Neighbors complain about thick smoke from mortuary

  by Andy - March 13th, 2009 - 3:11 pm| Uncategorized | 5 comments

Warren Elliott is a General Contractor in South Nashville.

When Elliott walks out the back door of his office, he enters an alley. Across the alley is the Music City Mortuary and Crematory.

It is a cold blustery afternoon, the day we enter the alley. The sky is grey and the wind is howling.

He points to the top of the building.

I see a smoke stack.

There is no activity. No smoke.

"We don’t mind them doing their business," the soft spoken business man says. "but we have health concerns."

Elliott shows me photos that his office workers took earlier in the week. The sky is blue and the day is warm when these photos are taken. There is a thick plume of smoke emminating from one of the three stacks, that I will come to learn is the cremation unit for pets.

"Just the smoke, and, you can smell it in your building," he says describing that day. "It was the horrible smell and nasty taste you get. it is awful. We go outside for lunch. So it is abad taste when you go to eat. You have to wash your mouth out.It is that bad"

Elliott tells me that his partner is a cancer survivor. He says his office assistant is asthmatic.

"We are concerned, health wise," he says. "My partner had throat cancer. He recovered. But My assistant, she has asthma. She has had to go home. She sits in the back.  She couldn’t work. Some days it is that bad. Before we reported them, it was a non stop smoke. Since then, it is hit and miss. It might be They do it 30 or 40 minutes and then they stop."

I go to the crematory and introduce myself. I ask for the owner who steps forward. He does not want to go on camera, but he is responsive to my questions and he seems concerned about the neighbor’s complaints and the fact that a news guy is in his lobby asking questions.

"In a crematory, at certain times, you will get a little smoke. And that probably lasted all of five minutes. That was probably the container the animal was in. It’s a pet crematory," Jeff Murphy says.

"Should the smoke be that dark?," i ask.

"No, it shouldn’t be but that was about 5 minutes worth of smoke burning. That is what that is. Every time it smokes. We have a neighbor that calls."

I thank him for his comments and visit with the Metro Health Department.

"We went out and looked at how they operate. They keep a temperature log," Health Department PIO, Brian Todd says. "We looked at that based on what you provided and the photos and decided there was a problem in the bay - the crematory where the animals are. We said shut it off till you get it fixed."

Pollution Control Director Rob Raney enters.

Raney is a talking calculus equation and his voice barely fluctuates as he describes the analytical nature of the problem.

The word Opacity comes up a lot when talking about smoke emission, so he begins by explaining what this word means in his report.

In health department lingo, the closer the opacity is to zero, then the closer the smoke is to invisible which means the better the situation is. I ask him about the dark smoke shown in the photos. Raney says this is closing in on 100-percent opacity which is why it is a problem.

Raney also tells me that a photograph of the smoke does not constitute a violation. It is a red flag that tells investigators to go to the facility and investigate, which initiates a very careful and precise process.

"You can’t tell a violation," he says, "unless you observe temperature charts."

"Problem we saw, on these dates: there was a spike in temperature on these dates. Part of the investigation, we said get with your Manufacturer and ask why are we seeing these spikes. Is the body being cremated too large for that unit. Or is it another problem to be rectified? Or does the spike indicate a problem at all? Sometimes temperatures can rise because, but that doesn’t always mean there is an opacity problem. Right now we are requiring the repair folks to look at the unit to see if it is operator error and working like it is desinged to do."

What this gobbledygook means is that the health department has instructed the business not to use that unit again till operators can prove it is working correctly.

"We expect this will happen fast. And we’ll have an inspector there from the start to finish to see that is operating properly. For a complete cremations cycle. Just because it works properly once, doesn’t mean it always will, you can have operator error."

Finally, Raney says; "a snap shot in time does not prove a violation. The opacity has to be read by a certified inspector over a six minute period of time. It has to average greater than 10-percent for six minutes in time. You can have 5 and a half minutes of no smoke then one puff of smoke and that would not be a violation."

Got it? Good!

I offer Jeff Murphy one more chance to talk about the situation. He again says no to an on camera interview, but he is more than happy to answer questions by phone:

Here is what the owner says:

"We have always tried to comply within the bounds of the permit that the health dept has issued. We are working with the equipment manufacturer. They are coming to inspect the equipment or see if in this case it is operator error. And we are working with the health department to correct the problem."

I tell him that health department records show there were other complaints in November 2008. These complaints center around another cremation unit.

Murphy doesn’t address that notation, but does continue explaining the most recent smoke issue.

"We think, that after talking with operator, trying to find out what happened that Monday, we had a larger animal. She should have turned off a switch on the machine prior to the smoke occuring. It didn’t happen that way. Once we discovered it, we addressed it."

I ask what message he might have for the neighbors like Mr. Elliott.

"I’m sure it is emotional thing. It is cremation. Funeral services evoke a lot of emotions with people and we believe the machines operate with the highest efficiency in the industry. I don’t think they can taste it. We feel like we operate within the bounds of the law. And I don’t think we have an on going problem. The machine has smoked in the past and when it did we worked with the health dept of correct it."

If you are a cremation gear head and like legal documents with lots of prolixity and confusion, then read on. If you have made it this far and feel like you have had enough, I suggest going out for a run.

This is the letter sent from the Health Dept to the Mortuary:

March 10, 2009

Mr. Jeff Murphy
Owner
Music City Mortuary
2411 Kline Avenue
Nashville, TN 37211

Dear Mr. Murphy:

On March 9, 2009, the Pollution Control Division (PCD) received a complaint regarding Music City Mortuary, 2411 Kline Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee.  The complainant stated smoke was coming from a stack at Music City Mortuary.  Ms Erin Jackson responded to this complaint and spoke with you while onsite.  She reviewed the operating conditions of all three cremation units.  The temperature chart for Cremation Unit #3-BLP100/50, the pet cremation unit, showed a rise in temperature from 1650o to 1750o for approximately fifteen (15) minutes.  The complainant submitted a picture of the pet cremation unit with excessive visible emissions that appear to be 100% opacity at approximately the same time the chart showed the spike in temperature.

This office has reason to believe that Unit #3 was most likely operating in violation of Condition No. 9 of Operating Permit 653-3 on March 9, 2009.  Condition (9) reads as follows:

(9)   This source is subject to Section 10.56.170, "Visible Emissions" of Chapter 10.56, which limits visible emissions from the source to 20 percent opacity.  This requirement has been streamlined into the more stringent limit of 10 percent opacity outlined in condition (4).

Operation of Unit #3, the pet cremation unit, must cease until you make all necessary repairs and/or adjustments to ensure future compliance with Operating Permit 653-3.  I am also requesting you notify Mr. Raymond Huffines, of this office, as to the date that the repairs and/or adjustments will be made in order for him to be onsite, if possible, to discuss proper operation of the cremation units with the repair person.  Furthermore, the temperature charts on all units must be reset prior to each cremation in order to show the actual time and date that each cremation takes place along with notations of other pertinent information, including the weight of the animal.  Once these necessary changes have been made, I am requesting that you again contact Mr. Huffines in order for him to observe the next scheduled operation of Unit #3 during a complete cremation from start to finish.  The temperature chart must be showing the actual date and time of day and the cremation should consist of one of the larger animals that will be cremated in this unit.  If a large animal is not available for the first cremation scheduled after repairs or adjustments have been made, Mr. Huffines must be notified prior to the cremation of the next scheduled large animal in order for him to observe that cremation as well.  We may find it necessary to limit the size of any animal that can be cremated in Unit #3 in order to prevent the release of excess visible emissions.

On August 26, and November 26, 2008, this office received complaints regarding smoke coming from cremation unit #1- N20.  This office responded to both complaints but did not observe visible emissions from this unit while on site.  However, the temperature charts showed temperature readings in excess of 1850o during the time the complaint was received on August 26, 2008 and in excess of 2000o during the time of the complaint on November 26, 2008.  This office received your correspondence of September 8, 2008, stating there were visible emissions on this day and it was an isolated incident due to the cremation operator not allowing the unit to cool down properly prior to beginning another cremation cycle.  During our inspection on November 26, 2008, the operator again stated the problem may have been due to not allowing the unit to cool down properly prior to beginning another cremation cycle.  If that was the case, this was the second instance in three months that the same operator error resulted in excess visible emissions from the same cremation unit.  The complainant has also provided pictures that support the presence of excessive visible emissions from Unit #1 on the days that the complaints were received.  According to Mr. Huffines’ letter of August 27, 2008, there was also some question as to the size of the body being cremated at the time that the August complaint was received.  Therefore, I am requesting you contact Mr. Huffines to schedule a date that he can also observe the operation of cremation Unit #1 during a normal cremation cycle from start to finish during which time you will be cremating one of the larger bodies to be cremated in this unit.  I am requesting that this demonstration burn take place as soon as reasonably possible, but no later than March 31, 2009.  As stated earlier, all temperature charts must be reset to show the correct time and date prior to beginning a new cremation cycle from this day forward.  I am also requesting that you furnish this office with a copy of the operating instructions your employees are to follow regarding the operation of each cremation unit at this facility along with copies of the temperature charts from Unit #1 on August 26, and November 26, 2008 and from Unit #3 on March 9, 2009.  Also please furnish an explanation from the equipment supplier as to what is causing the spikes in temperature in Units #1 and #3, what do the spikes indicate, and what should be done to prevent such spikes from occurring.

Upon completion of Mr. Huffines’ observations, a determination will be made as to whether or not any revisions need to be made to your operating permits and whether or not any additional enforcement action is needed at this time to insure continuous future compliance at this facility.  Failure to insure future compliance will most likely result in the assessment of a monetary civil penalty and could result in the revocation of the operating permits for one or more of the cremation units at this facility.

If you have any questions regarding this matter feel free to contact me at (615)340-5653.  You may contact Mr. Huffines at this same number for the purpose of setting up the times and dates for the cremations discussed above.

Sincerely,

Rob Raney, PE
Director
Pollution Control Division

March 13th, 2009 Posted by Andy | Uncategorized | 5 comments