title: A survey of green burial sites in England and Wales and an assessment of the feasibility of a groundwater vulnerability tool.
abstract: Since 1994, 200 'green' or natural burial sites have been developed in the UK and Eire, attracting regulatory attention because of perceived risks to groundwater. Here, a survey of natural burial practice in England and Wales (n=49 of 141 elicited) is presented, providing data on operational trends and supporting the design of a groundwater vulnerability assessment tool. Natural burial grounds are generally small in area (< 0.8 ha), adopt a mean single burial depth of 1.45 m bgl and a mean plot density of ca. 1480 graves ha(-1). A vulnerability screening tool is described that allows a desk-based evaluation of sites by reference to seven groundwater risk attributes. Initial feasibility is evaluated through application to 131 sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Horticulture, The University of Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: K-H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hart
authors.forename: S J T
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Pollard
mesh_terms: D002048:Burial / Q000379:methods*; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D005844:Geology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*