Senator Mary Washington calls out MDE after crematorium emissions incidents
The state allowed a North Baltimore facility to begin incineration operations without stack and opacity tests
Above: Residents of both sides of York Road worked together for months to oppose a human crematorium proposed for their neighborhood (Credit: Martin Courtney)
Despite years of community pushback and protest, the Maryland Department of the Environment granted a funeral home permission to cremate human remains in Baltimore less than 200 feet from the nearest home.
Soon after it began operations earlier this month at 4905 York Road, residents documented black smoke rising from the facility’s emissions stack – something that was not supposed to happen under Vaughn Greene Funeral Home’s permit.
Just how weak that permit is soon became clear.
Residents discovered through a public records request that no stack and opacity tests were conducted before letting the crematory open for business. And none are required for 90 days until mid-September.
“Our constituent learned that no stack tests have been conducted at this facility,” State Senator Mary L. Washington wrote, in a strongly worded letter to MDE.
“The permit allows up to 120 days after startup for these tests, meaning the facility can operate for months without any performance data confirming it meets its emissions limits, even while incidents like these are occurring,” Washington wrote.
• Black smoke is seen rising from Vaughn Greene crematory that just opened in North Baltimore (7/16/26)
Another flaw in the permit is that, while it requires the crematory to have working sensors for both temperature and opacity while it is operating, it only requires that temperature readings be recorded. Opacity readings are not required to be kept.
“Without that data on record, it is hard to see how the Department, the facility or the community could ever confirm whether the crematory is meeting its emissions requirements over time,” she observed.
Asked about the allegations in Washington’s letter, the agency had no substantive comment.
“The matter remains under investigation,” MDE spokesman Jay Apperson told The Brew.
Senator Mary Washington (D, 43rd) points to critical gaps in the crematory permit granted to the Vaughn Greene Funeral Home by MDE. (Fern Shen)
“We told you so”
Washington reminded state officials of her warning at a 2024 hearing.
“I testified, urging the Department to require recurring stack and opacity tests throughout the life of the permit, and not only at startup,” Washington wrote, noting that “incinerators can run dirtier as they age and periodic testing is the only reliable way to confirm ongoing compliance.”
Calling the July 13 and July 20 emissions incidents “something close to the scenario we warned about,” the 43rd District senator said they expose critical “gaps in the current permit and compliance framework.”
She called on MDE to:
• Confirm that Vaughn Greene’s permit-to-operate will not be finalized until required stack tests are completed, submitted and reviewed by the department, with results shared with her office and the surrounding community.
• Amend the Permit-to-Construct license to require that opacity data be recorded and retained during crematory operation consistent with the existing requirement for temperature data.
• Direct the MDE compliance inspector to evaluate, cite and address every permit condition triggered by a visible emissions incident as part of the investigation into the July 13 and July 20 events, and to provide the completed report to Washington and the community in a timely manner.