DENR going after crematoria, cemeteries

Even the dead have to follow environmental standards.

Expressing concern about the potential pollution and danger posed by waste from facilities catering to the dead, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is now requiring crematoria, cemeteries and funeral parlors to secure an   environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from the government.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza said there was a need to amend Administrative Order 30-2003 to include existing and future crematoria, cemeteries, and funeral parlors in obtaining ECC due to recent studies showing that wastes from these establishments are hazardous.

“Crematoria involve the burning process. Funeral parlors make use of formaldehyde. So because of the hazardousness of wastes coming from these establishments, we have amended the AO to upgrade the classification of these business establishments and require an environmental impact statement,” Atienza pointed out.

“Being pro-active in environmental protection is a must. Preventive measures like these would make it easier to attain our goal of having cleaner air and water for us, and to make these laws beneficial to everybody,” he also said.

Atienza said AO 30-2003 merely required these establishments to submit an initial environmental examination (IEE), which is limited in scope and does not thoroughly tackle the process of disposal of various kinds of wastes generated by crematoria, cemeteries, and funeral parlors.

But Atienza believed “a full blown environmental impact assessment (EIA)” should be required of these establishments.

Thus, the issuance of Memorandum Circular 009-2008 by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), to amend AO 30-2003 and require crematoria, cemeteries, and funeral parlors to submit a comprehensive environmental impact plan in order to secure an ECC.

He said that hazardous and chemical wastes like formaldehyde from funeral parlors “if not properly disposed of, are threats to the cleanliness of the country’s water bodies (as well as) public health.”

Atienza noted, on the other hand, the burning process involved in the operation of a crematorium, which if “without any mitigating activities... has a possibility of producing air pollutants such as carbon monoxide and particulate matters” that must be regulated to comply with air quality standards.