‘No way he's going to put a crematory in my neighborhood'

Still, on Saturday, Severino has helped organize a march of hundreds of residents along a half-mile strip of Lawrenceville Highway to protest the proposed incinerator attached to the Bill Head Funeral Home.

The group, which calls itself Tucker CAN! (Community Awareness Network), is opposed to a special-use permit that would allow a 436-square-foot crematory in an area that includes three day-care facilities, two churches and one assisted-living home. The addition would sit about 100 feet from several residences and within a half-mile of 17 subdivisions in the Gwinnett County portion of Tucker.

The Gwinnett County planning commission is expected to vote Nov. 3, with county commissioners weighing in Nov. 16. The planning department has recommended the county deny the application, noting the crematory's possible "negative impacts" to nearby homes.

Gerald Davidson, attorney for Bill Head, said his client wants to relocate his Lilburn crematory to the Tucker site. The new facility would be more state of the art and allow families to witness the cremation at one location, he said.

Davidson said residents' concerns are misguided, as crematories already mingle among homes and businesses in Buford, Lawrenceville and Lilburn.

"If these operations emitted the kinds of things the opposition is trying to make people believe they do, they wouldn't be allowed next to restaurants and public libraries and schools," he said.

That offers little solace to Gowrishankar Rajam of Tucker, whose home is about 900 feet from the proposed site. He's not opposed to crematories, but he believes this one is out of place and not just for health and property-value reasons.

"In my [Hindu] culture, having a crematory next door is very uncomfortable," Rajam said.

This isn't the first time a crematory has triggered protest in Gwinnett. In 2008, a crematory moved into a Snellville neighborhood, prompting an outcry from residents and a year-long legal battle between the city and business owner. Snellville settled the case but has since outlawed crematories from all zoning districts.

The incident also spurred a state law that prohibits crematories from within 1,000 feet of a subdivision. The law applies only to stand-alone crematories.

Paul Rahill, president of Matthews International Cremation Division, which designs crematory equipment, said he has heard the Tucker residents' claims before.

"Mercury is the No. 1 bogeyman when it comes to people opposing crematories," he said. "Yes, there is some emitted, but the amount emitted is fairly insignificant."

Rahill, who has collaborated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said mercury emissions come from silver amalgam fillings, but their use has declined since 1985 as more people opt for composites or porcelain fillings.

However, Michael Bender, director of the Mercury Policy Project, which works to eliminate mercury use, said although more people are choosing composites for their front teeth, dentists still use amalgam fillings for back teeth.

And mercury emissions add up as more Americans choose cremation as a cheaper alternative to burial, he said.

Georgia’s cremation rate is 14.38 percent, according to 2009 data by the Cremation Association of North America.

For Severino, the fight will go on as long the proposal is on the table, even if that requires an injunction or lawsuit.

"I'm not backing down," she said. "There's no way he's going to put a crematory in my neighborhood."