Boston Crematorium is unreliable and liable to fail without warning, councillors to be told in shock report

Issues with contractors employed to maintain the cremating equipment over the past two years have seen a catalogue of issues at the site.

In his report, Christian Allen, Head of Environmental Operations, says that period has seen persistently poor performance of the cremator plant itself and a deteriorating performance of the maintenance contractors ATI.

The problems have meant that between last January and the end of April this year has meant the cremators have been unavailable due to faults or overdue repairs for 28% of the available operating days.

Mr Allen says in the report: “The current condition of the two cremators and associated abatement plant are such that the plant is unreliable and temperamental in operation posing significant risks to the Council’s operations.

“The plant is liable to fail without warning leaving the service unable to deal with cremations booked into the system.”

The cremators and associated abatement plant were refurbished by ATI Environment UK Ltd (ATI) in 2012 and the company also won the maintenance contract to undertake routine and emergency repairs and maintenance.

Mr Allen said that over the last two years, officers have been dealing with the increasingly deteriorating performance of the cremators, and have resorted to independent engineering and legal support, in order to improve contractor performance and the operational reliability of our cremators.

He said these efforts failed to deliver sustained improvement in both respects and furthermore identified urgent issues concerning the performance and lifespan of our cremator plant.

ATI entered administration in March 2020 leaving the Council with no maintenance arrangements in place for our cremator plant and no alternative contract maintenance companies willing or able to take on our ATI cremators as they stand.

“A legacy of poor quality, poorly executed repairs and maintenance, provided by contractors ATI, has encumbered the Council with cremators that are unreliable and temperamental.

“Doing nothing is not an option. The Council is exposed to unacceptable risk. Regulatory risk in terms of our environmental permit, reputational risk should the cremators fail altogether and financial risk to a budgeted income of over £800,000 per annum.

“This is a situation that the Council staff on site can no longer manage and risk that the Council can no longer tolerate,” Mr Allen states in the report.

He recommends the purchase or lease of a temporary replacement cremator, and to look at a long term solution of a new cremator with abatement equipment.

The initial cost of leasing or buying a temporary cremator would be between £130,000 and £300,000, with the longer term solution likely to cost up to a further £750,000.