The state’s continued push to restore the environmental damage that Ford did to Ringwood is going to court.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), along with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, filed suit against Ford Motor Co. on June 16 over its contamination of hundreds of acres of soil, water, wetlands and other natural resources in Passaic County.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for natural resource damages (NRDs) caused by the Detroit car maker’s disposal, over many years, of toxic paint sludge and other pollutants within a former iron mining area known as Ringwood Mines in the Borough of Ringwood.
Ringwood Damage
“Today, we hold Ford accountable for Natural Resource Damages — for knowingly polluting some of the state’s most precious environmental assets, then walking away without disclosing the toxic mess they had made or attempting to mitigate the harm,” said Acting Attorney General Platkin. “To other corporate polluters and anyone else so inclined, our message is simple: treat New Jersey’s air, land, and water like your own private dumping ground and we will not look the other way.”
“We will hold you responsible, and we will make you pay.”
Among other things, the 500-acre Ringwood Mines area encompasses the historic homeland of the Ramapough Lenape Nation, a Native American Tribe formally recognized by New Jersey.
Many of the approximately 200 residents who live within Ringwood Mines are Tribe members, and the community meets the criteria for an “overburdened community” as defined by New Jersey’s Environmental Justice Law aimed at equitably protecting low-income, minority and/or non-English speaking communities from environmental pollution.
Actions of 1960s
“No matter our race, income, or ancestry, every resident of the State of New Jersey is entitled to the good care and enjoyment of our natural, historic, and cultural resources,” said NJDEP Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette. “When those resources are damaged by polluters who knew better and could do better, the state has a duty to step in on behalf of our residents and their resources to demand accountability.”
Filed in New Jersey Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges that Ford purchased Ringwood Mines in 1965 for the express purpose of using it as a landfill where it could dispose of hazardous waste generated by its auto assembly plant in Mahwah.
Between 1967 and 1974, Ford disposed of thousands of tons of toxic paint sludge in the forests and on the grounds within Ringwood Mines, as well as in its abandoned mineshafts and pits. Subsequently, Ford either donated or sold off all of its contaminated Ringwood Mines properties while fully aware—but without disclosing— that those properties were contaminated with hazardous and toxic wastes, the complaint notes.
Lawsuit Details
The complaint alleges that Ford’s actions were “deliberate acts or omissions taken with a wanton and willful disregard for the welfare of the residents of New Jersey” and caused harm to the air, soil, groundwater, surface water, wetlands, and biota within Ringwood Mines, threatening human health, wildlife and aquatic life in the process.
Harmful substances found at the site include lead, arsenic, benzene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), semi-volatile organic compounds, chrysene and 1,4 dioxane, a colorless solvent believed to be a carcinogen, as well as other pollutants.
The property includes a municipal recycling center, a municipal garage and 48 private homes, as well as a portion of Ringwood State Park.
Past Agreements
Over the years, the company donated nearly 500 acres to Ringwood Borough, and to Ringwood State Park. Between 1983 and 1994, EPA listed the property on its National Priorities List. The site was deleted from the list in 1994 following Ford’s removal of about 8,300 cubic yards of paint sludge and soil.
However, newly discovered pockets of paint sludge were found on site in 1995, 1998 and 2004. Beginning in 2006, EPA reinstated Ringwood Mines to the National Priorities List.
In 2019, Ford agreed to pay the $2.1 million to cover NJDEP’s past costs related to cleanup and disposal of the paint sludge and other contaminants within Ringwood Mines. The $2.1-million payment was part of a state-federal settlement that resolved allegations of liability for costs incurred by both DEP and the EPA as a result of Ford’s long-term dumping.
Environmental Justice
In addition to seeking compensation for lost natural resources, the latest lawsuit seeks punitive damages and penalties due to Ford’s “wanton and willful disregard for the people of New Jersey” as shown by its discharge of hazardous substances directly into the environment, failure to notify DEP of those discharges, and Ford’s ongoing “concealment of the full extent of the contamination.”
“We make that demand of Ford for its history of polluting the land and degrading the natural resources that belong to the people of New Jersey, including those once enjoyed by members of the Ramapough Lenape Nation for whom we must further the promise of environmental justice,” said LaTourette.
I can hear the right wingers already. “Get gov’t off our backs” “NJ is driving out corporations because of their anti-business regulations”.
This is what you end up with when you do that. You can never rely on businesses to “do the right thing”. It is profits over all else.