Tiverton Residents Against Crematory Fundraiser

IMPORTANT UPDATE: FEBRUARY 5, 2024

We’ve received our third bill from our attorney, Mr. Sypole, in the amount of $4109.26 for hours he incurred from October through January. We’ll need to raise funds to cover this bill, and perhaps one more bill before this ordeal is over.

We’ll be cross-posting this to GoFundMe, the link can be found here. We urge you to be as generous as you can in supporting our efforts to keep this crematorium from coming to Main Road. Needless to say, the fight isn’t over yet. It’s due to your previous generosity and support that we’re still still have loud and influential voices as abutters, neighbors and concerned citizens. Every little bit helps. Thanks in advance.

Here is a brief overview for those of you just tuning in on this issue.

•Sakonnet Partners, an LLC with a Massachusetts funeral home owner as the signing applicant, has requested permission to build a Crematorium at 730 Main Rd., Tiverton.

•The MA Board of Registration in Embalming and Funeral Directing does not allow funeral home owners to own crematoriums in any state. As a matter of public record, this board has sent the applicant a letter informing him that if he were to open a crematorium in any state he would be violating MA regulations. If he is planning on breaking the law in MA, it makes me wonder what other regulations will be ignored here in RI.

•The property is surrounded by residential properties, as well as bus stops for our school children, a daycare center, and it is across the street from a healthcare facility that cares for among others, the chronically ill.

•The closest home is approximately 65 feet.

•DEM does not regulate emissions from crematorium incinerators.

•Neither does the EPA since the funeral home industry lobbied to remove crematorium emissions from the class they were monitored under. They have never been assigned to another class since and, therefore, are not currently monitored.

•Yet, the EPA’s report from 2021 says the following:

The 2021 EPA report (p.4-231) states:

“The cremation of human remains results in emissions of particulate matter, SO2, NOx, VOC, CO, and HAPs (Hazardous Air Pollutants). It is a significant source of mercury emissions due to mercury in dental fillings, as well as mercury in blood and tissues. In 2017, human cremation resulted in the emission of approximately 1.8 tons of mercury.”

•The EPA also says this about the health risks from these emissions:

•”Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems.”

•”Short-term exposures to SO2 (sulfur dioxide) can harm the human respiratory system and make breathing difficult.”

•”Breathing air with high concentrations of NOx (nitrogen oxides) can irritate airways in the human respiratory system. Such exposures over short periods can aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, leading to respiratory symptoms... hospital admissions, and visits to emergency rooms.”

•”Health effects (of VOC’s, volatile organic compounds) include eye, nose and throat irritation; headaches, loss of coordination, and nausea; and damage to liver, kidney and

central nervous systems...and some organics... are suspected or known to cause cancer in humans.”

•”Mercury exposure at high levels can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune

systems of people of all ages.” The EPA emphasizes that mercury is a neurotoxin and unborn infants and young children with still developing nervous systems are the most vulnerable.

•The Tiverton Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals both denied the application to build.

•Sakonnet Partners appealed the town decision, which will be heard in the RI Superior Court. TRAC ‘s abutters have legal standing in this case and are represented by TRAC attorney Steven Sypole to help secure a positive outcome for all Tiverton residents.

•With little oversight from our state or federal government, it is up to us to protect ourselves and our neighbors.

•#savetiverton. Say NO to a crematorium in Tiverton.