Mark Titus, Sunday Gleaner Writer
Geologist Basil Young - Photo by Mark Titus
WESTERN BUREAU:
Veteran geologist Basil Young is adamant that formaldehyde, a chemical commonly used in the burial industry, could contaminate the water source in western Jamaica if the contentious $50-million Burnt Ground cemetery development in Hanover is implemented.
"Formaldehyde creates a sort of leathery thing if you breathe it in, and if it goes down into your body. It is certain devastation. So citizens of Ramble (in Hanover) have a real concern," Mr. Young explains. "The embalming process," he adds, "involves cutting the arteries of the corpse, taking out the blood and replacing it with about 50 per cent concentration of formaldehyde. Then you open the gut and you fill everything with the chemical."
Imminent Danger
According to Mr. Young, the cemetery would not be considered a health risk, if the bodies were only being iced and buried, but because of the embalming process - which requires the use of the chemical - lives will be at risk. "When you add chemicals to the body and the process of decomposition takes place, then you will have a pollutant, and this pollutant must not get into your water," he said emphatically.
Professor Mark Harris, environmental scientist at the Northern Caribbean University, agrees that the possible consumption of the polluted water would be catastrophic. "This material must not be played with. Forty-five grams or sometimes less can kill a human; it would not onlyharm humans, but plant and aquatic life as well," he warns.
"From the very fact that it is an embalming product and a preservative, it means that it is going to be harsh on protein tissues. But even more serious than that, it promotes cancer. If the environmental impact assessment (EIA) is done fairly, I can't see the (cemetery) development continuing; this situation poses a real imminent danger."
Harmful to plant life
Professor Harris says he is not only concerned about the present generation, but also for posterity. "Admittedly, it (formaldehyde) does not hang around that long by itself in the ground," he explains. "It oxidises into formic acid and that is going to be harmful to plant life. It is going to decrease the water quality, and can be a danger if that water is going to be used for house purposes."
But in the face of these arguments, Delapenha Funeral Home, developers of the proposed cemetery, insists the development will not harm the environment. "We have always been confident that the EIA will come out in favour of the cemetery and that our operation will not affect the environment," Managing Director Dale Delapenha tells The Sunday Gleaner. "So, we await the outcome like everybody else."
The site of the proposed cemetery forms part of the Great River watershed. The depth of groundwater and the potential contamination of the Shettlewood Spring is of major concern for the citizens. The spring is about 0.5 kilometre northeast from the site.
The National Water Commission (NWC) pumps water from the spring for storage and distribution, and according to a spokesperson at the NWC's Bogue office, the Great River water supply is consumed by residents as far as Negril. In addition, there are plans afoot for further expansion to combine the Great River water supply with the Martha Brae water supply, which will serve as far as Discovery Bay in St. Ann.
On hearing of plans to establish the large-scale commercial cemetery, the community called on the expertise of Mr. Young to help to determineif the water supply would be affected. His findings pointed to the possible contamination of the water source by way of leakage of chemicals from the body of the dead, such as the much-feared formaldehyde, ammonia and bacteria escaping from graves or vaults entering subsurface streams. He noted that because of the hydrogeology of the area, the chances of contamination are very high.
Letters sent to NWC
The Ramble Community Develop-ment Committee wrote letters stating its objection to the ministries of Water and Housing, Land and Environment, Agriculture, Local Government and Health. Letters were also sent to the NWC, the Hanover Parish Council and National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA). However, no response was forthcoming, until The Gleaner brought the story to national attention last year.
Mr. Young points out that while it can be said that the developers observed protocol in applying to the necessary agencies, NEPA's granting of a permit without doing an EIA demonstrates a lack of concern for the lives of the community members and the environment.
The Water Resource Authority stated in its report that the area was not prone to flooding, Ironically, this was contradicted by Government-appointed scientist, Dr. Ravidya Burrowes, at a community meeting on February 18. Dr. Burrowes is the director of Environment Manage-ment Consultant (Caribbean) Limited, which was awarded a $3.8 million contract to conduct an assessment of the site.
Faced with the embarrassment of a major blunder by NEPA, the Government, through its Local Government and Environment Minister, Dean Peart, then offered the developer land to compensate for the work they have already undertaken on the proposed cemetery site, an offer that has been flatly refused. The developers have since taken the Government to court.
When asked by The Sunday Gleaner if he plans to accept the minister's offer o land, Mr. Delapenha said: "We want to take it one step at a time."
