Dear Friend of Green Burial,

In Massachusetts, approval of new cemeteries and extensions to existing cemeteries falls to local Boards of Health [MGL Ch. 114 §34]. A wonderful opportunity to educate these officials arrived in our inbox in March when Green Burial Massachusetts (GBM) received an invitation to make a presentation about green burial to the Massachusetts Health Officers Association (MHOA) in May.

I had been working on a draft information sheet, “Green Burial in a Hybrid Cemetery: Information for Local Boards of Health,” and had been in sporadic communication with Joe, a Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) official, about its accuracy. Joe was slated to speak to the MHOA as well, and as the date approached, we compared notes. I asked him to confirm my supposition that green burial should not be held to a higher bar re: protecting drinking water than conventional burial when it comes to approving a cemetery site.

When Joe arrived at the meeting, I introduced myself, and he confided that he had confirmed with a MassDEP toxicologist that my hunch was correct–green burial does not need to be held to a higher bar. The MassDEP plans to update their fact sheet “Information for Local Boards of Health on Home Burials and Green Burials,” clarifying that private well setback recommendations pertain to ALL burial plots, not just green.

I distributed the handout, no longer in draft form, to attendees. It is now available on our website and could be used to start a conversation with your local cemetery commission about Greening Your Local Cemetery. Let us know if you do!

Sincerely,
Sophia Sayigh
Board Member, Green Burial Massachusetts, Inc.

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