My wife’s family wants to scatter my Grandmother-in-laws’ ashes at/off the coast of Brighton Beach. They’ve wanted to do this for a few years now, but nothing has ever come to fruition. I’d like to help, but I have no idea what I’m doing.
First, are there rules about this? Do we need a permit? Tell anyone?
Second, since everyone hates crowds can we just rent a boat? Do they rent boats for a couple hours at a clip? If we’re not going far, can we drive it ourselves or do we need to hire a driver?
Anything else we need to know? Things like “make sure you know the prevailing wind direction.”
Thanks~
You may well need a permit, though you may not. Ask a local funeral director if they know; if not, check with your state environmental protection agency.
Some may say just do it, but the problem arises if you happen to be observed dumping some ashes in the ocean and the observer decides to call some authority to complain.
Actually thats the one most people get wrong. Know of someone who tried to scatter ashes off a cliff in CA and ended up wearing most of them home and running them down the drain of their motel shower. Knew another genius (really - worked at an Apple store) who released the dearly departed secretly -------- from the front seat of a moving rollercoaster. Can you say the word “Busted”? I knew you could.
I’ve fired ashes out of cannons and dropped them all kinds of places – my biggest suggestion is like the other reply – check on whats legal and what isn’t although I wouldn’t/don’t follow it too many levels. If Landowner says OK and local authorities say OK, I ignore the state. Most states have regs really limiting what can be done (other than burial or just keeping them in the home) but that isn’t the “level” that is going to come knocking should someone see and report you.
The funeral director told us it was illegal; but he also said it’s common and he couldn’t advise us one way or the other. (Of course this was in Canada.)
No one’s going to call the authorities over a pint of ashes, are they?
When my Dad passed away, the funeral director in Florida showed me some papermache containers shaped and colored like wreaths. You place the cremains in the container and place in the water from the back of a boat. The container floats until water causes it to disintegrate and sink.
“No one’s going to call the authorities over a pint of ashes, are they?”
Nah. And no one is going to throw red paint on you because you are wearing a fur coat, or call the SPCA because your dog is on a chain in your yard, or call the State in the person of environmental protection because you are burning a pile of leaves, or complain that someone is dumping trash (they don’t know it’s grandma) in the ocean.
In 21st century America, people are tolerant and mind their own business.
And Hey, if the funeral director told you it was illegal what are you doing disingemuously asking on the internet “Are there any rules about this?”
I asked my son if he would poor my ashes over a bridge about 1 block from the house into a storm drain canal. As a kid it was my favorite play spot and runs through all the swamps and areas I hung out. He complained the wind might blow them away from the canal. My response, " Who the fuck cares?"
Relevant EPA site: http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/ecocomm.nsf/oceans/burial-at-sea
Summary: At the federal level, cremated remains may be disposed of at least 3 miles offshore, and you must notify the EPA of the event within 30 days (the page above even includes a web form for submitting that information
State site: http://www.dos.ny.gov/cmty/faq-cremation.html
Summary: scattering on private grounds requires the permission of the landowner, while public grounds require permission or permit from whichever agency is in charge of that beach (probably the parks department).
Research process (if you’re interested):
search epa website for “scattering ashes cremation” (no quotes)
google for “new york state law scattering ashes” (again, without the quotes)
Disposal location and measures of non-cremated remains
Burial at sea of human remains that are not cremated shall take place at least 3 nautical miles from land and in water at least 600 feet deep. Certain areas, including east central Florida, the Dry Tortugas, Florida and west of Pensacola, Florida to the Mississippi River Delta, require water at least 1800 feet deep. Refer to the Code of Federal Regulations at 40 CFR 229.1 (PDF) (1 p, 149K, About PDF) for details. All necessary measures shall be taken to ensure that the remains sink to the bottom rapidly and permanently.
If you do it by plane make sure the remains are properly ground up so nothing of any size drops on anybody. Also, have it done by someone who knows how. Otherwise the remains are coming back in the interior of the plane and thus destined for the bottom of a vacuum cleaner.
sorry, my mistake. The next paragraph does say 3 miles from shore. Not sure how this works if by plane because there are no real restrictions except over public parks which require approval. There are no laws restricting air delivery other than the safety of people below.
We scattered my Mother’s ashes off the coast of central CA.
It did require a permit. There was paperwork at the funeral home before we received the ashes, and more paperwork to be signed off by the owner of the boat we chartered to do the scattering. As I recall, we went about two or three miles offshore before the scattering.
Sort of an aside here. I’m old enough to look into making my own arrangements and did so a year or so ago. Cremation is the order of the day but I wanted my cremains left in a biodegradable container and buried on my own property in a certain place. (This is California.) The mortuary staffer said I couldn’t do it exactly that way because even though biodegradable, the cremains would still be localized and considered a grave site, which required “all sorts of hoops” to pull off. She said the closest I could get would be to dig a fairly large diameter (5 foot) shallow hole and dump the cremains there. She was quite insistent that I not just “do it” (i.e., bury the box on my own) because they might actually be dug up later and who knows what might happen to them then. FYI.
…because that’s how zombie plagues begin.
The Brighton in question is in NY–they came here from the Soviet Union so you can imagine that they have/had close connections to the community. From the EPA links it seems that three miles out there are no other special provisions. But three miles out? Can you even see the shore from that far away? Not that they want to cast them in the air at the next big summer picnic, but I believe they were hoping for something a little closer in and connected.
I’ll call a couple funeral parlours in the area and see what happens. Seeing as how my Russian is limited to a handful of curse words, I’m not sure how far I’ll get.
Given that she’s been resting in an urn for several years now, I wonder how involved a funeral parlour will get. Even without the swearing.
That depends, do you or somebody else have a valid boating license?
Re Scattering Ashes
We scattered my father’s ashes off a fishing pier in Florida. I’m reasonably sure that we broke the law. Nobody who saw us seemed to mind.
Oh, the container we got from the funeral home was EXTREMELY difficult to open. We had to call the funeral home for directions. Even then, it took a large flathead screwdriver and thirty minutes. The cremains were inside a sturdy and very well sealed clear plastic bag inside the metal container. I recommend you open the urn before getting on a rented boat. Else, you may have to return to dry land for a screwdriver.