Mortuary holds Q&A on crematory issue

January 05, 2008 10:35 pm

— By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
About 25 people attended a question-and-answer session Saturday for a proposed crematorium at Parker Mortuary, 1502 S. Joplin Ave.
After more than an hour’s worth of presentation and some questions from a group of neighbors who said they are opposed to the crematorium because of the possibility of harmful materials — including mercury and carbon monoxide — being expelled into the air, Parker Mortuary owner Tom Keckley urged those in attendance to avoid being swayed by “scare tactics.”
“I applaud you guys for putting so much effort into bird-dogging our operation,” Keckley said. “But the facts I looked at say you don’t need to be worried.”
But Ryan Jackson, a neighbor and local businessman, disagreed.
“Emissions are emissions,” he said. “No matter how small it is.”
Keckley said the mortuary wants to install a dual-chamber crematory, which will burn at a temperature of 1,500 degrees, and a refrigeration unit in a portion of a mostly unoccupied warehouse adjacent to the mortuary’s main building.
The reason for the crematory, Keckley said, is that the funeral home has seen a dramatic increase in the number of cremations requested by families in the last 20 years, and that the cost of operating its own crematorium versus paying a third-party would be negligible.
He opened his presentation with emissions statistics on crematories from a 1999 Environmental Protection Agency study.
According to data Keckley provided during the meeting, a crematorium’s emissions of harmful elements such as mercury and carbon monoxide are well within the safety standards set by the EPA.
Keckley said concerns about the cost of constructing a new building and paying for security were two reasons the mortuary preferred to have the crematorium on site, rather than at another location.
“We have staff here 24-7,” he said. “I don’t want to put a lot of money into a building I can’t monitor.”
When Jackson reiterated a proposed lease agreement of $1 per year for 99 years on a half-acre of land his company owns in an industrial zone near 13th Street and Maiden Lane, Keckley said no thanks.
“We couldn’t afford to do it,” Keckley said. “It’s a generous offer, but it just wouldn’t work for us.”
While Jackson and other neighbors spoke out against the proposal, others in attendance voiced support for the mortuary.
Gary Thomas, a chaplain at Freeman Hospital who attended the session, said he didn’t see the point of the neighbors’ complaint.
“If a crematory is not safe here, then there is no safe place for a crematory,” he said. “All the statistics I just saw are the pollutants are low. I don’t understand what the argument is. The numbers are so insignificant.”
Resident Margie Boyd said she “totally disagreed.”
“We can put blinders on ourselves,” she said. “Until your children are affected by some of this stuff, it’s not going to hit home.”
Keckley previously told the Globe he did not know neighbors were upset by the plan until he went before the Joplin Planning and Zoning Commission on Dec. 10 to request zoning for the business.
Jackson appeared at the meeting to protest and has led the opposition. He brought an attorney and a petition signed by some in the neighborhood, though the petition did not meet city criteria to be presented as a formal protest.
The issue will go to the City Council on Monday to decide whether to grant zoning for the proposal. The Planning and Zoning Commission recently chose not to make a recommendation on whether to grant or deny the zoning request.
In the end, both sides said they are waiting to see what the City Council will do at Monday’s meeting.
“I just feel like there’s too many variables they’re really not certain on,” Boyd said. “I’m not opposed to having a crematory. I just think you have to be considerate of the people who are already there.”
Keckley said the decision is in the council’s hands.
“I’m just waiting to see what they’ll do,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll make the right decision.”

Council decision
A public hearing on the Parker Mortuary application for a special-use permit will be held during the Joplin City Council’s meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 602 S. Main St.

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