Bishop's Falls council feeling heat over crematorium

"Not in my backyard" has taken on a new meaning in Bishop's Falls, as residents fight a proposed expansion by a local funeral home.

Hoskins Funeral Homes wants to build a crematorium on to its existing building in the town. The funeral home is surrounded by residential homes, but the property itself is registered as commercial.

Last April the funeral home applied to the town for a building permit, which the town gave, without going to a public meeting.

When residents saw construction begin this August, some objected.

They're worried for themselves, they're worried for their children and they're worried for the town.- Clayton Forsey

Clayton Forsey, a former MHA and a member of the group of concerned residents, said the town should have consulted the public to see if there were objections to the crematorium.

"There's a lot of different toxins that come out of that, dioxins and mercury," said Forsey.

"It's a major concern for the people here. They're worried for themselves, they're worried for their children and they're worried for the town."

Some residents brought the issue to an appeals board at the Department of Municipal Affairs, which issued a stop-order on the crematorium. Rather than go through the appeal process, the town decided to pull the funeral home's building permit.

Now there'll be a public forum where people can voice their concerns.​The town says there's a lot of misinformation and this meeting should clear the air.

"Some of the information I've heard I don't think is realistic," said Bishop's Falls Mayor Bob Hobbs. 

Crematoriums relatively safe, says association

The Cremation Association of North America has researched the possible emissions from cremations.

Mark Matthews, the group's environmental advisor, said mercury from dental fillings is the biggest concern when it comes to crematoriums, but it wouldn't affect the neighbours.

"It volatizes, goes up in the atmosphere and goes down long distances," said Matthews. "But from a pure, environmental [perspective], is pollution going to be a problem — there just aren't enough cremations going on [in Bishop's Falls] for it to be an issue."

Matthews said the only reason a funeral director would be putting in a crematorium would be because people are asking for it.

"Most every funeral director would rather have a full, traditional burial than a cremation because frankly, there's more revenue tied to a full, traditional burial so this is driven by consumers."

Public meeting Monday

The town is holding a public forum on Monday to discuss the crematorium. After that, town council will vote again on the building permit.

However, Hoskins Funeral Homes has already done a lot work on the crematorium. The town doesn't know if it'll be liable to cover the cost of the partial construction, if the funeral home is told it can't continue.

"We'll wait to see exactly if that is what happens," said Hobbs. "We haven't even looked that far ahead."

The CBC did request an interview with Hoskins Funeral Homes, but hasn't heard back.