Bishop's Falls crematorium gets approval from town council, construction continues

A contested crematorium in Bishop's Falls will go ahead as planned, following a vote by the town council.

After some pushback from citizens over potential environmental issues, council voted 6-1 to allow Hoskins Funeral Home to move forward with the expansion to its business.

• Bishop's Falls council feeling heat over crematorium

While Mayor Bob Hobbs understands the concerns posed by the citizens group, he told the Central Morning Show he does not believe they were justified by facts.

"In the studies we have looked at and investigated … there's more emissions from your barbecue. There's more emissions from a wood stove. There's certainly more emissions from somebody that smokes that are much more dangerous to you than anything that's going to be released from this facility."

Last week, a group of townspeople brought their concerns forward, stating the town should have consulted the public before approving the crematory back in April. 

But Mayor Hobbs explained that public notification was not necessary because the new service is an expansion to an existing business.

While the town normally consults the public on new businesses, the crematorium is just an extension of the funeral home and did not require a public notice, Hobbs said.

Mercury fears not substantiated, mayor says

The main concern amongst the naysayers was mercury pollution from the emissions. In an interview last week, Mark Matthews, the environmental advisor for the Cremation Association of North America, said it would take a large amount of cremations for any problem to exist.

According to Hobbs, the local centre would carry out a maximum of 100 cremations a year, far from totals in bigger centres.

"It's not a significant number," Hobbs said.

With the vote finished and work continuing, the mayor hopes the project is completed as planned.

"There's always opposition when there's something new, or there's information that can be confusing or misconstrued," he said. "I hope (the public) allow the opportunity to prove this can be a success."