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Brentwood residents and activists urge council to repurpose planned morgue, cite air-quality and safety worries
Summary
Multiple Brentwood-area residents and community groups urged the council to stop or repurpose a planned morgue and forensic lab in Brentwood, citing proximity to KIPP Voice Academy, potential airborne chemical hazards, and calls for more community engagement.
A coalition of Brentwood residents and community organizations urged the City Council on Tuesday to halt or repurpose a planned medical examiner’s morgue and forensic laboratory proposed for the Brentwood neighborhood, saying the site is too close to schools and homes and carries potential environmental and health risks.
Speakers from Brentwood 300, Take Them Down Jax, and neighborhood associations described a lack of direct engagement with residents and warned about chemical and particulate exposures from morgue operations, including concerns about formaldehyde and other reagents used in forensic and mortuary processes. Several speakers referenced Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidance that, they said, counsels locating morgues and forensic labs away from residential and school settings.
Tabitha Byers and Lydia Bell called for a transparent community meeting and repeated requests for data on ventilation, chemical use, transport logistics and the facility’s operational scale — the project was described in testimony as intended to serve five counties. Joseph Macio George of the Brentwood 300 and other speakers asked the city to repurpose the building for community uses rather than a morgue.
Council members did not take formal action on the matter at Tuesday’s meeting, but multiple speakers asked for a public process and environmental testing. Organizers said they will continue to press for a public hearing and for independent air-quality and safety assessments.
