Environment at core of
crematorium concerns
OCEANPORT — Armed with determination and information culled from various Web sites, area residents are continuing to battle the plans to install a crematorium at a local cemetery.
Woodbine Cemetery, Maple Avenue, has applied to the borough’s Planning Board for site plan approval to construct a crematorium on the 22-acre facility.
The attorney representing the cemetery, as well as others testifying on its behalf, have maintained the cemetery has the right to build the crematorium under the Cemetery Act, a state statute, as long as it has the approval of the state Department of Community Affairs, the Cemetery Board and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
Local municipalities actually have very little say in this arena, and the board can only approve or deny this application based on the proposed site plan.
That has neighbors worried. A number of those who live in the area have expressed concern about placement of such a facility in a primarily residential area.
"The main concern is how it’s going to affect the environment," said Art Mura, who lives on Maple Avenue, which is a stone’s throw away from the cemetery.
"What my concerns are with kids, as well as with the adults, are that these smokestacks will emit harmful things," said Allison DeVito, Massaro Street,
Residents have discussed concerns over emission of dental mercury from the smokestacks as well as other health issues associated with placement of such a facility.
During the course of the public hearings on this application over the past few months, there has been testimony which asserted that the cremation process is safe and is overseen by the DEP. But some are not so convinced and have surfed the Internet to ascertain information regarding crematoria, the effects of mercury and other environmental considerations.
"There are diseases associated with this stuff," said Gale Mura, Maple Avenue.
"Shore Regional [High School] is just down the road, and the kids will be inhaling this," said Mary Kinslow, Locust Avenue, West Long Branch.
The cemetery and surrounding area rest on a flood plain, according to Sal Vecchione, a Woodbine Way resident. There are also protected wetlands on the cemetery’s property — issues that need to be addressed more thoroughly before this is permitted to proceed, Vecchione insisted.
There also are matters of protected species, including ospreys and great blue herons, who nest in the area, Kinslow added.
"This is the problem with the state issuing the permit without visiting the site," DeVito said.
These types of facilities are usually placed in the context of larger cemeteries and in areas that are primarily industrial, residents said, pointing to crematoria in Linden, Newark and the one in Neptune as examples.
"This is not the right location for this type of facility," Vecchione said.
In the surrounding area, he noted, in addition to the wetlands issue, there are schools, a park and a day-care center.
"The other issue is we don’t want it at all," he acknowledged .
Vecchione also questioned Woodbine Cemetery’s position that cemeteries are permitted to build such facilities simply on the basis of their being cemeteries.
"Can any cemetery build a crematorium?" Vecchione asked. "A little church with a cemetery can build a crematorium? There have to be some guidelines."
Acknowledging that they are faced with an uphill battle, opponents of the project have said there appears to be a disconnect from those elected and appointed to represent the borough. A number of them have contacted local elected officials about their concerns and have received letters from state Sen. Joseph A. Palaia (R-11) supporting their position. They have also received some acknowledgments from a representative of Rep. Rush Holt (D-12), saying the congressman is looking into the issue.
The West Long Branch Borough Council passed a resolution opposing the crematorium, as has the Shore Regional Board of Education.
But, opponents contend, borough officials have given them short shrift, saying the borough has limited recourse in this matter.
"The government in this town has done very little," Kinslow said.
"I know people think it’s a done deal," she added, "but if more people knew about it, it could make the difference."
DeVito, whose husband suffers from severe asthma, said that should the crematorium eventually be permitted at Woodbine Cemetery, her options would be limited.
"If they build it, I’ll probably have to move," she said.
"They say you can move; it’s your choice," DeVito said. "The Cemetery Act doesn’t give me any choice,"
But Vecchione insists that while he opposes the crematorium, he doesn’t have anything against the cemetery or those who run it.
"I happen to like the place," he said. "Do you think we don’t think the place is beautiful? We bury our dead there."