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Thursday, July 31, 2008
Crematory opponents all smoke
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I didn’t see the body. It had already been loaded into the cremation chamber.
By the end of the three-hour process, temperatures would top 1,600 degrees. Heat engulfed the entire building, so Chris Nuzum, owner and president of Cremation Society of the South, and I stepped into the chapel.
On Wednesday, the Badie Tour did what Nuzum has asked Snellville city officials and its residents to do: Have a look-see at his Marietta facility off Franklin Road.
Nuzum and his partners find themselves steeped in Snellville stew. They want to operate a crematory in a former house at the corner of Abington Drive and U.S. 78. It’s zoned “Office Professional,” a city classification that allows the operation of funeral homes, mortuaries and “crematoria” — the technical term for crematory.
Residents whose homes back up against the site are enraged — and quite imaginative. They envision dead bodies being unloaded from the back of hearses at all hours. Ashes will spew from the smokestack, coating cars and homes. Potent toxins will be emitted.
This is how crazy things have gotten: A woman recently called Snellville police to report that smoke was bellowing from the smokestack. Only one problem: The facility hasn’t opened yet and may not do so for a while.
This week, Mayor Pro Tem Warren Auld and Councilwoman Kelly Kautz expressed worries about the business’ environmental impact.
Then on Tuesday, City Manager Russell Treadway announced plans to do some research on crematories as they relate to health issues.
He may not be privy to some information that Nuzum has provided council members via e-mail and shared with me.
I won’t delve into mercury emissions, pounds and percentages, but suffice it to say the Environmental Protection Agency isn’t losing sleep over crematory toxins.
Nuzum appears willing to work with Snellville City Hall and its residents. He encased the smokestack in vinyl, among other adjustments. He plans to use a company van instead of a hearse to transport bodies.
He’s offered to attend a question-and-answer session. He even offered to rent travel buses to transport residents to his Marietta site.
Of course, he’s adhered to city zoning law.
“I feel like I have been given a ticket for speeding because I did the speed limit,” said Nuzum, who spent $250,000 on renovations. “This business is being persecuted by people who don’t want to learn more about it.”
Instead of posturing, city leaders should tell the riled residents there isn’t much government can do to stop a business located in the proper zoning classification. Tell them they’ll re-tool the existing ordinance as it relates to crematories so this kind of pickle never happens again.
I feel bad for the residents, but at least this isn’t a Love Shack. Besides, they should be ticked off at City Hall, not Nuzum.
“Everybody keeps saying we’re in a neighborhood in Snellville,” he told me. “If that’s the case, this neighborhood has a Dunkin’ Donuts in it and an attorney’s office.”
In Marietta, a condo unit is right next door to Nuzum’s business. Another one is across the street. Up the road is a Crowne Plaza Hotel, not to mention an office complex and a few restaurants.
When the crematory was operating Wednesday, I didn’t smell anything or see any smoke. Nuzum said one might see smoke — not ashes — from a crematory smokestack in the winter due to heat exchange.
After the cremation process is complete, the remains are scooped into a holding bin, then transferred to a spinner for further refining.
The ivory-colored by-product is placed in a container, or urn, along with a stainless-steel tag that identifies the body. It costs $795 to cremate a body. (Cremation Society of the South takes fingerprints and uses other measures to track and identify bodies.)
“Death is disconcerting to all people,” Nuzum said. “It’s a difficult subject to discuss, but it’s good to know that businesses exist to take care of families.”
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail:rbadie@ajc.com.
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