A company promoting environmentally friendly burials wants to build a new cemetery in Napa County, but county officials and nearby residents are raising concerns about the project's potential environmental and community impacts.

Eternal Preserve Holdings LLC, which is run by land conservation nonprofit the Wildlands Conservancy, wants to create the cemetery on roughly 109 acres at 1225 Howell Mountain Road in Napa County, as the Press Democrat reports. The project would use about 16 acres for burial sites, with the remaining land preserved for conservation. Plans also include public trails, a welcome center, parking, and a new well.

Green burials reportedly use biodegradable caskets or shrouds without embalming chemicals or concrete vaults, allowing bodies to naturally decompose. Supporters say the approach is both environmentally friendly and more affordable than traditional burials.

According to the Press Democrat, Eternal Preserve Holdings operates an existing green cemetery in Placer County, one of six such facilities in California listed on the Green Burial Council website.

“Everything that’s put into the earth is biodegradable,” Morgan Oaks Eternal Preserve cemetery manager Stephanie Brow told commissioners. “The body can feed the soil and leave a legacy.”

At a community meeting earlier this month, residents questioned whether the environmental review adequately addressed groundwater contamination, traffic, and fire risks.

Per the Press Democrat, some of the commissioners said they also want more information about the site's hydrology, geology, and expected traffic, with Commissioner Walter Brooks calling for a full environmental impact report before moving forward with the proposal.

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