Battle for Ringwood State Park Nearing Full Cleanup

by Corinne Ball · 2011-08-15 11:53:00 UTC
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by David Wheeler, author of Wild New Jersey: Nature Adventures in the Garden State.

When a state park is established, most of us rightfully assume that preservation will last forever. But in Ringwood, New Jersey, a suburban community nestled into the rugged mountains just 40 minutes northwest of New York City, Ford Motor Company is attempting to take over part of Ringwood State Park.

The community of Upper Ringwood, made up mostly of Ramapough Mountain Indians, has been living off the land for generations—catching fish, hunting game, and growing vegetables. But Ford’s irresponsible dumping in the 1960s and early 1970s has forever changed this community. Ford's toxic dumping tells a story of disease, premature death, and a way of life forever altered by pollution.

This past month HBO aired the acclaimed documentary feature “Mann v. Ford” that was five years in the making and captured the struggle to clean up Ringwood. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) failed the tribe back in the 1980s and early 1990s by mistakenly declaring the site safe—overlooking 47,000 tons of toxic sludge. The USEPA recently reversed their decision, making the Ringwood cleanup a top priority, removing much of the toxic sludge with more key decisions on the way.

Concerned activists such as the nonprofit Edison Wetlands Association's Bob Spiegel and The (Bergen) Record's award-winning "Toxic Legacy" front-page investigation helped jump-start the cleanup but so much remains up in the air.

In the next two months, the USEPA will make the crucial decision on how much toxic sludge Ford will remove from the site. The USEPA will consider everything from taking no action to full removal of all toxic waste.

“The real question is what price will they put on the future health and safety of the already suffering Ringwood residents,” says Spiegel.

One option Ford is negotiating behind closed doors is for the company to take back an area of Ringwood State Park for remediation purposes, which would likely entail capping the waste onsite for perpetuity, according to Spiegel.

In addition to Ringwood, Spiegel’s group is assisting the families of Pompton Lakes, who are crying out for Superfund designation to expedite the site cleanup. According to activist Dana Patterson, “There is an extreme amount of distrust in this community, and the obvious green-washing by the polluter makes it impossible to just ‘trust us’. To give these families a true voice in the cleanup, this site must be added to the Federal Superfund National Priorities List, which legally requires public input on the cleanup.”

Whether you live near El Toro Marine Corps Superfund Site in California, or near Lees Lane Landfill Superfund Site in Louisville, Kentucky, or along the Gowanus Canal Superfund Site in New York City, the problems are devastating. Yet hope remains in perhaps the only place we can ever count on it—the American people.

Do you want to help?

Attend and speak out at the upcoming public meeting: On August 23, at 6:30PM at Ringwood Library, tell the USEPA to fully remove and clean up all toxic wastes. Soon after this meeting, there will be a subsequent hearing and formal public comment period where USEPA must listen and respond to all comments.

Chip in to help the campaign: “A donation will go a long way in protecting the families of Ringwood by leveling the playing field between everyday Americans and the polluters that otherwise call the shots. Just go to the PayPal icon at RingwoodSuperfundSite.org,” says Spiegel.

Sign and share the petition: If you haven’t yet signed the petition on saving Ringwood State Park, click here: Ringwood Petition

Recent news stories on the Ramapoughs' saga include:

Photo Credit: Edison Wetlands Assocation

RELATED PETITION

Save Ringwood State Park! Don’t let Ford Motor Company use it as a toxic landfill!
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