Anyone who lives in the Bergen County area knows that Ford Motor company screwed the town of Ringwood and the indian tribe that lives there. Over a period of 3 decades they dumped paint and toxic sludge into old mines and sometimes along the sides of the roads in Ringwood. The materials came from a car manufacturing plant that was in Ramsey at the time and has long since closed down. As local residents became sick with all manner of illnesses, eventually Ford admitted what they did and made a token effort at cleaning up what was now designated a Superfund site.
As years progressed and lawsuits were filed, nothing more was done until an award winning series of articles was published by the Bergen Record in 2006. That spurred action by the EPA and promises of arrests and fines by the prosecutors. Fast forward to 2010. There’s still sludge in the mines and it likely will never be properly remediated. Ford settled the lawsuits, but anyone expecting to be fully compensated for the loss of loved ones and the suffering caused by cancer and other illnesses was dissapointed. The settlements ranged between 5K and 35K per person.
Words can’t express how inadequate this is. It’s a testament to how toothless our government can be at times. Ford didn’t just flaunt the law, they ruined hundreds of people’s lives and left an area that is basically unihabitable. They killed numerous people and in the end, heres a few grand, sorry about the cancer, kthxbye? The punishment that Ford received is a joke. The fact that they will be allowed (for a 2nd time) to walk away without fully fixing the situation is criminal.
Maybe they should use the Ford logo as the official state superfund logo.
The Lostinjersey Blog 
Posted by Ryan S. on July 9, 2012 at 1:42 AM
Sorry, but Ringwood is in PASSAIC County.
Posted by Sparky on June 1, 2011 at 10:46 PM
It is pertinent to remember that there were little to no federal guidelines for disposal of such substances when they were dumped beginning in 1970. Ford owned many additional acres outside the immediate Mahwah plant site, including the Ringwood Mines- the vast majority of the dumping/storage was conducted on their own property. Ford has removed over 13,000 tons of contaminated soil to date. Though groundwater supplies were not compromised, Ford continues to work with both local municipalities and individuals in investigating and monitoring the area.
Posted by gypsywanderin on December 16, 2010 at 7:49 PM
lol most of bergen county is toxic…. and most of the waste products from mining is toxic… while ford did do some dumping on top of mines and into the mines… the real topic is the people complaining about sink holes … and wanting the state to pay because the homes they own are on top of shafts that they brought cheap cause of the mine leaving the area.