Green burials pitched for Mount Hamilton Cemetery but cost estimated at $100,000
The city is willing to test “green burials” in at least one Hamilton cemetery if a new council is willing to put up the needed cash.
The parks department began studying the idea earlier this year after a Spectator story highlighted the advocacy of local nurse and “death-care educator” Rochelle Martin for more eco-friendly burial options.
A report going to councillors Aug. 16 said city staffers “find merit” in the idea trying out green burials in a portion of Mount Hamilton Cemetery on Rymal Road East – provided council signs off on the extra $100,000 needed to design and build the area.
“I’m glad they’ve recognized there is real interest from residents with environmental concerns,” said Martin, who sat down earlier this year with city officials and a manager of a Niagara Falls green burial site to discuss local opportunities.
She also expressed hope councillors won’t be “scared off” by the cost caveat, arguing green burial options are cheaper and simpler “by design.”
For example, it avoids the normal use of a concrete burial vault that encloses a coffin and prevents the grave from sinking.
A green burial typically seeks to avoid the use of embalming chemicals, costly caskets and unnecessary pollution or energy use. It can involve, for example, the placement of a body in the ground in a simple cotton shroud or wooden box, with the grave site memorialized with a tree or natural stone marker.
City parks head Kara Bunn said it’s too early to say how a Hamilton green burial site might be marked. Anything from a memorial forest to a communal marker set in a large boulder could be considered.
Regardless, the city report says the existing cemetery budget won’t cover the cost of creating the 8,400-square-metre green burial area at the south end of the existing cemetery.
Bunn said the $100,000 cost will be submitted as a 2019 capital budget request. That council budget debate won’t get underway until after the Oct. 22 municipal election.
The report says local residents appear interested in eco-burial options, which are already available in cities like Guelph, Niagara Falls and Brampton, but not in Hamilton.
City staff normally receive about seven queries a year about green burials, but the Spectator story prompted 85 emails to the parks department as well as an online campaign. A followup city cemetery survey with 24 participants also indicated widespread support.
Martin had originally pitched a green burial site at a new cemetery being planned at the site of the former Parkside high school in Dundas.
City staff have not recommended the former school site as a green burial option. But councillors will be asked Aug. 16 to sign off on using the entire Parkside property as a future cemetery, pending approval from the provincial body responsible for regulating burial sites.
An early suggestion to allow residential development on a portion of the former Dundas school property to help cover the city’s costs was unpopular with area residents. The latest city report says the entire property is needed to construct a usable cemetery.