Sterling gym blames foul odor on nearby medical marijuana facility

STERLING, Mass. — A central Massachusetts gymnastics academy is making a stink over what they say is an overwhelming odor on their property, and they're blaming it on the medical marijuana facility just a stone's throw from them.

The gymnastics school says it is worried this could put them out of business because some of their parents are so upset.

They say the smell is making its way into their gym and its being trapped inside. They're concerned because they say a thousand kids are breathing in the odor.

Sterling Academy of Gymnastics has operated out of the gym for 27 years.

It wasn't until two weeks ago that a parent reported a skunk-type odor.The smell has since made it's way into the gym.

"[The parent] pulled me aside and said, 'you know your parking lot smells like pot,'" the academy's Nancy Carbone told Boston 25 News. "Now, it's starting to be every day that it's coming into my building and we have a thousand children who come through here every week."

Last summer, the gym got a new neighbor: a medical marijuana grow facility. So we went around the corner to the Botanist, Incorporated. They gave us a statement saying they're looking into whether their facility is to blame, and say they take pride in being "good corporate citizens."

The town board of health investigates these kinds of complaints. They met with Carbone Wednesday as our cameras were rolling and said they were only made aware of the problem yesterday.

"We will be discussing it with the grow facility to see what it is that they're doing that might have changed," Board of Health agent David Faveau said.

He says if it is coming from the facility, one possible way to mitigate the problem would be for the company to add more charcoal filters.

"The scientific data that we've been presented with doesn't prove that it's harmful -- even for young children," Favreau said. "Again, it's not something that's being ingested or topically applied."

Carbone says she's less concerned about kids' exposure from a health standpoint than she is about kids' exposure from an awareness standpoint.

"Just the fact that they're smelling it and questioning it and now parents have to take that next step and talk to them about what they're smelling and why," she said.

We did some research and there are clear state requirements for how these grow facilities are supposed to be going about ventilating to keep smells from becoming too strong.

Statement from Botanist, Inc:

"We were made aware today of the email sent by Sterling Gym.  We are looking into whether the issue referenced in the email is connected to our facility.  While we have been operating since August 2018 and have had no prior issues, we take pride in being good corporate citizens in Sterling.”

Cox Media Group