Ringwood Mines landfill site facts for kids
The Ringwood Mines landfill site is a large area in Ringwood, New Jersey, about 500 acres big. It used to be a place where people dug for iron. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, a big car factory, the Ford Motor Plant in Mahwah, New Jersey, used this site to dump its waste.
In 1984, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added the site to its Superfund list. This list is for places with dangerous waste that need to be cleaned up. The EPA took the site off the list in 1994, but had to put it back on several times because the cleanup wasn't finished.
Some parts of the landfill were even used to build homes for the Ramapough people in the 1970s, even though the land was polluted. The EPA found more hidden spots of paint sludge in 1995, 1998, and 2004. They told Ford to clean up more.
In 2005, a newspaper called the Bergen Record wrote a series of articles called Toxic Legacy. They found a lot of pollution in the homes nearby. The EPA confirmed that the area was still full of factory waste and hazardous waste (dangerous waste). So, they put the site back on the Superfund list in 2006.
This area is important because it's part of the watershed for 2.5 million people in New Jersey. A watershed is an area of land where all the water drains into a common point, like a river or lake, providing drinking water. Part of the 500-acre site is also in Ringwood State Park. Ford had given five acres of the old Peters Mine Pit site to the state, which became part of the park. By 2011, over 47,000 tons of polluted dirt had been removed from the site. This was five times more than what was removed in earlier cleanups.
What Happened Here?
The Ringwood Mines area has a long history of iron mining. It's a quiet mountain area with old mine shafts, pits, and places where waste was dumped. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Ford Motor Company used this 500-acre site. They dumped paint sludge and other waste from their car factory in Mahwah, New Jersey. At that time, it was the biggest car factory in the United States.
By the time the factory closed in 1980, "millions of gallons" of paint sludge had been dumped. This was enough to fill two of the three tunnels of the Lincoln Tunnel! Ford's own records show that from 1967 to 1971, about 11,350 tons of paint sludge from Mahwah were dumped at Ringwood. Ford says this dumping was allowed because there weren't many environmental laws back then. Before 1970, dumping factory waste was "mostly unregulated."
In the 1970s, Ford gave five acres of the Peters Mine Pit area to the state. This land became part of what is now Ringwood State Park. After 1976, new federal laws like the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) made it harder for companies to dump dangerous waste.
In 2005, Bergen Record newspaper published its Toxic Legacy series. This eight-month investigation showed how much pollution was in the community. The EPA confirmed that the area was still polluted with factory and dangerous waste, even after four cleanups. So, the site was put back on the Superfund list.
From 2006 to 2011, the EPA ordered the removal of another 47,000 tons of polluted dirt and sludge. This was much more than what was cleaned up in the first efforts. In 2011, Ford suggested taking back the Peters Mine Pit site. But environmental groups were worried that the pit might still be full of pollution. More than 65,000 people signed an online petition against this idea. The state Department of Environment and Parks said it would never give the site back to Ford. The cleanup work is still going on.
Why This Matters
Environmental groups are worried that the pollution could get into the groundwater. Groundwater is water found underground in cracks and spaces in soil, sand, and rock. This could threaten the drinking water for 2.5 million people, which is a quarter of New Jersey's population.
Many people have been directly affected. Ringwood has historically been home to the Ramapough Mountain Indians. Their children used to play with the bright paints and waste from the landfill. Their ancestors used to work in the iron mines.
During the years of dumping, some men would look through the waste. They were searching for copper and other valuable metals to sell. Factory waste was pushed into pits and mine shafts. Paint sludge hardened and can be seen as slabs near streams. Tests have shown that levels of lead and antimony in paint sludge near homes are one hundred times higher than safe levels.
Many families have experienced high rates of cancer and other health problems. These issues are linked to the pollution near their homes and in their drinking water. In 2006, about 600 Ramapough people filed a lawsuit against Ford Motor Company. This lawsuit was called Mann v. Ford. They sued because of the dumping.
During a tough time for car companies from 2008 to 2010, Ford worried about going out of business. The Ramapough people also worried they might not get justice if Ford went bankrupt. So, in September 2009, the tribe agreed to a settlement. Ford and its contractors paid $11 million, and the town of Ringwood paid $1.5 million. After lawyer fees, each Ramapough resident received about $8,000.
Stories and Media About the Site
- The Ramapough lawsuit against Ford was shown in a documentary called Mann v. Ford. This film was made by HBO. It was directed by Maro Chermayeff and Micah Fink. The film features Wayne Mann from the Ramapough tribe and Vicki Gilliam, a lawyer who represented the tribe. It shows five years of the tribe's fight for justice. They also spoke to Congress to ask for help and money. The people who sued have now settled their case with the company.
- Toxic Legacy is a 5-part documentary series. It was created by The Record newspaper. You can watch it online at toxiclegacy.northjersey.com.
- The SundanceTV show The Red Road is a fictional story. But it includes many real parts of the situation. This includes the paint sludge and the Ramapo Lenape Nation.
