Wednesday, May 21, 2008
CONCORD, N.H. —
New Hampshire's governor is considering a bill that would outlaw dissolving human remains as an alternative to cremation but provide for studies to allow it again eventually.The state Senate voted Wednesday to send Gov. John Lynch a bill to reverse a two-year-old law that allows alkaline hydrolysis _ a process now used on human cadavers only at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
Alkaline hydrolysis is legal in New Hampshire and Minnesota under cremation statutes. While the bill would outlaw the process in New Hampshire, it would also establish a committee to study how to regulate it. The panel would have to report back to lawmakers by November.
Asked whether Lynch would sign the bill, spokesman Colin Manning said only that the governor would review it.
The process uses lye, heat and pressure to destroy bodies in stainless-steel cylinders like pressure cookers. It leaves a dry bone residue similar to cremated remains.
A sterile liquid residue also is produced that, under federal rules, can go down the drain as long as operators have the proper permits.
Manchester funeral director Chad Corbin wants to be the first to offer the process to the public as an alternative to burial and cremation. The state gave him a permit last year, but the deal on his property fell through and he must restart the process.
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