We oppose the SD Crescentwood Cemetery in Pine Valley because it will pollute the Campo-Cottonwood Sole Source Aquifer and the Tijuana Watershed. This project puts the San Diego water supply in reservoir lakes at risk of being contaminated and poses a serious threat to our drinking water supply and the health of our community. Recently, SD Crescentwood Services purchased 37 acres of land zoned for a rural single-family home. They applied for a Major Use Permit (PDS2023-MUP-23-008) (APN# 608-080-33-00) to put in a 25,000+ grave cemetery on virgin land in the mountain community of Pine Valley, CA. The proposed cemetery would be located on a hillside atop the EPA designated Cottonwood-Campo Sole Source Aquifer near creeks, streams, and multiple ponds. These water sources eventually feed into reservoir lakes that provide San Diego's drinking water.

We are concerned about the following potential impacts of a cemetery on the Cottonwood-Campo Sole Source Aquifer and surface water:

• Contamination of drinking water: Human remain leachate can contaminate drinking water by seeping into the ground and entering the aquifer. This can happen through cracks in the cemetery's liner, or through the natural breakdown of the liner over time. Byproducts including bacteria, viruses, parasites, lead, arsenic, and mercury.
• Disruption of the aquifer: The construction of the cemetery would involve excavating the land, which could disrupt the aquifer and damage its ability to filter and store water.
• Contamination of the aquifer and surface water: Erosion and  landslides due to flooding can cause hillside failures causing the buried to become unburied (see video below). Snow melt and rainfall will wash contaminants into nearby creeks and waterways, and will eventually seep back into the aquifer. Granite rocks and soil dominate the landscape in this area. Decomposed granite (DG) is extremely prone to erosion once disturbed. The ground is so permeable in this area that percolation tests for septic are commonly waived. 

 

 

The surrounding communities of Pine Valley, Campo, La Posta, Manzanita, Potrero, and Ewiiaapaayp with over 100,000 residents are dependent upon wells for drinking water. In this area the groundwater is known to be clean with a high water table that has been measured at 20 feet or less.  Sole Source Aquifer means 1) The aquifer supplies at least 50 percent of the drinking water for its service area, and 2) There are no reasonably available alternative drinking water sources should the aquifer become contaminated. Runoff from this location flows to surrounding areas into the environmentally sensitive Tijuana Watershed and Estuary, and into Barrett Lake and Lake Morena which supply water for the City of San Diego. The Native American lands of the Campo​, Ewiiaapaayp​, La Posta and Manzanita tribes, who depend on the ground water, are unable to relocate their reservation lands in the event the water becomes toxic and unusable.

This cemetery should not be allowed to be built in this location, or any location where it puts groundwater used for drinking water at risk.

See below for more in depth information and links:

 

 

Cemeteries are known to "pose a unique threat to groundwater quality due to degradation and leaching of organic material." (1) If this human landfill project is not stopped, (which is how the World Health Organization refers to graveyards) our water and the environment will be damaged, forever tainted. The risk of a public health catastrophe is unimaginable. What will people do who have had their homes for generations and are unable to relocate when their water becomes unusable? Even expensive filtration systems cannot completely remove the bacterial risk. Who will even want to buy those properties? What about the children who are among the most vulnerable? Developmentally they could be stunted, with no escape from their toxic environment. Who will pay their medical bills? 

In a time when a report of one mouse found with hantavirus triggers the entire County into high alert of a public health crisis, it seems the idea of allowing this project to even be considered is dangerous. This precious water needs to be protected!  The health risk for people, livestock, and wildlife is too great. Ranchers in this area actually need a permit to bury a deceased large animal on their own land, without which they are required to take them to the landfill. The government has already foreseen the threat it poses to ground water.​ With well known stories like the Aldgate Pump Epidemic, also known as the  "Pump of Death", the contamination dangers have been known for centuries. Considering that, it is hard to believe the County of San Diego would consider allowing literally thousands of bodies to be buried over the only well water source for entire communities.  The site as well as surrounding properties contain stands of Red Shank (Adenostoma sparsifolium) that indicate groundwater near the surface. 

 

 

(Red Shank forest)

Dr. Victor Ponce explains Ecohydrology and more about Red Shank in the video below:

 

 

Another critical factor, is due to burial customs, bodies are not embalmed or buried in a casket. They are ceremonially washed, wrapped in a sheet, and buried straight into the ground. Decomposition begins immediately, and is accelerated with no protection from the elements. Any diseases, pharmaceuticals, and toxins such as implants and fecal matter that are present at death will breakdown and be released from the rotting corpses. The leachate (putrefied liquids and solids) will spread into the ground and water where it will pollute the environment. Viral and bacterial infections will be free to spread through the surface and ground water and infect any living thing they contact. Diseases will spread through rats, mice, gophers, and other rodents, insects, reptiles, and even larger predators such as coyotes or bobcats whose prey have come into contact with the decaying matter and contaminated water.  

 

 

Erosion in this area is a major problem due to the soil type being fractured granite, where even moderate rain and snow, as well as regular winds of 40 mph+, and up to 90 mph in this area complicate the problem. The possibility of extreme weather events due to climate change pose an even greater risk of bodies becoming unburied and entire hillsides collapsing. These catastrophic events are already happening around the world. Once the damage is done, it cannot be undone. No cemetery should be built where it puts drinking water and public health at risk. It's common sense. 

I’m writing this because this is something I care about deeply and it won’t happen without the support of people like you. Starting a petition isn’t something I would normally do, but I was moved to do so because this cemetery project is a danger to the environment for all of San Diego County. I know I’m not alone and together we can make this change happen.

Please: Sign the petition to oppose this project and share!

References:

For more information contact the Campo/Lake Morena Planning Group Chairman -Billie Jo Jannen at campoplanninggroup@nym.hush.com.  

Climate change impacting cemetery graves across United States | USA TODAY  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdV4-bJayd0

EPA designated Cottonwood-Campo Sole Source Aquifer
https://archive.epa.gov/region9/water/archive/web/pdf/campo-cottonwood-ssa-map.pdf

Sole Source Aquifers for Drinking Water
https://www.epa.gov/dwssa

Overview of the Drinking Water Sole Source Aquifer Program
https://www.epa.gov/dwssa/overview-drinking-water-sole-source-aquifer-program#What_Is_SSA_Program

Project Clean Water- Tijuana River WMA
https://projectcleanwater.org/watersheds/tijuana-wma/

Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
https://trnerr.org

Barrett Reservoir https://www.sandiego.gov/reservoirs-lakes/barrett-reservoir

Lake Morena https://www.sdparks.org/content/sdparks/en/park-pages/LakeMorena.html

About Reservoirs and Lakes https://www.sandiego.gov/reservoirs-lakes/about

Tijuana River Watershed  https://www.thinkblue.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Tijuana_Watershed.pdf

Legacy effects of cemeteries on groundwater quality and nitrate
loads to a headwater stream https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abc914/pdf

THE IMPACT OF CEMETERIES ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC HEALTH
https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/108132/EUR_ICP_EHNA_01_04_01(A).pdf

Deadly hantavirus found in 3 deer mice near Mount Laguna
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/deadly-hantavirus-found-in-3-deer-mice-near-mount-laguna/3346430/

Life after death: the science of human decomposition
https://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2015/may/05/life-after-death

The Linear Oasis: Ecohydrology of Red Shank  https://ponce.sdsu.edu/the_linear_oasis.html

Interview with Dr. Victor M. Ponce at the Morning Star Ranch https://youtu.be/nzOYygknHP0?si=4sQIpSIrGFbh24d5

The Pump of Death
https://spitalfieldslife.com/2011/03/09/the-pump-of-death/

When the dead don't stay buried: The grave situation at cemeteries amid climate change
https://www.aol.com/dead-dont-stay-buried-grave-090107873.html

The environmental pollution caused by cemeteries and cremations: A review https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0045653522025188

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