Return to Nature Funeral Home demolition planned

(PENROSE, Colo.) — According to the Fremont County Board of Commissioners, final plans are in progress for the demolition of the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, where 191 bodies were found in various states of decomposition.

Minor preparations will begin the week of April 8 and include ensuring that safety control measures are in place and spraying a disinfectant and odor suppressant into the interior of the building. Demolition will begin on Tuesday, April 16, and is expected to take approximately ten days, depending on the weather.

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“We hope demolition of the building and final disposition of the waste will help the affected families and the entire community to heal from this tragedy,” said Kevin Grantham, Fremont County Commissioner and Chairman of the Fremont County Board of Public Health and Environment.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) emergency response personnel and trained hazardous materials contractors will conduct the cleanup. Crews will break up the building from the top down and remove large pieces of the structure while attempting to keep it within the building footprint. Debris will be disposed of in an Otero County landfill.

During the process, EPA will use enough water and other liquid solutions to suppress dust, but not in amounts that would cause runoff and contaminate the ground. Crews will manage demolition materials to ensure efficiency and safety when loading into dump trucks. Once the concrete and foundation slab have been removed, EPA will scrape a shallow surface of soil from the footprint of the building to dispose of along with the other building debris.

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