In Frisco, residents protest the construction of a nearby crematory at County Road 710 and Eldorado Parkway. NBC 5’s Meredith Yeomans reports on the growing controversy.
In Frisco, neighbors are upset about a crematorium under construction.
It's being built near County Road 710 and Eldorado Parkway.
“I really thought it was a church, and it's a real bummer that that is a place where they burn bodies,” said Andy Bird, who lives nearby.
Bird says neighbors discovered it would be a crematorium days ago when a resident “noticed gas lanes being poured into the buildings by the cemetery.”
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
Neighbors say they're concerned about hazardous chemicals being released by the crematorium, particularly mercury.
“Which is in the fillings of 80% of people’s teeth from dentists. That gets turned into gas that goes into the air that gets into your lungs, and we know that mercury is one of the biggest causes of cancer,” said Bird.
The National Library of Medicine says, "Crematoriums are sources of air pollution including mercury emission and may cause plausibly subtle chronic health effects due to long-term low-dose exposure."
Some scientists say the claims are overblown.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
In a matter of days, more than hundreds have signed an online petition opposing the crematorium.
Despite permits being issued and construction nearly completed, Tuesday night, dozens wearing black attended a Frisco city council meeting to ask the council to reconsider.
"I've been trying to fathom how this crematory got to this point,” said one speaker.
The city says the crematorium was approved before the neighborhood next door was developed, and plans have been publicly available. It tells the TCEQ monitors air quality and has issued a permit for the crematorium.
Neighbors say it will leave a black mark on the city.
"It is not worth sacrificing other business as well as our health,” said Bird.
No action was taken by the council on Tuesday. In a statement, Terry Turrentine Irby, Partner with Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral, said:
“We provide families with funeral, burial, and crematory assistance which respects personal and/or religious preferences and confidentiality. We are also active stewards in our state and national funeral service associations with upholding the highest ethical, professional, and environmental standards. Finally, all our locations and buildings are permitted through public process and meet all federal, state, and local requirements. Respectfully, we value our neighbors and the communities we serve.”
