Pop Quiz

What happens when a cemetery becomes full?

a) The owners go bankrupt and your soul becomes the possession of the mortgagee.
b) The oldest graves get reused.
c) Grave prices become astronomical.
d) The owner sells the cemetery which becomes a parking lot and the property gets paved over.

I can't tell you what happens in all instances, but this was a question that popped into my little head and I was curious. From my brief research I learned there are (at least) two types of cemeteries: endowed and non-endowed. Endowed cemeteries are regulated by state law, as far as I can surmise (actually, I could surmise more but I didn't spend that much time on it) which means the regulation varies from state to state.

In Ohio, a new cemetery must deposit $50,000 into an endowment care fund. Thereafter, 10% of all sales are also deposited to the fund. The interest generated by the fund is used to pay for operating and maintenance expenses in perpetuity.

The owner could still go out of business, or sell. In the case of the former, Ohio would pick up the tab for continued maintenance. In the latter case, the owner would be responsible to relocate all inhabitants and grave markers. There are various contingencies on the theme but the link previously referenced gives a pretty good summary of what could happen.

Nevada does it a little differently but the basic idea is the same. Payments into the endowment care fund are based on a dollar amount per square foot of the space used, in addition to an initial deposit. Cemeteries that are not subject to the state law (for whatever reason) may set up a voluntary endowment care fund. I don't know what happens if they don't. I imagine there are laws about dis-interring and moving bodies because someone wants to build a shopping mall but that topic will have to appear in a different Pop Quiz.

What happens when a quarry runs out of rock?

a) Quarries never run out of rock.
b) All that's left is a big hole in the ground.
c) All that's left if a big hole in the ground that fills up with water.
d) The exposed earth erodes and the people who built their houses around the quarry for the exceptionally good view watch their homes tumble into the hole during an incredible thunderstorm.

I guess any of these things could be true but this question popped into my little head on the way home from the grocery store today. This errand takes me right through a quarry in Camas, Washington, and I noticed that there are habitat reclamation areas set aside between the quarry and the grocery store. Then I noticed there were areas of the quarry that had grasses, trees, and bushes. I wondered if these two things were related. Was the quarry actively pursuing some sort of restoration of the ecosystem?

I don't know about the Camas quarry but I learned that such a thing is possible. According to Wikipedia, in fact, "One of the more effective and famous examples of successful quarry restoration is Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC, Canada." If you've ever been there, you will agree as to the success of the restoration.

In 1904, [the Butcharts] established their home near his quarry on Tod Inlet at the base of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island. . . .

In 1909, when the limestone quarry was exhausted, Jennie [Butchart] set about turning it into the Sunken Garden, which was completed in 1921.

"Butchart gardens" by Marcus - user:NorwegianMarcus. Licensed under CC BY-SA 1.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

A+ for everyone. Class dismissed.