Water cremation

This is fascinating, and also something I knew nothing about.

An illegal cremation method got a medical center in North Texas a cease-and-desist letter from the Texas Funeral Service Commission and its body donation program under internal review in November. But water cremation — or alkaline hydrolysis — is legal in 28 other states, and its ecological benefits have piqued the interest of a growing number of Texans.

So much so that a few years ago, a cremation service in Austin started offering to fly the body of a person’s loved-one on a Southwest flight to St. Louis, Missouri, to liquefy them using alkaline hydrolysis.

Water cremation has faced the Texas Legislature multiple times in the past few years with no success. The most recent attempt came through a senate bill that died on the table last legislative session.

To some, the back and forth speaks to an issue of separation of church and state. To others, the process is too new to cut the red tape on. And to complicate a debate about what Texans get to do with their bodies when they die, and who decides, there’s a statutory conflict about the process that has led to confusion over what exactly is allowed.

So what is alkaline hydrolysis, and why is it so contested?

Alkaline hydrolysis — also known as water cremation, green cremation and flameless cremation — uses water, heat and alkaline chemicals along with pressure to speed up the process of natural decomposition. It leaves a small amount of bone fragments and a neutral liquid called effluent, according to the Cremation Association of North America.

The body goes in an air- and water-tight chamber with approximately 100 gallons of liquid. The process typically uses 95% water and 5% alkaline, or basic chemicals, which include potassium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide or a mix of the two. Pressure or heat are often added, and the process takes anywhere from 3 to 16 hours depending on the equipment and body mass.

Essentially, the process accelerates the decomposition a body goes through after its burial by using chemicals.

It’s generally considered more gentle than traditional cremation and releases less fossil fuels. But to Barabara Kemmis, executive director of the Cremation Association of North America, the carbon-footprint point depends on how you look at it.

“If you’re looking at fossil fuels, there’s almost no usage, but hundreds of gallons of water — there’s some usage,” Kemmis said.

[…]

A good number of folks have a bone to pick with the process — enough so, that bills to authorize alkaline hydrolysis in Texas have all failed in the legislature.

The opposition can be geographically dependent, Kemmis said. But in the Lone Star State, the loudest voice against it is religious.

“For people in desert areas, it’s a big objection. It’s ‘how can we justify doing this in the desert?’ But in Texas, it’s been primarily the Catholic church,” Kemis said.

When a house bill was introduced in 2019 to authorize alkaline hydrolysis as a method of cremation, the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops published a statement against the bill, calling it “disrespectful.”

“For this committee to approve of this method of disposition would be a direct contradiction to the state’s profound respect for human life and human remains as expressed by other laws,” the statement reads.

Texas proponents of legalizing alkaline hydrolysis argue the religious opposition bars on blurring the lines between church and state. Beyond that, they consider the legislature’s power to decide what happens to a person’s remains unfair — whether lawmakers agree with liquid cremation or not.

“It’s important for all people to have the option to choose the method of disposition, and the state government combined with religious groups keep these important options out of the hands of many Texas families,” [Eric Neuhaus, founder of Green Cremation Texas] said. “I think a healthier separation of church and state could change that.”

“Having the overreach of the Texas government is an embarrassment as a life-long Texan.”

Another natural alternative to burial and cremation that has also attracted religious opposition is human composting, which is legal in a handful of states that are not Texas and is also exactly what you think it is. I’m not sure any of these are right for me, but I do think people should have the option. As the Chron story notes, Sen. Nathan Johnson has filed bills in the past to allow for water cremation, and will likely do so again. Perhaps someday he’ll find a more receptive audience. This Smithsonian article from 2022 has more if you’re interested.

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