use trucks to transport gravel back to the island, so sending yard waste the other way would prevent an empty trip and solve its space issues.

But Toscana needed local permission to ship the waste, and Newbury residents turned up in droves at a local Planning Board meeting to oppose the operation. Granite Under My Feet, a local blog run by journalist Ray Carbonne, reported that around 100 people attended the meeting."