A controversial process called “alkaline hydrolysis,” where the bodies of dead people are liquified using a mixture of water, heat, and chemical agents, is being approved for use in states across America.
The latest state to contemplate using the body disposal method is Wisconsin, which just approved Senate Bill 228 that authorizes the practice.
The Republican-led Senate of Wisconsin passed the bill, which states, “A person may use the process of alkaline hydrolysis to cremate human remains only if the person is registered as a crematory authority by the Department of Safety and Professional Services. The bill places the use of alkaline hydrolysis for cremating human remains under generally the same requirements that apply under current law to conventional cremation.”
In a letter to the Wisconsin Senate opposing the decision, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference Kim Vercauteren wrote, “Catholic teaching is centered on the life and dignity of the human person because each person is created in the image and likeness of God.”
“The heart, mind, flesh, and bones of a human person are all elements of a unique creation, down to the DNA, which must be honoured even after death,” she continued. “Our concern is that with alkaline hydrolysis, remains are washed into a wastewater system as though the body created by God never existed, wastewater does not honour the sacredness of the body, nor does it allow the grieving to honour the dead after disposition.”
Vercauteren’s concern about remains being washed into wastewater systems is understandable considering that wastewater is being used to “condition soils and provide nutrients for agricultural, horticultural, and forest crops and vegetation.”
In 1993, the EPA passed “Rule 503” which allows “the spreading, spraying, injection, or incorporation of sewage sludge” to lands, including, “public parks, ball fields, cemeteries, plant nurseries, and golf courses.”
The EPA allows “biosolids” to be used in playgrounds and farms despite the fact that it contains high concentrations of heavy metals, neurotoxic chemicals and toxins the agency classifies as “primary pollutants.”
While the government promotes spraying dead bodies and sewage on crops and parks as “green” recycling combatting climate change, others are sounding the alarm about potential dangers.
A former senior-level research microbiologist at the EPA’s Office of Research and Development named Dr. David Lewis was even fired for speaking out on the subject.
“Spending billions of dollars to remove hazardous chemicals and biological wastes from water, only to spread them on soil everywhere we live, work and play defies common sense,” Dr. Lewis told The Guardian in 2019.
