Westford Board of Health Defers Officer Vote, Pledges Memo on Battery Storage

WESTFORD — May 11, 2026 — Westford Board of Health defers officer elections and moves to engage Planning Board on battery storage risks. Meeting remotely on May 11, the four-member board voted 4-0-0 to postpone its annual reorganization of Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary until June, when newly appointed member Naseem Chatiwala is expected to attend. Health Director Rae Dick briefed the board on a six- to 12-month pilot program underway at the Cameron Senior Center that replaces rodenticide bait stations with mechanical traps, part of a broader review of the town's undated pesticide use policy. On battery energy storage systems, Dick outlined public health concerns — including fire risk, hydrogen fluoride releases, PFAS contamination, and proximity to Westford's groundwater-dependent drinking water supply — and the board agreed to send a written memo to the Planning Board before that body's first BESS discussion on May 18, with a state zoning deadline understood to fall around November 1. The Village Store food establishment at 9 West Prescott Street permanently closed after owner Beaver Rogers surrendered his food permit the day of the meeting.