Jerry Diekmann, Eureka Ward 1 alderman and owner of Mid America Truck Tops & Trailers, is sick of seeing, smelling and ingesting the thick black smoke he says routinely billows from the Trusted Journey Pet Memorial Services building.
For about the last five years, Diekmann said the pet crematorium at 1631 W. Fifth St. has regularly emitted clouds of smoke when it incinerates animals. He said his employees have threatened to quit over the smoke, saying his showroom sometimes fills up with a smelly haze.
Mid America Truck Tops & Trailers is at 501 Howerton Lane, just west of Trusted Journey.
“It’s unbearable,” Diekmann said. “Every single morning, I drive down from the top of the hill, and it’s like 8 a.m. It’s almost like clockwork; smoke is coming out of that building. It smells like burning hair on steroids.”
The city notified Trusted Journey that it may revoke the business’s special use permit if representatives did not appear for questions at a public hearing on March 4. Mayor Sean Flower said the city had attempted to get answers from Trusted Journey as to what is causing the smoke on numerous occasions
“We had the Fire Protection District called out there. We’ve had the Police Department called out there. It causes a lot of angst (for city residents),” Flower said. “We don’t know what else to do. The feeling the (Board of Aldermen) has is that we’re kind of getting blown off. Probably the most concrete response we’ve had is that there was a big dog toy in the furnace (that caused the smoke). After a while, you start to feel like someone is yanking your chain.”
According to its website, Trusted Journey provides personalized pet cremation services in locations across the Midwest. The Eureka location is the only Trusted Journey location in the St. Louis area.
Rick Doane, Trusted Journey’s western division manager, along with regional manager Doug Ruebhausen and Eureka location manager Sam Kuehnel attended the public hearing.
Doane said Trusted Journey provides cremation services for 80 veterinarian clinics in the St. Louis area in addition to private services. Trusted Journey took over the location from Loving Hearts Pet Cremation Services on Sept. 30, 2021, according to a letter from the company to the city.
Doane said the company was given only 10 days’ notice of a potential shutdown from the city, however, City Attorney Kathy Butler refuted the claim.
“Last July, I physically was there with the Health Department inspector from St. Louis County at your facility, so to imply that you weren’t aware of it … I’ve been there on more than one occasion, and the city has contacted the facility numerous times, and we’ve gotten the runaround on who is really in charge,” she said.
Doane said it was a combination of weak leadership, an absence of proper mechanical monitoring equipment and a lack of upkeep and preventive maintenance inspections on mechanical equipment that most likely caused the excessive amount of smoke.
He added that the incinerators used to cremate pets most likely had issues before Trusted Journey took over the building.
“I won’t sit here and make a bunch of excuses and tell you we didn’t do anything wrong,” he said. “We have gone through two managers at that location. That’s probably where a lot of the disconnect is with this group. We had some machine issues. We’ve repaired some of them. We’ve got the brightest minds of the company involved, and we’ve got new opacity monitors that will tell us if there’s 5 percent visible smoke. We’ve also increased our training period for new operators to a four-week training period.”
An opacity monitor is a device used to diagnose the proper functioning of diesel engines. The amount of light blocked in the smoke released by diesel engines from vehicles, trucks, ships, buses, motorcycles, locomotives and large stacks from industrial operations are detected and measured using the device.
Ruebhausen said he has 15 years of experience working with cremation ovens. He said, while there could be issues with the equipment, the issue causing excessive smoke is most likely from user error.
“I don’t think any of us were aware of the magnitude of the things you’re talking about,” Ruebhausen said to Diekmann during the hearing. “You can look at the refractory and go ‘looks good,’ and then three weeks down the road as you’re cleaning the machines out there’s a hole. Picture it as a car, you drive it home tonight, it’s running fine, try and turn it on tomorrow and it doesn’t start. It’s a mechanical piece of equipment and problems could arise at any given moment.”
Doane promised city officials that Trusted Journey is implementing a new training program to ensure that the smoke issue doesn’t continue. Additionally, opacity meters will be installed on each of the cremation ovens which will shut down the ovens if a certain level of smoke is emitted.
According to the letter provided to the city, the smoke may be caused by burning an animal at too high a temperature and too fast. Smoke may also be caused if a worker fails to check if there are any rubber toys, clothing, jewelry or other objects in the burning chamber.
“Smoke is a result of incomplete combustion,” the letter said. “Large or fat pets need to be handled with extreme care, and they are a common cause of smoke. Fat burns 17 times hotter and faster than muscle and organ tissue.”
According to the letter, Trusted Journey completed a “rigorous” two-year accreditation program with the International Association of Pet Cemeteries and Crematories, “which guarantees a high level of integrity and regulation for pet aftercare providers.”
Trusted Journey also is regulated by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the St. Louis County Public Health Department.
“Both regulatory agencies have the authority to inspect and enforce air quality violations with significant fines or revoking permits,” the letter said.
When asked if the cremation ovens would pass an air quality inspection at present, Ruebhausen responded that he was 75 percent sure they would pass.
“It’s gotta be better than 75 percent, guys,” Flower said.
“My God, what are they burning?” Diekmann added. “If I come down with some crazy cancer, I’m going to be pissed. I’m being dead serious. This is absolutely ridiculous.”
At the end of the public hearing, Ward 2 Alderwoman Carleen Murray made a motion to give the company until March 18, the next scheduled board meeting, to make all necessary changes so that the smoke issue does not happen again. If the thick, billowing smoke is seen, then the city will immediately revoke Trusted Journey’s business license. The meeting was held after the Leader’s deadline.
The board voted unanimously to approve Murray’s motion.
“How do we know you’re serious?” Murray said to the three managers. “We have to worry about everybody’s health and safety.”