General information from a recorded webinar, not legal advice for your situation.

Is Minnesota’s green burial pause over?

Quick answer · 0:47 · From Natural Options at the End of Life: Green Burial, Water Cremation & More · Recorded Oct 22, 2026

Short answer

Yes. Minnesota's green burial moratorium has expired. It paused new green cemeteries so the state could study effects on soil, groundwater and wildlife. The study recommended green burials at about 3.5 to 4 feet deep rather than the traditional 6 feet.

Key points

  • The pause was for study, not a ban on green burial.
  • Questions covered soil, groundwater and animals.
  • Recommended depth: about 3.5 to 4 feet.

Angela Woosley, M.A.Mortician and end-of-life doula, Inspired Journeys · Guest presenter

Read this part of the transcript

So you might have heard, though, that we had a green burial moratorium that has since expired, but what that moratorium was designed to do was to put a pause on new green cemeteries in order to study the effects and impacts of green burial on the environment. So the questions that they asked, they were wanting to know, does green burial contaminate the soil, the groundwater, and can animals dig up human remains? Which are really common and very rational questions to ask. However, this is just not how it works. And I would say that all burials, to some degree, are going to contaminate the soil or the groundwater, right?

Created automatically from the recording. Full transcript on the webinar page.

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