PENROSE, Colo. — The demolition timeline of a funeral home where nearly 200 bodies were found has been pushed again.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, they have been working to acquire a dumping ground for the debris and soil that is being considered a biohazard.
The cleanup process will involve demolition crews spraying the interior of the buildings with disinfectant, and odor suppressant. The building will carefully be torn down to prevent the spread of contaminants, and finally, crews will do a shallow surface scraping of the soil under the building footprint before being taken away to a landfill.
EPA officials tell us they initially sought access at a Pueblo landfill, but it was not granted. The agency is now working with state health officials and Fremont County to find another landfill.
The agency is working with state health officials and Fremont County to find another landfill. However, no definitive timeline was provided.
Demolition was originally scheduled for January but was delayed numerous times. Health officials say the funeral home poses no current health risks to the public.
BACKGROUND
Return to Nature Funeral Home came under a multi-agency investigation in October following reports of a complaint about a foul odor in the area. Investigators said they found more than 150 bodies in various states of decomposition inside the building that were not properly stored. The two were arrested in Oklahoma in November of 2023.
In what was a multi-agency clean-up effort, coroner offices and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation worked tirelessly for a couple of weeks to remove the bodies from the building before the identification process could begin.
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