Cremation%20at%20Parker%20Mortuary

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Cremation at Parker Mortuary

• What are the facts?

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Why do we want a crematory

• Cremation has grown from .5 of our volume in
  1983 to a current volume of 41
• We are paying out more to a 3rd Party crematory
  than it costs to finance our own
• We need to provide our clientele what they desire

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Problems with 3rd Party Operators

• Abuses by some out-of-state crematories have
  been in the media
• California more than one body cremated in the
  same chamber at the same time
• California Texas -- Families receiving cremated
  remains proven not to be those of their loved one
• Georgia Disreputable operator failed to cremate
  more than 130 bodies
• Returned to the funeral homes a box of chat,
  rather than cremains
• Bodies were found in and around an adjoining lake
  on his property

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N.F.D.A. issued a warning

• As a result of abuses, The National Funeral
  Directors Association has publicly warned funeral
  homes
• To exercise due diligence in dealing with 3rd
  Party crematories
• Due to unprofessional conduct and liability
• Include unannounced inspections with
  documentation

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Parker Mortuarys Preference

• To personally supervise every step of the
  cremation process
• To assure our families that everything is done in
  a trustworthy, respectful and proper manner

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Why must our crematorybe on-site?

• We already have a 45 x 100 substantially
  constructed warehouse
• Our casket supplier opened a Mt. Vernon warehouse
• We no longer inventory caskets in the warehouse

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Why on-site?

• Our warehouse shelters (4) funeral vehicles, yard
  equipment and office supplies
• 2/3 of our existing warehouse is already vacant
  allowing more than sufficient space for
• The crematory unit and supplies
• A new 12x12x7 refrigeration facility

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How does an on-site crematory benefit our
families and the community?

• Each cremation can be monitored by our own staff
  through every step of the process
• We have staff on-site 24/7 for security against
  foul play
• Our 12x12 refrigeration facility will protect
  public health
• Allows families time to make decisions about
• Viewing
• Cremation
• Immediate burial

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Some families preferbeing present at a cremation

• Either for religious reasons
• For peace of mind knowing their loved one is
  cared for properly
• A feeling that they want to go every step of the
  way with their loved one (similar to a family
  choosing to stay for a grave closing)
• Admittedly a rare occurrence
• Requested by perhaps 12 of our past families
• However those families do deserve our best

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Families Present(continued)

• We can accommodate such requests more easily and
  suitably on-site.
• Sending them to an industrial park surrounded by
  manufacturing plants and commercial warehouses on
  a gravel road is not our best
• Locating a crematory in a rural county area
• Gives the impression cremation is wrong or
  unhealthy
• This isnt the case. Cremation is a very clean
  and sanitary process.

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Meierhoffer Funeral Home Crematory
5005 Frederick BlvdSaint Joseph, MO 64506

• The crematory has an attractively decorated and
  comfortably integrated family viewing area, where
  family members may witness as well as participate
  in the cremation process.
• Family members may participate by actuating the
  cremation process from controls located in the
  viewing room.  This option is particularly
  important for persons of certain faiths.
  Meierhoffer Funeral Home and Crematory has and
  always will strive to accommodate the needs of
  all faiths as their customs dictate.

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Why on-site?-Utilities-

• It took 3 ½ weeks for us to determine MO Gas
  Energy could provide sufficient flow and pressure
  even at 15th Joplin
• The more rural a location, the more unlikely
  sufficient supply could be provided

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Why on-site (continued)

• We would have the added expense of purchasing
  land
• Erect or purchase a substantial building
• To protect the loved ones, in whom we have been
  entrusted, against foul play
• To protect our substantial investment in
  equipment against criminal break-in and storms

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Why on-site (continued)

• We would have to transport each individual to the
  location
• Significant inconvenience and expense
• Increases possibility of contagious exposure
• We would have to commit significant man-hours to
  oversee the process and could never do our job of
  security and protection justice

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Where are crematoriesnormally located?

• In the 4 states of Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas
  and Kansas
• There are 82 operating crematories
• 82 (67) are inside incorporated city limits
• 16 (13) are in unincorporated township limits
• And 2 operate inside the Mark Twain National
  Forest

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Where are crematories?

• 84 (69) are located within 500 ft. of a
  residence, some within 50 ft.
• Many funeral homes and cemeteries locate their
  crematories inside their main public building
• Of 35 Missouri crematories alone, 63 (22) had
  them in their main building
• Several others just across the street
• 3 had 2 operating cremation units and 2 others
  had 3 units operating

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Ozark Memorial
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Chappel Crematory
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On-Site (continued)

• If any part of the process caused odor or a
  public health hazard
• Why would they place them in their main building
  where people
• Conduct funeral arrangements
• Attend viewings or visitations
• Attend services
• Further, why in the world would Parker Mortuary
  do that? We would not.

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Community Benefit?

• Control contagious disease (with which we
  frequently deal)
• Each time someone with contagion is moved
• Risk is increased
• This is why our new refrigeration unit will be in
  the same on-site building

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Community Benefit

• M.F.D.A. Disaster Preparedness
• 2 of our staff have participated in training
• Equipment and personnel are inventoried by the
  team statewide
• Teams have attended the Hyatt collapse in K.C.,
  Hardin Cemetery Flood and Katrina
• A temporary morgue site
• Is one of the 1st steps in a multiple-death
  disaster

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Disaster Preparedness

• Our warehouse would be a perfect temporary morgue
  site
• Including crematory
• Refrigeration
• Family and media interviews could be accommodated
  in our main facility

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Supply and Demand

• Any time free trade is restricted, prices
  increase
• It will be left to 2 existing crematories to keep
  up with increasing demand
• Joplin families would be the ultimate looser
• Forced to pay possibly higher prices
• Without benefit of competition holding prices in
  check

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Who regulates crematories?

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Missouri Department of Natural Resources
• Missouri State Board of Funeral Directors and
  Embalmers

Board of Embalmers Funeral Directors3605
Missouri BoulevardP.O. Box 423Jefferson City,
MO  65102-0423
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U.S. - E.P.A.

• Mandated in the Clean Air Act the E.P.A.
  conducted extensive testing
• At a Bronx, NY crematory in 1999
• To determine if crematories merited further
  regulation and inclusion under their category of
  other solid waste incinerators

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E.P.A.

• Tested for
• Visible emissions
• Particulate matter
• Carbon Monoxide
• Nitrogen Oxides
• Sulfur Dioxide
• Dioxins and Furans
• At 3 operating temperatures

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E.P.A. Test Results
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Visible Emissions

• Averaged 1.91 for the highest 6-Min. Opacity
• EPA Rule for Limiting Visible Emissions (40 Code
  of Regulations Part 49 Section 124) is 20
• In independent tests, our Therm-Tec unit operated
  at 0

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Particulate Matter

• Averaged .08 Lb. per Hour
• Which equates to 1.6 Lbs. per ton
• (Parker Mortuary would have to operate our
  crematory for 1 year and 8 months to produce 1
  ton)
• The E.P.A. Limit for Other Solid Waste
  Incinerators is 4.7 Lbs. per ton

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Particulate Matter

• A typical high-volume crematory emits less than ½
  as many particulates as
• A Fast Food Restaurant
• A residential fireplace produces 6 times more
  particulates than that of a high-volume crematory
• High-volume is 260 - 8-Hr. Days per year or 1300
  cases per year
• Parker Mortuary will produce 204 cases per year
  operating at 15.7 the amount of high-volume

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Carbon Monoxide

• Averaged 1.6 Parts per million _at_ 7 oxygen
• The typical state limit is 100 Parts per million

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Fireplace

• A residential fireplace emits 58 times more
  carbon monoxide

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Diesel Trucks

• A diesel truck emits 366 times more carbon
  monoxide
• (by the waythis is an E.P.A. photo)

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Nitrogen Oxide

• Averaged .39 Lb per Hour
• A restaurant grill averages .48 Lb per hour

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Sulfur Dioxide

• Averaged .07 Lb. per hour
• Which equates to 1.4 Lb. per Ton
• The EPA regulation on OSWI is 2.5 Lb. per Ton

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Dioxins and Furans

• Averaged 110.5 Nanograms per Minute
• Low compared to OSWI
• The measurement unit (nanogram) is one-billionth
  of a gram
• The E.P.A. says exposure also comes from
• Burning household trash, a fireplace
• And even Forest Fires

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Results were based on constant operation

• The average crematory operates 3 hours per day
• At current volume, Parker Mortuarys crematory
  will operate at an average of 1 hour per day

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E.P.A.s response

• Immediately after the test, crematories were
  dropped from low priority to very low
  priority
• Testing proved that crematories operate so far
  below allowable limits for commercial/industrial
  incinerators, they require no further regulations

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E.P.A. Final Rule

• On December 16, 2005, E.P.A. entered its final
  rule into the Federal Register, 40 CFR Vol. 70
  No. 241 Page 74881 Rules and Regulations Human
  crematories are not solid waste combustion units
  and are not a subcategory of OSWI for regulation
• The tests proved that even if included as OSWI,
  crematories already far exceed the requirements
  imposed on higher-volume commercial/industrial/mun
  icipal units

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A Typical Other Solid Waste Incinerator
regulated by E.P.A.
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What about Mercury?

• E.P.A. determined that all U.S. crematories
  combined (based on 1999 cremation rates) produce
  238 Lbs. of mercury emissions
• Updating to current cremation rates yields an
  average of 0.15 Lbs. per crematory per year
• What does this mean.?

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What about Mercury?(continued)

• If you could capture 100 of the mercury from a
  crematory producing 400 cases per year for one
  full year (which, of course, you cant)
• The total captured would be smaller than a
  household sugar cube
• Parker Mortuarys rate would be ½ as much

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In contrast

• The 1 concern to the E.P.A. is mercury from
  power plants (as mercury is found in coal)

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United Kingdom Study

• The cremation rate there is over 70
• Tests were conducted at a crematory in operation
  for 40 years, conducting over 112,000 cremations
• Soil Samples in close proximity showed
• 7 times lower than that allowed for food
  production
• 100 times lower than that allowed for childrens
  playgrounds

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United Kingdom Study(continued)

• Hair samples of crematory employees were analyzed
  for mercury and averaged
• The results were over 3 times less than the
  tolerable level
• An average North American crematory operates at
  20 of these production levels.

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Mercury where does it come from?

• In cremation, it is Silver Amalgam tooth fillings
• At one time, they represented 90 of fillings
  used
• Within the past 10 years, it has declined by 38
  and is expected to diminish further as dentists
  now employ composites - which more closely match
  tooth color

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Silver Amalgam fillings
vs. Composite fillings

• White fillings look much better than the old
  'silver' fillings and restore the natural
  appearance of the tooth.
• White fillings require less removal of tooth
  structure, so less drilling is required.
• White fillings bond to the tooth and restore most
  of the original strength of the tooth, reducing
  the likelihood of future breakage.
• Teeth restored with white fillings are usually
  less sensitive to hot and cold than teeth
  restored with amalgam.
• White fillings are mercury-free. Mercury is a
  major ingredient in older amalgam fillings.

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Will Parker Mortuary remove fillings?

• No.
• It would be unethical
• It would be devastating to the family were
  serving
• It would be considered mutilation, which is
  deservedly a criminal offense
• It is not necessary and is not proposed by any
  governing agency

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Harmful Implants and Radionucleotides

• Pacemakers (after specific authorization from the
  next of kin) must be removed
• Some older model batteries pose a threat of
  explosion
• Radiation producing implants (used in Cancer
  treatment) must also be removed with family
  permission and passed on to our bio-hazardous
  waste (OSHA mandated) disposer. Our current
  disposer is Steri-Cycle

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Radionucleotides

• Most cremation authorizations ask the next of kin
  to certify the deceased has not been treated
  with any radionucleotides
• Parker Mortuarys authorization also will.

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What about the MissouriDepartment of Natural
Resources

• We will apply for a permit-by-rule with MO DNR
  as soon as local zoning is approved
• MO DNR regulates crematories in the current 10
  CSR (Code of State Regulations) 10-6 page 41 as
  follows

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MO DNR continued

• Any crematoryused solely for the cremation of
  human remainsand operates in compliance with the
  following conditions is permitted under this
  rule
• A)materialslimited to noninfectiousoperator
  shall minimize the amount of packagingnot used
  to dispose of other non-biological medical
  wastessharps, rubber globes, i.v. bags, tubing
  etc.

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MO DNR (continued)

• B) Manufacturers rated capacity (burn rate)
  shall be 200 Lbs./hour or less
• (Most crematories operate at ½ that)
• C) The incinerator shall be a dual-chamber design
• (All crematories are)
• D) Burners shall be located in each
  chambernecessary to maintain minimum temperature
• (All crematories do)

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Why dont we have a DNR permit yet? Well first
things first.

• If local zoning fails to allow a crematory
  installation
• The MO DNR will not issue a permit
• I called Richard Barnes in the S.W. Regional DNR
  office (Springfield) and Chia-Wei Young in the
  Air Program of the DNR in Jefferson City
• Neither knew of any current crematory
  manufacturer whose specifications were below
  state regulation
• The Jefferson City office confirmed that the MO
  DNR has never refused a permit for a crematory.

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What about the Missouri State Board of Funeral
Directors and Embalmers?

• We will apply for an amended Funeral
  Establishment License adding crematory operation
• Upon delivery and curing of the unit, a State
  Board Examiner will personally inspect the unit
  and the building

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State Board (continued)

• A recording circular graph will record each time
  the unit is started, stopped, and the
  temperatures from start to finish. A cremation
  log must also be kept. These must be available to
  the examiner at all times.
• The crematory will be subject bi-annually to
  unannounced on-premise examination by the State
  Board
• All Missouri funeral homes and crematories have
  these inspections to verify suitable and safe
  operation

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The Cremation Process Is

• Safe
• Clean
• Sanitary
• Well Regulated and Agency Supervised
• Dont be fooled by alarmist scare-tactics
• Look at the facts and please allow us to better
  serve our community

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Thank you from all of us at
Nowhere a finer service . . . Nowhere a fairer
price