(Danville) — Local economic developers have signed an agreement with a company that will move over a hundred graves at the Berry Hill Megapark site.
The Danville-Pittsylvania County Regional Industrial Development Authority Wednesday approved a resolution to spend up to $353,553 to move graves on lot three of the megapark. The work will NOT involve the main Hairston family cemetery hear Oak Hill Plantation.
RIFA and New York-based WSP have worked with the Hairston family descendants the past several months to reach an agreement on relocation. A RIFA spokesperson says this will make it easier for the family to visit the remains after the megapark lands clients.
The Hairston II Cemetery has 17 graves. The Adams-Wilson Cemetery has at least 119 and possibly 170.
According to their work plan, WSP plans to remove the remains and put them in archival boxes for reburial.
The proposed work will include the following:
***Attendance of a WSP archaeologist at the public meeting on October 9.
***Removal of up to 140 sets of human remains and their placement in archival boxes for delivery to a repository for reburial.
***Examination of the remains in situ by a qualified osteologist, who will prepare a description of any analyzable bones.
***Production of a report describing the effort. The report will describe the methods and findings of the study and will meet the standards of the VDHR.
***If the descendants agree, WSP will take samples for DNA analysis from all burials with sufficient bone to preserve useful DNA.
A backhoe with a smooth bucket will remove the topsoil from each grave. The graves will then be mapped using GPS technology, flagged, and covered with plastic sheeting.
“WSP will deliver the remains to Fisher and Watkins Funeral Home for reburial on nearby land. WSP expects fieldwork will last seven to ten weeks.”