The Border Watch: February 20, 2009

Weekend

Edition

KEEPING THE SOUTH EAST INFORMED SINCE 1861

Friday, February 20, 2009

32 PAGES OF

INSIDE

$1.00 inc. GST

INSIDE TODAY

REAL ESTATE

NARACOORTE GALLOPS FORM GUIDE LIFTOUT

BW491039

INSIDE SPORT: TWENTY/20 CRICKET GRAND FINAL TONIGHT > PAGE 40

Leakage from burials into the groundwater is a ...

Dead uncertainty Email: [email protected]

BODILY fluids and harmful chemical elements such as mercury from dental fillings may be leaching from cemeteries into the South East’s precious groundwater system. While the mass burial of animal carcases in emergency situations is strictly regulated by authorities, limited cemeteries legislation gives funeral directors the right to bury the dead with little regard for the environment. South East Funeral Services owner Peter Zukauskas told The Border Watch funeral directors were not regulated by any law to prevent the leaching of harmful elements into the environment. “Thirty years in business has taught me to line all coffins with plastic,” Mr Zukauskas said. “Funeral directors don’t have to do it, but I do it as a precaution. This way everything is safely contained inside the coffin.” According to Mr

WEATHER

Zukauskas, there are no regulations to prevent people from placing possible harmful items inside coffins for sentimental reasons. “I have seen people put items such as beer, wine, golf clubs and toys in coffins, and that’s their choice,” he said. “But we always remove pacemakers because they can cause an electric shock and we remove batteries from toys because they can explode during cremation. It is an occupational health and safety regulation.” However, Mount Gambier City Council operational services director Daryl Sexton said he doubted if metals could pose a risk to

the environment. “The laws of sustainability suggest that materials should not be put back into the earth at a higher concentration than they are removed,” Mr Sexton said. “From my limited understanding, the main concern is really the decomposition of bodies.” Research into the environmental impact of leaking bodily fluids into groundwater is very limited in Australia, but in both the UK and USA, research has proved contamination of groundwater near a number of cemeteries. In the UK, research was done to establish the origin

Mount Gambier today - Possible shower. 22o – full report page 41

TV GUIDE

pFuneral directors are not regulated by law to prevent leaking of harmful elements into groundwater. South East Funeral Services owner Peter Zukauskas lines coffins with plastic as a precaution.

Picture: ANELIA BLACKIE.

Pages 17-18

COMICS

Page 24

CLASSIFIEDS

Pages 27-33

Ford FG Falcon Sports

Ford FG Falcon G6 Luxury

Ford Focus Zetec

Ford PJ Ranger Crew Cab XL 4x4

4.0L 6-cylinder, 5-speed auto, sports suspension, 18” alloys, window tint, cruise control, climate control, iPod integration, Bluetooth phone. S167-AAB.

4.0L 6-cylinder, 5-speed auto, 17” alloys, cruise control, climate control, CD player, fog lamps, dynamic stability control, reverse sensors. XTL-797.

2.0L 4-cylinder, 5-speed manual, dynamic stability control incorp traction control, 17” alloys, body kit, front & side airbags & curtain, MP3 / iPod input, cruise control. XSB-149.

3.0L common rail Turbo diesel, 5-speed manual, air-con, dual airbags, alloy wheels, alloy bull bar, bed liner, remote lock hubs, 3 tonne towing. S173-AAB.

was $44,759

was $44,701

was $30,800

was $46,780

NOW $34,000

NOW $34,000

NOW $24,000

NOW $39,990

driveaway

driveaway

driveaway

driveaway

Jubilee Hwy, Mt Gambier. Phone 08 8721 3400 Barry Stafford 0418 895 652, Paul Clark 0407 972 194 & Darren McPhail 0405 173 196

BW491340

BY ANELIA BLACKIE

of cyanide contamination in groundwater when scientists discovered cyanide was leaking from coffins in a nearby cemetery. The bodies were buried in the 1800s when cyanide was widely used in medicines. According to the Lake Terrace Cemetery Conservation Management Plan, it became necessary to establish an official burial ground when Mount Gambier was founded in 1854 after “burials were conducted on station properties or in unmarked graves”. An Environmental Protection Authority spokesman told The Border Watch that the Department of Health required adequate buffer distance from the proposed site of burial to water courses. “A suitable distance would be at least 100 metres from the nearest surface water and a one in 100 year average return interval flood event area,” he said. “Furthermore, it is recommended the burial not take place within two metres of groundwater with a water quality greater than 12,000mg/L total dissolved salts.”