NJSC Asks AG to Intervene on Ford Ringwood Superfund Site

The New Jersey Sierra Club sent a letter to Attorney General Grewal to intervene on the Ringwood Superfund Site. On Monday night, EPA reached a $21 million settlement with Ford Motor Co. and Ringwood on a cleanup plan for the Superfund site. Almost 166,000 tons of paint sludge and toxic chemicals from the company’s plant are still prevalent. Plans call for capping hazardous materials at the site such as 1, 4 dioxane, lead, arsenic, chromium and other hazardous chemicals. NJ Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel is a third-generation property-owner in Ringwood and current member of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee.

 “EPA has sided with polluters over the community of Upper Ringwood. Instead of requiring Ford to conduct a full clean up at their Superfund Site, EPA let them off the hook with just a slap on the wrist. The DEP should not allow this to happen. The state needs to act and intervene. EPA has delayed the cleanup for decades and now they are allowing it to be capped, not cleanup up. This will not work and will continue to spread and make people sick. Since they approved capping, dioxane has been found in ground water and streams. This shows the need for a full clean-up,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The contamination from the Superfund site is polluting state lands, streams, and groundwater in New Jersey that are in public domain. Pollution has also impacted the community’s health and safety. That is why we have asked Attorney General Grewal to intervene and conduct an investigation on the Ringwood Superfund site and cleanup plan.”

The EPA says it will continue evaluating cleanup options for groundwater contaminated with 1, 4 dioxane at the Ford Superfund site in Ringwood. Cornerstone Environmental, representing polluter Ford Motor Co., issued a report in March arguing that the 1, 4 dioxane, a likely carcinogen, did not pose a threat to the nearby Wanaque Reservoir. The debate over contaminated water is just part of an ongoing battle to clean up the toxic site.

“Ford should not be allowed to cap the site. The capping plan is basically placing an asphalt overtop the hazardous materials and will eventually fail. Caps can be cracked and destroyed by buildings or sewer lines; unleashing toxic materials and gases. Metals can leach from the contaminated site and end up in our drinking water,” said Tittel.

The 500-acre site that stretches into Ringwood State Park was used by Ford as a dumping ground for industrial waste for 50 years and is polluted with heavy metals and chemicals.

“Contamination from the Ringwood Superfund site has already impacts state land. This is why the state must intervene. There is a lot of contamination on or leaking into Ringwood State Park and it is not being cleaned up. Toxic chemicals from the site, 1, 4 dioxane are coming out of springs into streams that go into the Wanaque Reservoir, which provides drinking water for three million people. These chemicals are going into Mill Brook and Sally Pond in Ringwood State Park. These are C1 streams and Highlands water,” said Tittel. “We believe the contamination from the mines going into the streams violates surface water quality standards. It also violates RCRA and New Jersey’s own groundwater cleanup standards. It goes against decades of DEP protocol for cleanup.”

Nearby residents say they have suffered from cancers, kidney ailments and other conditions as a result of the pollution.

“There are 600 people in Upper Ringwood who are living on top of a Superfund site with vapor intrusion and chemicals impacting their health. This pollution is in an Environmental Justice Community which makes it even more important for the state to intervene for reasons under Governor Murphy’s Executive Order 23. There have been a tremendous amount of health problems already from the contamination and it will just get worse if not cleaned up,” said Tittel.

 Ringwood wants to cap the site, which would accommodate a recycling center placed there by Ford. The NJ Sierra Club have opposed the recycling center because it would allow Ford to be able to cap the site while leaving contamination in the ground and saving them millions of dollars.

“We have been encouraged by the Murphy Administration’s actions in going after environmental law violators and polluters and filing NRD claims. But this is even more important, it’s about the lives of this community. There is a strong interest in wanting a full cleanup but for the past 40 years, the city of Ringwood has neglected the community. Any cleanup plan at the Ford Superfund site in Ringwood that does not include removal of all of the contaminated soil and full cleanup of polluted groundwater will not be enough. The people of Upper Ringwood are living in a toxic nightmare. They have waited long enough for a full cleanup plan. It’s time the state steps in and protects the people of Upper Ringwood,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.