Relocate morgue, grand jury says

A Kern County grand jury report says the area’s morgue should be moved because the stench of dead bodies is hurting business at a nearby pharmacy.

The coroner’s office shares a ventilation system with the pharmacy.

A civil grand jury report found that, in the summer, the smell of corpses permeates the building to the extent that pharmacy customers have complained of smelling rotting garbage or dirty diapers.

John Van Rensselaer, the supervising deputy coroner, said the county planned to move the morgue but that a bad economy was likely to delay relocation, which he said could cost millions of dollars.