# Bizarre Plastic Boxes Stacked Up In Georgia-What Are They? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303 "2012-10-20T05:58:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/1 "2012-10-20T05:58:02Z")
From YouTube:[Fema Camp Coffins Investigated - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3zSDdm-SHI&feature=related) I came across this surfing YouTube-the conspiracists claim that these are coffins-stored by FEMA, to be used in the event of a national disaster. I cannot seem to find anything out about them. Offhand, they don’t look like they would be used as coffins-but what are they for? ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/2 "2012-10-20T06:32:03Z")
Without even clicking your link, I can tell you that they are liners that are put in the ground and then the coffins are put in them. Yeah, I’ve run across this conspiracy theory before. (Maybe here, don’t remember.) ETA: I think there was a relatively recent environmental law that requires their use in all burials. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/3 "2012-10-20T06:52:32Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > ETA: I think there was a relatively recent environmental law that requires their use in all burials. I believe they are only used in areas where there is relatively high groundwater. Don’t want to be brushing your teeth with little bits of grandma. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/4 "2012-10-20T07:14:19Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I believe they are only used in areas where there is relatively high groundwater. Don’t want to be brushing your teeth with little bits of grandma. I did a little digging (heh) and it’s also to prevent the soil from settling and causing uneven ground at the surface. The technical term for them are “burial vaults.” A representative of [the company](http://www.vantageproducts.com/) that owns the stockpile that was photographed and hyped into a conspiracy theory was [interviewed by the local paper in 2008:](http://www.morgancountycitizen.com/?q=node/7524) > [@](#): > > There are currently 50,000 of these burial vaults on the property, according to Lacey. As the vaults were placed on the site around 1997 or 1998, there may have been as many as 70,000 or 80,000 to begin with. > “It’s nowhere near the quantity they talk about on the Internet,” Lacey said. > This quantity of burial vaults, Vantage’s Standard Air Seal model in black, also the least expensive model and the most in-demand, was made to cater to what Lacey calls the funeral industry’s “pre-need.” This “pre-need” occurs when people make arrangements for their funeral before they actually pass away, so that the family doesn’t have to go through the perceived stress of making the arrangements. When these arrangements are made, the products are paid for; obviously, though, they are not yet needed. > So, Vantage stores the product until the person dies, and the product is needed. > Further, pallets of the burial vaults are moved truckloads at a time, as there is space for a palate at the > Contrary to the beliefs of the theorists, then, the burial vaults aren’t owned by the government, or FEMA. Instead, they’re owned by individuals, or not yet sold. > “They’re not owned by any one individual, company or the government,” Lacey said. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/5 "2012-10-20T12:28:37Z")
Thanks for the info…here in NE, they use cast concrete vaults. I have never seen these plastic ones before. You have to admit, it makes for a nice, paranoid conspiracy theory-the US government preparing to murder millions-and the bodies buried in black plastic coffins! I also like the videos showing those “FEMA” concentration camps out in the woods (to be used to confine dissidents when the commies take over). ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/6 "2012-10-20T15:08:17Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > You have to admit, it makes for a nice, paranoid conspiracy theory-the US government preparing to murder millions-and the bodies buried in black plastic coffins! I guess, though it’s a little hard to see why the gov’t would be evil enough to kill millions of people, and then go to the expense of providing an individual burial for each person. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/7 "2012-10-20T15:17:38Z")
_Man_, those guys talk slowly! ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/8 "2012-10-20T15:23:51Z")
Instead of fashioning a concrete vault which takes time, just dig, sink that plastic thingy, lower the casket (notice the transverse inner ribbing to make this easier.) Put the lid over it, soil, voila! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/9 "2012-10-20T15:26:50Z")
‘Where do you get your food?’ ‘It comes in boxes! All of our things come in boxes!’ – _The Monster Club_ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/10 "2012-10-20T15:59:53Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I believe they are only used in areas where there is relatively high groundwater. Don’t want to be brushing your teeth with little bits of grandma. Do you think you may have that backwards? High ground water would surely introduce a buoyancy problem for the casket liner/tub. When I was in New Orleans, I learned they buried their dead in above ground vaults otherwise the bodies (or caskets) would get pushed up through the ground surface. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/11 "2012-10-20T16:09:49Z")
It’s less a worry about floating free than a worry about contaminating the water supply. Most places with “high” water tables aren’t as bad as Charleston or New Orleans, where in many places, the ground literally is below sea level, and sunken graves aren’t really the best option regardless of how they’re made. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/12 "2012-10-20T16:55:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > _Man_, those guys talk slowly! One of the better bits of Southern self-effacing, anti-Yankee defense tactical humor I’ve heard while living here: “Mister, you hear how slow I’m talking? That’s how slow I’m thinking.” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bizarre-plastic-boxes-stacked-up-in-georgia-what-are-they/638303/13 "2012-10-20T18:05:24Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > Do you think you may have that backwards? High ground water would surely introduce a buoyancy problem for the casket liner/tub. They are not intended to be watertight. The purpose is to prevent the grave from collapsing and forming a depression when the coffin deteriorates, They fill with water, making grandpa soup. Don’t google “coffin liquor” if you don’t want to be grossed out.