Funeral home sued for improper use of crematorium

A Uniontown funeral home is being sued in Fayette County Court by the occupants of neighboring property over the alleged improper use of a crematorium.
Teamsters Local Union 491 Health and Welfare Fund, located at 112 Morgantown St., as well as adjacently located Equilibrium Art Therapy Counseling Consulting, filed suit against Andrew Ferguson Realty and Andrew Ferguson Funeral Home on April 13.
Representatives from the Teamsters recorded a video on Feb. 19 of flames and thick, black smoke erupting through one of the two ventilation stacks on the roof of the crematorium, necessitating response from Uniontown Police and Fire Departments.
Attorneys Ryan James and Timothy Quinn, who represent the plaintiffs, stated in the complaint that the funeral home, located at 80 Morgantown Street, obtained a garage structure formerly used an auto repair shop across the parking lot from the funeral home at 15 Ray Street, situated “mere feet” from the Teamsters’ building, and began operating a crematorium in October.
“Since commencing operations, the crematorium has emitted on a regular and frequent basis toxic air contaminants in the nature of heavy black smoke, vapors, fumes, gases and particulate matter, as well as noxious and extremely strong, unpleasant odors,” wrote the attorneys. “When conducting cremations, the crematorium also produces loud noises for extended periods of time.”
The attorneys argued in the complaint that the property falls under the Uniontown City Zoning Ordinance, and that crematoriums are not a permitted use in the C-1 zoning district.
According to the suit, the funeral home applied for a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Air Quality (DEPBAQ) for the installation of two natural gas fired multiple chamber human and animal incinerators at the Ferguson property.
In the application, the funeral home indicated that the crematorium would be consistent with local and county zoning ordinances, despite the fact that the city ordinance prohibits crematoriums, James and Quinn asserted.
The funeral home also indicated on the application that the crematorium would be located on the 80 Morgantown Street property, and not at the separate Ray Street property, the attorneys wrote. The zoning ordinance calls for an “accessory use” facility to be on the same lot as the main structure, they added.
On Sept. 9, DEPBAQ granted the permit, without formal notice to the Teamsters or Equilibrium, which outlined several requirements. The attorneys pointed to the fact that the crematorium is expected to be monitored by a trained operator for the presence of visible and odor emissions, and if the cremations occur at night, the stack must be artificially lit to observe nighttime emissions.
According to the suit, crematory stack emissions contain “known major toxic pollutants,” including but not limited to mercury, which originates in dental fillings; hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride, resulting from the combustion of plastics and stomach contents; non-methane volatile organic compounds; persistent organic pollutants; nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide.
“As a consequence of this exposure, the owners, officers and employees of the Teamsters Fund, Equilibrium, Local 491 and the Teamsters Pension Fund have experienced several significant health impacts and related symptoms,” James and Quinn contended.
DEPBAQ has cited Ferguson three times in the last six weeks.
On March 10, DEPBAQ issued an administrative citation, because the funeral home failed to use approved measuring devices for visible emissions from the crematorium.
On March 25, the funeral home was issued an Environmental Health and Safety citation based on its “failure to control malodorous air contaminant emissions.”
A Notice of Violation (NOV) was issued to the funeral home on April 2, related to the Feb. 19 fire in the human remains crematory unit that prompted a response from the fire department. The NOV stated the funeral home failed to notify the DEPBAQ within 24 hours of the malfunction and fire and ran additional cycles after the malfunction and fire before verifying compliance with the visible emission limitations set forth in the permit.
“The NOV further provides that Ferguson Funeral Home’s acts and omissions in operating the crematorium constitute unlawful conduct in violation of the Pennsylvania Air Pollution Act,” the suit states.
The complaint includes two private nuisance counts, two counts of trespass/continuing trespass, and two counts of negligence. The plaintiffs are asking for more than $50,000 at each count, as well as an order enjoining the funeral home from operating a crematorium at 15 Ray St.
Vito Dragone, chairman of the board of trustees for the Teamsters Local Union 491 Health and Welfare fund said the operations of crematorium were of concern to him. “I have an obligation to provide a safe working environment for my employees, and the members that frequent the local union.”
Multiple calls to the funeral home went unanswered Thursday.