Crematoriums Lack Inspection Standard

Concord Monitor Online
By Anne Ruderman
Monitor staff

Governor's task force to tighten oversight

March 1, 2005—Crematoriums in New Hampshire are not licensed and are not subject to inspections after they open, although they must be initially approved by a state board and their local towns or cities, members of the state board of registration of funeral directors and embalmers said.

"We do the first inspection on a new crematorium and then there's no follow up, us or anyone else I know of," said Robert Bennett, a member of the board. Bennett said the board follows a checklist that includes things like cleanliness and an adequate cremation chamber, but does not ask to see any paperwork. "We're not granting a license," he said.

State oversight of crematoriums has become an issue in the past week, since a police raid found a decomposing body, unidentified urns and the remains of two corpses that were being cremated in one oven at the Bayview Crematorium in Seabrook.

Currently, state law stipulates that corpses must be cremated in containers and must be held 48 hours and be examined by a medical examiner before cremation. The law also allows for the inspection of crematorium record books, which must include details, like name, age, sex and residency. Nowhere in this section does it say two people cannot be cremated together.

Last week Gov. John Lynch convened a task force to review New Hampshire's law. The group will begin site inspections by the end of the week, Deputy Attorney General Mike Delaney said.

In terms of regulations, New Hampshire is far behind states like Florida, California and Texas, which require the crematorium director be certified, according to Jack Springer, the executive director of the Cremation Association of North America. California even requires a training program in running a crematorium. “If a state wants to do something really serious about making sure the crematoriums are running correctly, it should have a requirement that the operators have been trained by an organization that is actually certified," he said.

But Springer also said that most states forgo inspecting crematoriums on a regular basis.

"Inspecting is very difficult," he said. "None of the states have enough people. New York has three inspectors, so you can imagine their inspections are very minimal."

Springer added: "The problem with inspections is they only show that particular day. In most cases they don't really ensure what's going on." New Hampshire had 4,794 cremations in 2003, Springer said, accounting for 49 percent of the state's deaths.

In contrast to crematoriums, funeral homes in New Hampshire are governed by much more stringent rules, according to the state board.

Funeral homes are inspected every three years and must be run by a licensed director, according to Chairman Daniel Healy of the board. Funeral directors must pay a state fee and renew their license every year and must show that they have done seven hours of continuing education, Healy said. "There are more laws on the books pertaining to funeral homes than crematoriums," he said.

One of the reasons for that may be there are more of them: About 100 funeral homes to about 13 crematoriums. Another reason is that funeral homes are much older.

"The funeral home requirements go way back and they've been improved over the years," Bennett of the state board said.

Crematorium operators are the first to admit they're in a largely unregulated profession.

"There are no state standards in terms of regulations at this point, "said Rick Hinck, the controller of Granite State Crematorium in Concord. "The only regulations out are from DES about smokestack emissions."

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