Dalton Board of Health Navigates Infectious Disease Protocols for Green Burial
DALTON, Mass. — The Board of Health continued to chip away on how it wants to word the "Green Burials" guidelines during its meeting on Wednesday.
One of the things that complicates green burials is diseases. The Board of Health is working with the cemetery trustees to clarify measures to prevent their spread.
The cemetery trustees are still very early on in the process of establishing green burials. This excludes someone who wants to be buried in their yard, which would be a separate process.
Town counsel informed the trustees during a previous meeting that establishing green burials will be a dual effort between them and the Board of Health to come up with guidelines.
The Board of Health will be responsible for the "water table, settling water, decaying bodies, depth of graves, proximity to abutting properties," the meeting minutes said.
The board's main concern, which it has been navigating during its last couple of meetings, is the proper procedures for circumstances involving communicable diseases, such as ebola.
During the previous meeting, board members requested clarification on what a green burial is so that they can have a better idea of how to word the guidelines.
On Wednesday, Town Agent Agnes Witkowski said the state defines green burial or natural burial as "a method of a final disposition of the body with fewer environmental impacts than traditional burial burial," she said
"Generally, a green burial means that the body is not embalmed, no metal or hardware are used to make the casket, no gravel liner or vaults are used and a low profile grave marker issues or no market at all."
The cemetery trustees intend on using a similar definition of green burials as the state but plans on adding that vaults with no bottoms may be used.
"I think [the definition] helps us determine if there's any consideration of infectious disease to the point where the body would not even be embalmed because it needs to be in like two layers of plastic in order to protect anybody from that communicable disease," board member Amanda Staples-Opperman said.
As long as the burial is happening within a cemetery there isn't a problem because cemeteries have to go through certain designations to prevent groundwater from running off into waterways, Staples-Opperman said.
The town will also have to adhere to state Department of Environmental Protections requirements, Witkowski said.
With some communicable diseases, such as ebola, the body needs to be in two layers of leak proof plastic and then in a hermetically sealed casket, she said.
The board could consider adopting similar language as the state which stipulates that prior to the green burial additional considerations by the local Board of Health are required in cases involving serious pathogenic disease, Witkowski said.
She proposed that the guideline says that "in the event of a highly infectious disease," the green burial will need to be cleared by the Board of Health.
Staples-Opperman also requested that they add "cases involving ebola will not be approved."
Board members asked what the best procedure is to review cases involving infectious diseases as waiting till the monthly meeting may not be timely enough.
Witkowski will ask the town's legal counsel whether approving or denying cases can be done via email.
In other news, a Narcan training and education event is in development thanks to a collaboration with the Loaves and Fishes Pantry's Food Distribution Center, Witkowski said.
The collaboration with the food pantry, located at Dalton United Methodist Church, is still in its early stages of organizing. The event would include the distribution of free Narcan kits, training, and education.
Having an event like this is one of her short-term goals but Witkowski hopes to do a second one in town later this year.
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