Mercer Residents Oppose Crematorium Near Elementary School

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — Residents in Robbinsville have started a petition urging the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to stop building a crematorium near an elementary school.

Princeton Memorial Park plans to build a crematorium at 403 Gordon Road, close to Sharon Elementary School and residential homes.

The community has expressed concern over the potential of health risks from potential air pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and even mercury.

The petition started by resident Maharishi Bhatia on Oct. 25 calls on the NJDEP to reject the pre-construction permit. According to the petition, the facility would capable of cremating with a processing rate of 175 pounds per hour.

“This location is right behind Sharon Elementary School, where many young children in our town attend. I strongly feel this draft preconstruction permit is inappropriate and should not be approved because of specific air pollutants released during cremation and their potential health effects on residents who live near the facility and the young children who attend the nearby Sharon School,” Bhatia said in the petition.

The petition also highlights the various pollutants that would be emitted into the air including volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, lead and other particulate matter.

These can be harmful to children and vulnerable populations.

The petition also notes that the draft preconstruction permit does not require monitoring or record-keeping for emissions from the DEP.

“A facility that is not required to provide proof that it is monitoring emissions or provide regular evidence of the proper functioning of its filtering system has no incentive to do these things,” the petitioner said.

According to the draft permit, the crematorium would be permitted to operate for 3,800 hours annually. This would allow releasing pollutants in significant quantities, the petition said.

“Not only do we have young children attending Sharon Elementary, which backs up directly to the cemetery, but we also have kids playing sports and enjoying other recreational activities at Community Park, directly across the street. Should the preconstruction permit be approved, residents nearby would be exposed to the air pollutants emitted from the Princeton Crematorium,” the petition said.

The petition also cites research that states that crematoria emissions like PM2.5, can reach deep into the lungs, and increase the risks of heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and have adverse birth outcomes and exacerbate other conditions such as diabetes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) have advised limiting exposure, particularly for vulnerable populations like babies, children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

As of Tuesday, the petition has garnered over 1,400 signatures.

According to Planning Board documents from Robbinsville, Princeton Memorial Park plans to build a new 1,350-square-foot crematorium building that will house a cremation unit and other related equipment. The property is located within the Rural Residential (RR) zoning district.

On May 3, the Robbinsville Health Department reviewed the site plan application and said they have no objection to the project. However, they asked the Planning Board to postpone the approval until the memorial park got approval and permission from the NJ Cemetary Board and minor source permit from the NJ DEP for the cremation furnace.

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