Regulator urges halt to burials at Iisalmi cemetery

Finland’s Permit and Supervisory Agency has urged the Ylä-Savo Parish Union to stop burials at Kangaslammi Cemetery in Iisalmi by December while it awaits a water permit, Yle reports. The cemetery has operated without the required burial authorisation since 1990.

The parish union discovered in 2023 that it did not have a valid permit. Since then, it has been allowed to bury people only in existing plots, and it has not carried out burials deeper than four metres. The union has also conducted groundwater studies as instructed by authorities. Ten people have been buried there this year, according to chief gardener Hannu Huttunen.

Kangaslammi Cemetery was established in the 1920s and lies within the protection zone of the Peltosalmi-Ohenmäki groundwater area. In 1984, the then water court ruled that burials there must end from the start of 1990. The parish union’s administrative director, Sanna Kivinen, said she did not know when information about the need to renew or confirm the permit had been lost.

A complaint about the cemetery was filed with the agency in March. After receiving the union’s account of its restricted use, the agency urged it in September to end burials by December. The union plans to ask to continue burials until its pending permit application is decided.

The union expects a decision in January 2027. If the application is rejected, it will follow the authority’s decision. The union says vacant plots are available at Iisalmi’s old cemetery and plans to expand it, with work starting no earlier than September next year.