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Crematorium stirs up questions

Answers to unaddressed questions will be made available at the Community Development Department.

By SHANNON TAN
Published July 8, 2005

LARGO - More than 170 residents showed up at Anona United Methodist Church on Wednesday night to pepper officials with questions about a proposed crematorium.

The minister prayed for peaceful dialogue. Residents wrote their questions on slips of paper. They booed when they didn't like an answer, applauded when they liked a question and shouted comments from the audience. Two hours and 47 question forms later, the city ended the meeting. Answers to the remaining questions will be made available at the Community Development Department.

The company that owns Serenity Gardens Memorial Park, where the crematorium is proposed, is offering to take city staffers, city commissioners and several residents to tour one of their crematories in an Orlando neighborhood.

Residents are collecting pledges for a legal fund to defeat the project.

Here are answers to some of the questions asked Wednesday:

What is the proposed 13,177-square-foot Serenity Gardens Central Care Facility?

It is a one-story building with three crematories totaling 5,600 square feet, a refrigeration unit, fleet parking and storage, said Richard Chesler, general manager of Moss Feaster Serenity Gardens. There will also be an area where bodies are prepared for burial. The proposed site is on the southeast corner of the property on Wilcox Road north of Mia Circle, and across the street from Mia Circle residences.

Why is a crematorium needed?

"It is something that will help our business," Chesler said. Pinellas County has more deaths than any other county in Florida, said Keith Gruendl, market director for SCI Florida Funeral Services. The county has one of the highest cremation rates in Florida.

Aren't Moss Feaster Funeral Homes and Serenity Gardens Memorial Park owned by the family of former Mayor Thom Feaster?

How many cremations will be conducted?

Should any visible smoke or odor come from the crematory?

No. There will be an odor and smoke if a cremation unit malfunctions, but such upsets are typically short-lived and corrected immediately, said Peter Hessling, county air quality division director.

What is the cost of an average cremation? How long does a cremation take?

Who will the crematorium serve?

It will serve nine Moss Feaster and Osgood-Cloud funeral homes, and the National Cremation Society in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Do crematories emit anything hazardous to health or the environment?

Crematories typically emit carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and particulates. Mercury is emitted when remains with silver amalgam dental fillings are cremated, but the use of such fillings is on the decline. In 2002, crematories in Pinellas County emitted about 17 pounds of mercury, Hessling said.

Who monitors the emissions?

The Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate crematories. The county conducts an annual visible emissions observation test and reviews records for the previous year, Hessling said. The crematory hires a firm to conduct a stack test on new cremation units or can submit a test done on an identical unit to show compliance with state emission limits.

Who should I call if I see smoke coming from a crematory?

Call the county's air quality division to make a complaint.

How many complaints are filed against crematories in Pinellas?

What emissions-monitoring devices will there be?

A crematory is designed with a thermal afterburner that cleans gases after leaving the cremation chamber, said Paul Rahill, president of the Matthews Cremation Division, which designs and manufactures crematory equipment. The gases then go through an optical scanner that automatically goes into corrective mode if anything is detected.

How do the crematorium emissions compare with, say, a home fireplace?

There can be more pollution emissions coming from a fireplace, Hessling said. Will this be the largest facility in the county?

There are nine facilities in Pinellas County operating 15 cremation units, Hessling said. Only one of those facilities, located in St. Petersburg, has three crematories like the one proposed for Serenity Gardens. Why aren't commissioners deciding this?

The site has a land use designation of institutional, which allows a cemetery with crematoriums. Because a crematory is an allowable use on the property, the city staff will make the decision. To change the city's comprehensive development code retroactively would put the city in a precarious legal position, said City Attorney Alan Zimmet.

What recourse do residents have if they don't like the staff's decision?

They can file an administrative appeal to the Planning Board, and then the City Commission. They can also file a lawsuit.

What's next?

A final site plan has to be submitted. Then a development order and building permits have to be obtained. Multiple agencies will be involved in the review process. "It could be six to eight months before we're into construction," said Richard Hartmann of Hartmann Architecture. Rahill said the state Department of Environmental Protection and the county take up to six months to approve permits.

[Last modified July 8, 2005, 01:02:17]