Every human body hereafter interred or buried
in any cemetery, burying ground or place within this Township shall
be so buried that the top of the outside of the box in which said
body is contained, or the top of the coffin, if there be no outside
box, shall be at least four feet below the natural surface of the
ground, excepting only the bodies of infants contained in a box or
coffin not more than four feet long, in which case said box or coffin
shall be so buried that the top thereof shall be at least three feet
six inches below the natural surface of the ground; provided, however,
that this section shall not apply where bodies are placed or buried
in properly constructed burial vaults so as to prevent the escape
of noxious or unhealthy gases therefrom.
Every human body hereafter buried or interred
in any cemetery, burying ground or place within this Township shall
be so buried or interred that the coffin or box in which is said body
shall be separated from every other dead body by a wall of solid earth
at least eight inches in thickness.
It shall be the duty of the owners or of the
person or persons in charge of any such cemetery, burying ground or
place to ascertain and require that the provisions of this article
are complied with.
The owners or person or persons in charge of
any such cemetery, burying ground or place shall, not later than 48
hours after any burial, interment or disinterment shall take place
within this Township, file with the Health Officer employed by the
Division of Health of this Township, or such person or officer as
may be designated by such Division, a notification of the time and
place when and where any such burial, interment or disinterment has
taken place. After the inspection and attendance of the said Health
Officer, as hereinafter provided, such Health Officer shall issue
a certificate in duplicate to the person or persons in charge of any
such cemetery, burying ground or place, certifying that an inspection
has taken place and that the requirements of this article have been
complied with. Such inspection of the Health Officer or such other
person or officer designated by the Division shall take place not
later than 48 hours after the receipt of the notification aforesaid.
It shall be the duty of the Health Officer employed by the Division, or such other person or officer as may be designated by such Division, to ascertain that the requirements of this article have been complied with, and he shall ascertain such facts by a personal inspection at the said place of burial. If such inspection shall take place after burial, the said Health Officer or other person or officer as may be designated shall ascertain that the requirements relating to depth of burial have been complied with, by the insertion of a steel rod or other proper implement measured off in lineal feet and inches into the burial plot in which any such body may be buried, and the person or persons in charge of such cemetery or burying ground are hereby required to assist the said officer in ascertaining that the provisions of § 157-107 relating to the depth of burials have been complied with.
Before any human body of any person who has
died of any disease publicly declared by the State Board of Health
or by the Bergen County Board of Health to be epidemic or contagious
shall be buried or interred in any cemetery, burying ground or place
in this Township, it shall be the duty of the Health Officer employed
by the Division, or such other officer as may be designated by such
Division, to inspect the coffin in which such body is to be buried
or interred, and until said Health Officer has ascertained that the
said body is contained in a metallic case, hermetically sealed, no
such burial or interment shall take place.
The owners or person or persons in charge of
any such cemetery, burying ground or place shall, not later than seven
days after any such burial, interment or disinterment, return to the
Registrar of Vital Statistics the original burial, transit or removal
permit with the endorsement thereon or a certificate attached thereto
of the date and place such burial, interment or disinterment has taken
place, and also certifying that such burial, interment or disinterment
has taken place according to the requirements of this article. There
shall also accompany said return the original certificate which shall
have been issued by the Health Officer or by such person or persons
as may be designated, certifying that the required inspection has
taken place, and there shall also accompany such return a fee of $1
to cover costs of inspection and regulation required by this article.
The Registrar of Vital Statistics shall issue a receipt for the said
documents and said fee of $1 to the person or persons in charge of
such cemetery, burying ground or place.
