Many residents in Middletown are up in arms about what they call a 'crazy proposal' to build a crematorium in a residential area.

One longtime homeowner has written an open letter regarding Fairview Cemetery's Crematorium Proposal that will endanger lives not just in Middletown, but in all the towns surrounding it. Many of the concerns are expressed best in this message:

Dear Liz and Lou --

As a Middletown resident who has just spent more than two years fighting for the community and winning the case against an unnecessary and dangerous powerline project, I know first-hand how seemingly benign projects can impact the health and well-being of citizens. Now it's mercury vapor, dioxin and radiation from a crematorium.

On Wednesday, March 20th (2019) I'll be at the Middletown Planning Board to hear the revised Fairview Cemetery Association proposal to build a 2-chamber crematorium that would operate 12 hours a day, 6 days a week (4,160 hours a year.) Unlike the other 25 crematoriums in our state, this one would be located in a residential neighborhood within spitting distance of bus stops, across from Poricy Park Nature Preserve, in close proximity to 3 schools, and next to the Fairview soccer complex that the cemetery association leases to the town for recreational use by thousands of kids.

But this is a far greater than Middletown issue -- anyone within a 6-mile radius of Middletown (Red Bank, Fair Haven, Lincroft, Little Silver, Northern Tinton Falls, Shrewsbury, Ft. Monmouth, Atlantic Highlands, Rumson, Holmdel, Hazlet, Keansburg, Oceanport, and Eatontown) should be aware of the odorless and colorless toxins that will waft over them and their loved ones.

There's a lot of research that says crematoriums need more oversight, stronger regulations, regular maintenance and should be located in industrial areas. Most telling is their own trade organization, the Cremation Association of North America, which has found that filtering crematorium fumes has little effect on the toxins released. "Cremation causes harmful emissions in the form of dioxins and mercury. Mercury is a big problem and in Europe, there is legislation pending to force crematoria to filter abate their emissions. This is expensive and also requires very bulky equipment that takes up a lot of room. Source: US Patent 8931147B2 Disposal of human remains."

Current regulations (EPA 2005) don't explicitly require removing amalgam (mercury) dental fillings, medical devices (except pacemakers), silicone implants, and metal orthopedic devices, current regulations don't explicitly require non-toxic plain pine box caskets, or check if the deceased recently underwent medical radiation treatments that could remain in the body during cremation.

There are so many questions and so few answers. Find out more at https://stopfairview.com. What we know is that the cemetery stands to make significant money from families of the deceased, as this crematorium would serve more than just the estimated 370 deaths in Middletown. But at what cost to the living?

Please, please ask people to attend to ask questions, make comments. In this case, what you can't see may actually take you to an early grave. Thanks for sharing with 94.3 listeners.

Judy Musa/ Middletown NJ

For more info on what is happening with this crematorium and to connect with others who are opposed, CLICK HERE.

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