CEMETERY'S NEIGHBORS CLAIM TO SMELL STENCH; AGENCIES INVESTIGATE CREMATORIUM.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

State and local regulators have launched investigations into complaints from residents living near the Grand View Memorial Park that the cemetery crematorium is causing a foul odor.

``We have been exposed to a horrible odor of burning bodies,'' said Karen Compton, who lives near the cemetery.

After Compton and her neighbors appealed to the Glendale City Council last week, the Fire Department, the state's Cemetery and Funeral Program and other agencies have begun investigations to determine the validity of their complaints.

The residents said they took their case to the council, because complaints to the cemetery and several agencies over the past year have not brought results.

A cemetery official denied there is a problem.

``Everyone and their grandmother has been here since the council meeting,'' said Marcia Howard, a Grand View vice president who manages the cemetery and crematorium. ``Nobody is smelling an odor.''

Howard insisted no one has complained to her about a smell from the facility.

``None of the people have come to me and complained about it,'' she said.

Grand View Memorial Park has been in operation since 1884 and has had an operating crematorium since 1925. Howard said until this week the cemetery had no complaints about a smell coming from the facility.

The facility cremates about five bodies a day, which is significantly down from previous years, she said.

The cemetery will work with state and local officials to make sure the surrounding neighborhood is not being affected by emissions from the crematorium, she said.

``If anything does need to be corrected we'll take care of it,'' Howard said.

Investigation incomplete

Howard said she lives on the grounds of the cemetery and that she ``very rarely'' detects any odor coming from the crematorium.

Nancy Hardaker, a spokeswoman for the state's Cemetery and Funeral Program, said an inspector was dispatched to the site on Thursday but has not completed his investigation.

While the equipment used at the facility is very old, Hardaker said ``they still meet the requirements of the law.''

Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, said an inspector responded to two complaints about the Grand View Crematorium last fall, one about odor and the other about smoke.

``(The inspector) found they were operating in compliance with our regulations as well as the facility's permit,'' Atwood said. ``Our inspector smelled a faint odor on the grounds, but he didn't smell anything outside the cemetery.''

The inspector did check the ovens, which were running at the time of the review and had been running for several hours.

Difficult to measure

An inspector revisited the site Thursday evening and also found them in compliance with AQMD regulations.

``(The inspector) did detect an odor on the property, close to the ovens, but there was no odor beyond the property line,'' Atwood said.

Atwood said the crematorium would be in violation of state law if the inspector smelled a foul odor.

``If an odor is a nuisance to a member of the public and our inspector can confirm it, it is a violation,'' Atwood said.

While the AQMD tries to respond immediately to odor complaints, Atwood said sometimes odor dissipates before inspectors have a change to get to a site.

``It's difficult to measure odor,'' Atwood acknowledged. ``The science of odor is pretty undeveloped.''

City government met

Assistant City Manager Bob McFall said city officials had a meeting about the issue the morning after the council meeting. While he is not certain whether the city has any regulatory authority over a crematorium, officials with the fire and public works departments are investigating the matter.

``We are examining our ordinances to see if there are code enforcement issues,'' McFall said.

Area resident Janet Chu said that initially she and her neighbors thought there was a gas leak when they started smelling the odor about a year ago. Chu said it smells like burning formaldehyde.

``It's bad. People get nauseous and people start throwing up,'' Chu said.

At first the smell would occur around 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. on an almost daily basis, Chu said. Now it's more sporadic, with some residents detecting the odor as late as 11 p.m. at night, Chu said.