By Patrick Myer

Mahwah Ford

Operation

     Built at a cost of $70 million. the plant was a replacement for Ford’s Edgewater facilities At the time of its completion in 1955, it was the largest motor vehicle assembly plant in the United States Along with other businesses such as American Brake Shoe and Foundry Company, Ford helped contribute to the economic development of Mahwah and its reputation for low home property taxes Produced 6 million cars and trucks, more than triple the Edgewater plant Employed 5000 workers, making it the largest employer in Bergen county

Closing

    The 1970s oil crisis forced U.S. auto makers to compete against the smaller, more fuel-efficient cars from Japan.

Therefore, many plants in the U.S. were forced to close The Mahwah plant was susceptible to high costs including union demands and the reputation of its vehicles to be lemons Ford closed the plant in June 1980

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Paint Sludge

Paint sludge is formed when extra paint is sprayed on the assembly line, chemicals and water are used to remove it 5 gallons of sludge was produced for every car, with 6,000 gallons coming out of the plant every day It cost more to dump the sludge than it did to buy the paint because there were few designated dumping sites This led Ford to dump its waste in areas that were hazardous to the public Sludge contains many harmful chemicals, most of which are carcinogens A Ringwood resident holds a piece of paint sludge left over from decades ago

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The Chemicals

Benzene, lead, chromium, arsenic, antimony, PCBs, xylenes, and ethylbenze are found in paint sludge Benzene damages bone marrow and can lead to anemia. Irregular menstrual periods, a decrease in size of ovaries, and leukemia are also risks Chromium increases the risks of lung cancer Antimony is very similar to arsenic and causes heart and lung problems Xylenes cause liver, kidney, and fetus damage Lead, even in small doses, is extremely harmful to children in development Xylenes and lead effect the brain , which may be the reason why so many people who live around the sludge have learning disabilities

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The Trucking Companies

Originally, Ford disposed of its waste right across the New York State boarder in an area known as the Meadows in Hillburn But, this site quickly filled up and so Ford hired O’Connor Trucking to haul the waste 10 miles to Ford owned property in Ringwood, NJ When the public became concerned about the dumping in 1971, Ford fired O’Connor It then hired a trucking company owned by the Mafia By contracting out to third parties Ford could claim that it had no idea where the waste was being dumped The Mafia dumped throughout the New York and New Jersey area wherever they could find places in the woods, whether it was in streams, in town owned landfills, or in farmers’ backyards As much as $500,000 a year in profit went to haulers who moved the sludge

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The Meadows

The area was home to low income families, however they moved out when the Ramapo River had to be diverted Up to 2 million gallons, or 7 9,000 cubic yards, of sludge and 20 tons of tires were dumped Sludge is 6 feet deep in some places The area was never included on the Superfund list since it not currently inhabited The site still poses risks because many people use the area for off-roading and ATVs The Ramapo River, which supplies water for people downstream, at times floods over exposed portions of paint sludge Also, PCBs have tainted the fish that habit the Ramapo River

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The Ringwood Mines

The Peters’ and Canon Iron Mines date back to the 1700s They were abandoned in the 1950s, and were used before, during, and after Ford by the Borough of Ringwood as dumping grounds The area is ½ mile wide and 2 miles long, and includes numerous mine shafts, which Ford claimed to have capped in 1965 On record 11,350 tons, or 16,850 yards, of paint sludge was dumped here There’s enough sludge to cover 3 football fields 3 feet deep, or fill 2 tubes of the Lincoln Tunnel In 1969 alone, enough sludge was dumped to fill 25 Olympic swimming pools The mines often caught fire and the toxic smoke could be smelled for miles Ford also claimed no responsibility for the land since it had “gifted” most of it to the State to be used as park land

Water

•Water in the area of dumping is toxic and contaminated.

The Community

       The area of the Ringwood Mines is home to 550 people known as the Ramapough Indians They are descendants of the original workers of the mines, who were Native Americans and freed Dutch slaves They are an officially recognized tribe by the State of New Jersey, however they are not a nationally recognized tribe They are very close-knit, due to poverty and racism, and live mostly off of the land through hunting and small farms 50 residents are directly effected by sludge contamination The community used to scavenge through the sludge looking for copper scrap that they could sell The children used to make balls out of the sludge and throw them at each other, and slide down the sludge hills

Health effects

       Diabetes that caused Paul Eugene VanDunk to have his leg amputated Bronchitis Lead poisoning Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer Kidney disease Cystic fibrosis Hibradenitis supurativa, a skin disease that causes sores and rashes on the body, one man had to have surgery 17 times to drain these rashes

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Government Involvement

Declared a Superfund Site in 1983 1987-1990 7,700 cubic yards, or 727 tons, of paint sludge and 61 drums of toxic waste was removed by Ford Initially only 4 small areas, none larger than a basketball court, were cleaned In 1994 the area was removed from the Superfund list Instead of having to filter ground water, which would have been costly, Ford was allowed to just test the water periodically On December 18, 2004, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection closed the public section of hiking trail in the 4,044 acre Ringwood State Park In 2005, 9 more areas were designated as contaminated, and the site was put back on the Superfund list Since December 2004, an additional 8,600 tons of sludge and soil have been removed; this removal had to be temporarily stopped due to the waste being too toxic for even designated landfills to accept

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Ford’s Response

Only recently did Ford submit shipping documents to the EPA as to how much was dumped in Ringwood Ford knew as early as 34 years ago that its waste had contaminated a stream that feed the Wanaque Reservoir Up until 2005, Ford had spent around $4.5 million on water tests, surveys, and digs In September 2005, Ford agreed to pay more than $226,000 in oversight costs to the EPA In 2005, Ford agreed to inspect the mines down to 90 feet, where they have said to have capped them off The ultimate question is how Ford should treat the water located in the mines

Lawsuits

   Property damage and personal injuries claims filed in New Jersey State Court citing the improper disposal of waste from the Mahwah Ford Plant Robert Kennedy Jr. and Johnnie Cochran were employed to represent them Also claims have been filed against the EPA for its improper clean-up of the site and issues of racism

“The Toxic Legacy” http://toxiclegacy.northjersey.com/

Conclusion

 In conclusion the Ford Plant’s closing was double sided, not only did it put many people out of work, it led to the contamination of people’s land, water, and health. Ringwood Mines/Landfill Site has earned the dubious distinction of being first federal environmental Superfund site to be put back on National Priorities List for Uncontrolled Hazardous Waste.

Abandoned Mines

Bibliography

Chesler , Jerry. "If You’re Thinking of Living in:Mahwah." The New York Times, 15 October. 2007.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9d0ce0df163df931a35755c0a967958260 Stodghill, Ron. "Decades After a Plant Closes, Waste Remains." The New York Times. 29 Feb. 2007.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/29/business/yourmoney/29spill.html

Jerome, Marty. "Decades Later, Clean-Up at a Ford Plant Continues.”Autopia. 31 Jan. 2007.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2007/07/decades-later-c.html

Aaron, Lawrence. "Report on Ford site: EPA dropped the ball." The Bergen Record. 3 Oct. 2007.

http://www.bergenrecord.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk5JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZ UVFeXk3MjAyODE0 Washburn, Lindy. “Danger upstream; Watershed pollution may threaten our reserviors.” The Record. 6 October. 2005 http://www.northjersey.com/toxiclegacy/