The popularity and availability of alternative methods of disposition continue to increase. More states each year are approving alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reduction. Green burials are attracting more interest as well.

The populace’s shift in preferences away from traditional burials toward cremation has always rested on the dual concerns of cost and environmental impact. The same is true of the so-called “green” alternatives.

But how environmentally friendly are green burials, alkaline hydrolysis and natural organic reductions? There is not a large number of comprehensive studies on the impact of green dispositions, largely because these alternatives haven’t been available for that long. But some reports indicate that green alternatives are not ecologically neutral.

Several Canadian studies over the past three years point to particular concerns about leachate from green burials, impacts on wastewater systems from alkaline hydrolysis and “exposure to biological, chemical or radiological agents” from natural organic reduction.

One report from the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health in Canada advises that green dispositions may not be appropriate for some “decedents with certain diseases or radiological implants where there is a potential for occupational or public exposure to harmful agents during handling of the deceased or from release of decomposition leachate, effluent or compost to the environment.”

“Further study of the technical safety and the potential for nuisance or pollution could inform regulation and good practice guidance on selecting appropriate sites, designing operation controls and ensuring appropriate oversight and monitoring,” the report states.

The Canadian report, however, admits that research into environmental impacts of alternative dispositions is limited, but concerns about those impacts have created legislation in some areas. The study pointed to a Macon-Bibb County, GA, where green burials were banned by resolution because of concerns about “decomposition leachate entering water supplies or animals digging up remains that were not contained in a casket.”

The Macon-Bibb resolution also required that all burials use leak-proof caskets or vaults.

“No evidence was found that human remains at green burial sites present a greater risk of being dug up by animals than in conventional burial sites, where this is known to occasionally occur,” the report stated.

The consensus, however, remains that green alternatives do present less of an environmental impact than either cremation or traditional burial. Cremation, alternative advocates have argued, uses a significant amount of energy and releases pollutants in the air. Traditional burials use chemicals for embalming, and the materials involved (metals, treated woods, etc.) also are pollutants.

“The environmental benefits of these services are mostly derived from avoiding the use of chemicals, energy, and materials used in conventional methods,” the Canadian study indicates.

As alternative methods continue to gain a foothold in funeral service, it is likely that more studies will be conducted and more data gathered on potential environmental impacts. And the move toward legalizing these methods has not slowed.

The legalization of natural organic reduction, for example, has passed the New Jersey Assembly and is before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Those still considering attending the New Jersey Funeral Service Education Corporation mandatory continuing education webinars this month are running out of time.

The deadline for registering for the webinars in Ethics, NJ Law and OSHA is 5:00 p.m. this Thursday, April 17, 2025. The webinars in Ethics and OSHA will be held on Wednesday, April 23, and the online classes in NJ Law will be held on Thursday, April 24.

The April 23 webinars will kick off with two OSHA classes worth two CEUs toward your next license renewal in 2027.

OSHA Paperwork Obligations, which will focus on Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations pertinent to funeral service personnel with oversight responsibilities, will allow participants to gain a comprehensive understanding of the importance of maintaining a written communication plan, along with the necessary forms, documents, releases and associated paperwork, including retention requirements. Funeral homeowners, managers, compliance officers and staff responsible for written OSHA compliance plans will find this educational opportunity particularly beneficial. Additionally, the course will review OSHA’s standards regarding Bloodborne Pathogens, Formaldehyde and Hazard Communication.

This class will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Preventing Injuries in Funeral Service will recommend essential precautions funeral home employees should take to prevent back and spinal injuries while performing their duties. The webinar will cover safe work practices related to various tasks, including removals and transfers of human remains, embalming, dressing and casketing, handling and lifting caskets, transporting remains within a facility, and receiving and stocking supplies. The instructor will encourage participants to conduct a self-assessment of their current practices concerning the physically demanding aspects of funeral service. Additionally, the course will emphasize the effective application of safe work practices to enhance employee safety and minimize the risk of injury.

This class will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

These two webinars will be presented by Jonathan C. Krowicki, a licensed funeral director and member field service representative for the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association and Thanexus.

The third webinar on April 23 will be Ethical Dilemmas in Funeral Service. This class will explore the intricate challenges of ethical decision-making in the funeral profession. Through practical discussions and real-world examples from the industry, participants will examine core business ethics and how they apply to daily operations. Attendees will gain insight into how funeral directors can implement ethical practices to minimize the risk of misconduct or unethical behavior. The course will also feature case studies and interactive debates, allowing participants to engage in the analysis of ethical dilemmas commonly faced in funeral service.

This webinar will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and will be presented by licensed funeral director and NJSFDA Executive Director and CEO George R. Kelder Jr., CFSP.

Registration for the April 23 webinars can be made online by clicking here.

On April 24, two NJ Law webinars will be held.

The first, Right to Control and Chain of Custody, will emphasize the critical role of establishing robust chain-of-custody and right-to-control procedures as a tool for statutory and regulatory compliance in funeral firms. By reviewing recent news articles on chain-of-custody issues in the industry, attendees will gain insight into the importance of clear protocols to mitigate liability and prevent litigation. The course will focus on four key processes–removal, preservation, funeral services, and final disposition–as well as how effective chain-of-custody procedures can be implemented at each stage to ensure proper control and accountability.

This class will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

The second, Funeral Service Advertising, will explore consistency in how funeral homes and directors promote goods and services and how it is crucial for compliant advertising. This webinar will teach attendees the key elements of transparent disclosure. It will cover guidelines that must be followed for their proprietary content to be legally compliant. For example, the course will clarify advertising requirements and boundaries in print promotions (i.e., business cards, obituaries, telephone book listings, giveaway items, signage and digital media, inclusive of their website and obituaries for their clientele). Special attention will be given to the rules and regulations governing funeral service marketing in New Jersey, including how to properly disclose active and inactive licensees.

This class will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

These two NJ Law webinars, worth two CEUs, will be presented by Samantha L. Link, MPA, the director of government affairs for the NJSFDA.

Registration for the April 24 webinars can be made online by clicking here.

More details on the dates, times and cost of the webinars, as well as comprehensive biographies of the presenters, can be found here.

A Texas funeral home has been closed after authorities found 10 decomposing bodies in the building. A gravedigger in Sicily has been arrested for disinterring bodies and then reselling the burial sites. And a columnist questions why we don’t have funerals while people are still alive. These stories and more are in the week in funeral news.

NEWS

Why Not Attend Your Own Funeral?
By Daniel Pink (The Washington Post)
One Saturday morning in August of 2021, more than 200 people assembled in an Arlington church for the funeral of Richard Hanneman, a one-time Capitol Hill staffer and long-time trade association executive who died of lung cancer at the age of 78. Four of Hanneman’s seven children spoke at the service. So did two of his grandchildren and his best friend. Some of them told stories of blood drives and lobster bakes he’d organized. Others described his deep religious faith. A few choked back tears. Karen Hanneman, his wife of 54 years, sat in the front pew. Congregants sang a hymn at the beginning of the ceremony and the “Hallelujah” chorus from George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” toward the end. The service concluded with two of Hanneman’s friends playing taps. But the most compelling presence was the third speaker on the program, a white-haired man in a dark suit. Dick Hanneman himself. Read more here.

Houston Funeral Home Ordered to Cease Operations after 10 Bodies Found Without Air Conditioning
By Miya Shay (13 Eyewitness News)
Authorities are ordering a Houston, TX, funeral home to cease all operations after the remains of at least 10 people were found in shocking conditions. The Texas Funeral Service Commission inspected the Richardson Mortuary on Brookfield Drive when the bodies were first discovered exposed and without air conditioning. They found the mortuary did not meet building, health and safety codes. Read more here.

Gravedigger Arrested for Reselling Burial Sites after Removing Corpses in Sicily
By CBS News
Sicilian police said they have arrested a former gravedigger and were investigating 18 others accused of reselling burial sites after removing the corpses already interred in them. Read more here.

Bereaved Mother “Shattered” after Baby’s Burial Site Vandalized at Cemetery
By Harry Stedman (Yahoo! News)
A bereaved Muslim mother has been left “shattered” after her baby daughter’s grave was among those damaged at a cemetery. Police in Hertfordshire, England, said 85 grave plaques, including a large number thought to be for babies and children, were vandalized at Carpenders Park Lawn Cemetery. Read more here.

East Texan’s Burial Wish Turns into Business
By Jamey Boyum (KLTV)
It’s no mystery that traditional funerals are expensive. One East Texas woman decided to help cut the cost of burial. By honoring her husband’s request to be buried in a pine box if he should die, she started a business making old fashioned wooden caskets which cost hundreds of dollars less than a traditional casket. Read more here.

Leaders, Practitioners Search for Native Hawaiian Burial Solutions
By Mahealani Richardson (Hawaii News Now)
Cultural practitioners are looking for solutions to disturbed Native Hawaiian burials as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is trying to fill vacancies for statewide burial councils. Read more here.

The state has halted a project to replace the Electronic Death Registration System with a new, more intuitive system, claiming that officials lacked confidence that the intended upgrades to the system could be successfully implemented.

The New Jersey Office of Vital Statistics advised the New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association that the development of the VERI-NJ system for use in all death records has been halted. The VERI-NJ platform will still be used for fetal deaths, while EDRS will remain the system for filing all other death certificates.

The Office of Vital Statistics said it had an essentials list of upgrades necessary during this migration from EDRS to VERI-NJ. Unfortunately, the developers were unable to implement these upgrades to the system while also ensuring its compatibility with National Center for Health Statistics reporting.

EDRS, which currently houses 1.5 million records, went into effect in 2006 and was on track to receive needed upgrades through its transition to the VERI-NJ platform. Those upgrades included features that would modernize the system and address issues users faced while filing a death certificate.

While the NJSFDA is disappointed to learn of the pause on this project, the association was advised that the EDRS system went through a security scan to ensure its viability for the foreseeable future. VERI-NJ also underwent a security screening and remains viable for fetal deaths.

The NJSFDA has requested that the Office of Vital Statistics prioritize arranging for the transit/burial permits issued for fetal deaths to be issued in the town in which the funeral home is located, allowing funeral directors to go to their local registrar for pick up and payment of the permits, rather than the registrar in the municipality in which the death occurred.

While the state has severed its relationship with the vendor, officials have said that upgrades to EDRS and the VERI-NJ system remain a priority for the Office of Vital Statistics. The NJSFDA maintains a strong relationship with OVS and will continue to advocate for these upgrades on behalf of its members.

The Bottom Line

The Electronic Death Registration System (EDRS) will continue to be utilized for death records.

VERI-NJ will continue to be used for fetal death records (required for fetal deaths over 20 weeks gestation, optional for fetal deaths under 20 weeks gestations).

The information contained in this column is a report of the actions taken by the board members who were present during the open public session portion of the meeting only. It is not a transcript of the official board minutes or an official record of attendance. It does not address board member attendance or actions taken during the executive session that typically follow the open session and is closed to the public.

April 10, 2025

Members Present

Paul M. Desbiens, chair; Deborah Santangelo, vice-chair; Rabbi Jay M. Kornsgold; Jeffrey S. Kasko, Linda McGloin; and newly appointed community affairs representative Anthony Menafro.

Four vacancies remain on the board: three professionals, and one public.

Staff Present

Quin Archer, executive director; Wendy Faulk, deputy attorney general; Maria A. Rojas Letchford, deputy attorney general; Jessica Fiorilli, ethics liaison officer; Ileana Botelho, alternate ethics liaison officer.

Public

Judith Welshons, New Jersey Cemetery Association; George R. Kelder Jr., CFSP, New Jersey State Funeral Directors Association, and 11 other members of the public.

Approval of Meeting Minutes

The Board approved the public session minutes of the February 13, 2025 meeting.

Ethics Presentation for Special State Officers

Jessica Fiorilli, ethics liaison officer, reviewed for the Board what constitutes a conflict of interest, the code of ethics they should follow and when recusals are required.

New Business

Ewing Cemetery (CA #020) requested guidance regarding the merger of two religious organization bulk-sale grave owners. The Board voted to request more information regarding the actual merger of the two synagogues to determine if it truly is a merger, a dissolution or a liquidation of one organization. Each answer would affect differently the Board’s response on how deposits into the maintenance and preservation fund should be managed. 

Union at Lebanon (CA #231) is searching for funds or grants from the Board or state to assist their small cemetery that has no trustees or funds for future upkeep. The volunteers will be informed in writing that no funds are currently available for assistance and will be pointed to the New Jersey Cemetery Association for guidance.

Monument Cemetery Association (CA #284) asked what specific statutes and regulations state how maintenance and preservation funds can be used. The board voted to share the appropriate citations and remind the cemetery that only interest income can be utilized for upkeep, not the corpus of the M&P fund. Judy Welshons of the New Jersey Cemetery Association stated that the association is currently educating the cemetery on such matters and offering suggestions on how to raise money outside of the fund.

Bulk Sales

East Ridgelawn Cemetery (CA #018) to Islamic Center of Passaic County. The cemetery is requesting a bulk sale approval for 500 graves currently and a blanket approval for an additional 500 graves over multiple years sharing the future cost of those graves based upon the anticipated year sold. The board took issue with the request as any approval for bulk sales requires an analysis of comparable prices at the time of bulk sale. Approval of the price today for a bulk sale 20 years from today would not sufficiently account for comparable sales price increases or decreases. The board voted to request more information and explicitly state today’s approval is only for the initial 500 graves and any option exercised would require additional approvals based on comparable sales at the time additional graves are being considered. The cemetery must deposit the required 15 percent of today’s approval into its respective Maintenance and Preservation Fund.

For Your Information

Following on a consumer complaint that they had pre-purchased multiple crypts in a mausoleum to be constructed that was not built by the time of the first family members death, Beth Israel Cemetery (CA #001) acknowledged the Board’s offer of settlement in lieu of formal disciplinary action and public reprimand for failure to complete mausoleum construction within four years of a pre-sale, failure to notify the board of the first pre-construction sale and failure to request a construction extension. The Board imposed $2,500 penalties for each of the violations for a total $7,500 penalty.

Rosedale Cemetery (CA #042) acknowledged the Board’s offer of settlement in lieu of formal disciplinary action and public reprimand for inaccurate record keeping and agreed to a civil penalty of $1,000. The complaint alleged that two different cremation certificates were received by a consumer with incorrect and differing information leading the consumer to believe that the ashes received may not be those of her late husband.

Trustees of the Berlin Cemetery (CA #292) were investigated for not conducting a proper lot owners meeting in November 2023, failing to effectuate valid officer election votes, ignoring its by-laws, improperly dismissing a trustee, and denying lot owners access to cemetery financial records following a former trustee’s conviction for embezzling a large sum of money from the cemetery. The cemetery acknowledged the Board’s offer of settlement in lieu of formal disciplinary action and public reprimand. The cemetery agreed to a $2,500 penalty for denying voting rights to lot owners at its November 2023 election, will reinstate two members of the Board of Trustees and will immediately cease and desist from making any disparaging commentary on current and former trustees. 

Public Comment

A heated discussion followed by Carrie Jones and other Ruffin family members regarding their ongoing legal challenges surrounding Ruffin Cemetery, Tinton Falls and Louis Cicalese. She implored the Board to act on outstanding complaints that she believed had been settled in the cemetery’s favor in court. Mr. Cicalese countered the accusations offering a different perspective over who prevailed and requested that such public attacks against cemeterians should not be permitted during public comments to the Board.

Steve Walrond, then revisited the Union at Lebanon discussion held during the New Business portion of the meeting requesting that the board verbally inform him as to what guidance will be offered in the previously authorized response letter. The New Jersey Cemetery Association agreed to follow through with Mr. Walrond following the meeting.

Adjournment

The Board adjourned into Executive Session at 10:50 a.m.

Horse-drawn caissons will once again be available for some military funerals at Arlington National Cemetery beginning in June 2025.

The caisson honor will initially be reserved for service members who were Medal of Honor recipients, killed in action or veterans who were specific advanced non-commissioned and commissioned officers in the Marine Corps and U.S. Army. The use of caissons had been suspended in 2023 over concerns about the health of the horses that were part of the detail. Several horses used to pull the caissons had died.

At first, the horses will be used on a limited basis, according to an Army press release. Caissons will be used for only two funerals each day and up to 10 per week.

“We will continue to honor those who have bravely served in our armed forces, and we look forward to seeing the caisson once again grace the grounds of our hallowed cemetery,” Major General Trevor J. Bredenkamp, the commanding general of Joint Task-Force National Capital Region and the U.S. Army Military District of Washington, said in the release.

The initial phase provides for the use of the caisson for no more than two funerals per day and up to 10 per week beginning June 2.

Following reports of poor conditions for the caisson horses and inexperienced staff, the service was revamped, Bredenkamp told The Washington Post. More funding was made available and better training was instituted. Also, saddles better suited for the horses were purchased and the weight of the caissons was trimmed, the Post said.

“We had to basically reinvent the way we were doing these things,” Bredenkamp, told the Post.

On-site training for the caisson horses and soldiers will begin in mid-April 2025, the Army stated. More information on the caisson service and its availability will be posted on the Arlington National Cemetery website as it becomes available.