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Opposition to a Perryville business’ proposal to add a crematory to its location in the city limits can largely be summed up in four words — “Not in my backyard.”
The proposed site of the crematory — the addition of which requires a special-use permit from the city — would be an existing building located behind Brewer Monument Co., located at 111 S. West St. in Perryville.
Brewer Monument owners Tim and Angie Brewer say that their research — which includes information from the manufacturer of the unit they wish to install, reports from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources — show that crematoriums are safe and do not pose a hazard to the community.
“I wouldn’t be putting it here if I didn’t think it was completely safe,” said Tim Brewer, stressing that it would be his family and employees who would be in closest proximity.
More than a dozen citizens attended a meeting of the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission last month to share their views on the proposal, with most citing safety concerns along with fears of reduced property values.
One of those in opposition is Dr. Joe Hutchison, who has operated his dental practice at 22 S. West St. — just across the street from Brewer Monument and Ford & Young Funeral Home — for more than 40 years. According to Hutchison, government studies and state regulations aren’t a guarantee of safety.
“A crematory is a good idea, but it does not belong in a residential area,” Hutchison told the Republic-Monitor on Friday. “Perryville does not need a crematorium in the middle of town. I am not opposed to cremation. I just don’t think it ought to be next to an unsuspecting neighbor with somebody guaranteeing that it’s no problem who isn’t going to put it in print and say, ‘I promise.’”
Ultimately, the commission voted to decline issuing the permit, citing a lack of knowledge on the issue, and sent the matter on to the city’s Board of Aldermen, which will address the issue during a public meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at Perryville City Hall.
The area where Brewer Monument is located is zoned C-2, or “General Commercial,” and is bracketed by areas zoned R-5, or “General Residential.”
Hutchison, who’s been in practice for more than 47 years, says the largest part of his opposition comes from the chance that such a facility might release mercury vapor into the air during cremations through silver amalgam dental fillings. Silver amalgam fillings contain mercury alloys that when introduced into the intense heat of the cremation process, results in the volatilization of mercury and its emissions into the atmosphere.
“Mercury has always been a problem, and dentists know all about it,” Hutchison said. “The dentist population started all this mess and we are trying to clean up our own act by eliminating all mercury released from human waste by filtration and regulation and traps and the whole thing. We are now, as a general profession, not even placing mercury/silver fillings any further. So we know the hazard.”
Studies of crematorium emissions in Great Britain, where cremation rates approximate 70 percent of the deceased, found no significant accumulations in either air samples or soil samples. The crematorium tested had been in use for 40 years and performed an average of 700 cremations a year.
The concentration of mercury found in the crematory soil samples averaged nearly seven times lower than that allowed for food production and more than 100 times lower than that allowed for children’s playgrounds. The soil samples were deemed uncontaminated even after 112,000 cremations and 40 years of operation. Most U.S. crematoriums operate at far less capacity.
A study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted in Minnesota found that air samples taken near a crematorium exhaust point were actually cleaner than the ambient samples taken for a baseline comparison.
Modern cremation units, or “retorts,” include filtration systems and “afterburners” that attempt to further incinerate any emissions. Mercury concentrations are so low that the EPA does not regulate crematoriums, pointing out that coal-burning power plants, the breaking of fluorescent bulbs and the production and disposal of batteries are far greater sources of mercury pollution.
At the initial P& Z hearing, the Brewers backed their stance on safety with several environmental reports from the Environmental Protection Agency, and a letter from the designer of the unit they wish to install, Steve Looker, Ph.D., an environmental engineer with B&L Cremation Systems of Largo, Fla. B&L is recognized as the world’s largest independent manufacturer of cremation equipment with nearly 2,000 installations throughout the United States and over 50 countries.
“Each model manufactured by our company has been personally designed and engineered by [myself] and tested by an independent testing laboratory against standards set forth by the federal government,” wrote Looker in the letter. “Our equipment’s emission levels are less than half the allowable standards to ensure environmental quality.”
According to information provided by B&L and backed by information from the EPA, their cremation units contribute less air pollution during operation than running a diesel truck for two hours or restaurants that might cook 100 hamburgers during that period. Those numbers put the level of emissions as lower than a standard residential fireplace in terms of particulates or volatile organic compounds.
“Is it safe? We believe with all our heart it is, or we wouldn’t ask our family to help us run it,” said Angie Brewer.
According to data provided by the Missouri Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors — the state regulatory board — there are nearly 100 cremation facilities active in Missouri, all licensed and subject to inspection every two years by both the board and the state Department of Natural Resources.
Those closest to Perry County include McCombs Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Jackson, Cape Wilbert Vault in Jackson, Crain Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Cape Girardeau, Bollinger County Crematory in Marble Hill, the Patriot Corporation in Park Hills, Hillview Memorial Crematory in Farmington and Jefferson County Cremation Services in Pevely. Several of them are located within their respective city limits near schools and residential neighborhoods — much like Brewer Monument, which is two blocks from Immanuel Lutheran and near several daycares — where residents and neighbors have reported no issues.
“We would be your invisible neighbor,” Angie Brewer said Monday. “That’s our goal, that’s our intent and everyone who lives near one today has validated our statement.”
In response to a story published in the Feb. 6, 2020, edition of the Republic-Monitor, Jen Lacy of Jackson, who lives near McCombs Funeral Home, said, “No smell, no issues.”
“People are making a huge deal over nothing,” Lacy wrote in her comment. “The crematorium in Jackson is about [five] blocks from our middle school. Guess what? Never had an issue.”
Dan Otto, executive director and general counsel of the Missouri Funeral Directors and Embalmers Association echoed the Brewers’ stance, telling the Republic-Monitor last week, “There’s no safety concern. There’s not an odor concern. There’s not a dangerous chemical concern.”
That’s all well and good, said Hutchison, but it’s no guarantee of safety.
“Is the EPA going to guarantee me that there is never a problem?” said Hutchinson. “No, they’re going to say they’re studying, but they’re not going to say, ‘I guarantee it.’ It won’t happen. There is no EPA study that is absolutely 100 percent conclusive. For every piece of paper they have, there’s another piece of paper that says something else, and you don’t have to look very far to find it.
“Why even take that chance? Put that thing outside of town or in an isolated area, even in our industrial area. That’s fine with me.”
In the end, Hutchison said his reasons for opposing the issuance of a permit came down to a number of reasons — safety, property values, emissions, stigma — but it all boiled down to one overriding factor — location.
“I don’t like it there,” Hutchison said. “It’s the wrong thing in the wrong place.”
