Business owners in a Unanderra industrial estate have raised fears about toxic fallout from a new crematorium, proposed to be installed at 21 Waverley Road.
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But H Parsons funerals, which hopes to build the crematorium, have assured their neighbours and Wollongong council’s Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel that emissions would be monitored to comply with safety guidelines.
Under the plans, the crematorium would be built in the industrial estate between the M1 and rail line.
One building of an existing warehouse will be turned into an office, and another will house a cremator unit. There would also be an ash processing room, cool room, toilets and lunch room.
At a public hearing at Wollongong City Council on Wednesday night, neighbouring business owner Athol Quinsey – who runs a playground building company – said he worried for the health of his workers if the crematorium was installed.
“We don’t wish to arrive at a situation where we’re filling out our work day preparing for the fallout of human remains, be it smell or human fat residue,” he said. “I understand this is a common experience for neighbours of existing crematoriums. If we can smell it, feel it or see it, then we reject it.”
IHAP chair Robert Montgomery told Mr Quinsey the council had asked that there be six monthly emissions reports, and said it could enforce fines or court action if Parsons did not comply.
Another property owner, Gerry Profilio – whose tenants operate a food processor behind the planned crematorium – said his major concern was mercury pollution.
Mr Profilio said he had found online articles from overseas indicating there were dangers associated with burning tooth fillings.
But air quality expert, Aleks Toderoski told the panel that results from his study showed mercury emissions would be well within safety guidelines, and about 40 times lower than the studies chosen by Mr Profilio.
A study by Mr Toderoski’s company concluded the project “would not lead to any unacceptable level of environmental harm or impact in the surrounding area”.
“You’re unlikely to see a problem,” Mr Toderoski said. “There’s a bus depot nearby, and you’d get far more [pollution] from that than you would from a cremator. [Emission levels] are very low.”
For all emissions, the air quality assessment used “conservative” assumptions. For instance, it was based on the idea that the cremator would burn one body each hour 24/7.
However Mr Toderoski said this would be “virtually impossible”. Under the proposal, the unit would be able to operate for nine hours a day on weekdays and four on weekends.
IHAP will make a recommendation to the council about whether the proposal should be given conditional approval.