WEST SENECA, N.Y. (WBEN) - Forest Lawn denied assertions that they knew for years about problems with the land at the Garden of Good Shepherd at St. Matthews Cemetery in West Seneca.
Attorney Barry Covert, who represents about 70 families whose loved ones were interred at the Garden of Good Shepherd, said that the cemetery knew about the unstable land for decades and accused them of selling the land as a money grab despite that knowledge. Michael Risman, an attorney representing Forest Lawn, denied that by saying that Forest Lawn has only owned St. Matthew's Cemetery since 2008 but noted that Thursday's court appearance wasn't to address that topic. While Judge Dennis Ward urged the two sides to talk about a remedy to the problem, the focus of Thursday's return date was to formally give approval for Forest Lawn to move the graves, even though Forest Lawn moved them more than two months ago.
He argued that Forest Lawn asked for "forgiveness" after violating a state statute and are leaning on the order to justify what they did. Forest Lawn said they submitted the order because they legally need to either through consent from the families or via court order.
"This was an emergency matter," Michael Risman, an attorney representing Forest Lawn, said. "The pictures are dramatic. It's a catastrophic, unforeseeable event. We did our best efforts to do the most important thing which is to preserve the graves and the remains of families."
"There was one thing to do: Protect the dead," Dispenza said. "That's what I do and have done for 30 years. I know I did the right thing by putting the beloved dead in a safe place versus a catastrophe as described by soil engineers that they would all be lost forever. I will not let that happen."
Dispenza would not speculate on future ideas to move the graves to another cemetery, but he questioned "who would do that?" in an emergency situation.
Covert said that they will seek civil litigation to benefit the family members of the lawsuits, though they're not specific to the details. No suits have been filed.
