EPA Must Require Full Cleanup of Ringwood Superfund Site

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.

 “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 Ramapough community has suffered from Ford’s pollution for far too long. The EPA has left the cleanup plan to the borough, which wants to cap the site and leave the pollution in the ground. Toxins from this site including the dangerous chemical 1, 4 dioxane are coming out of springs into streams that go into the Wanaque Reservoir, which provides drinking water for three million people,”  said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We must stand together with the Ramapough to fight for a real clean-up that the people of Upper Ringwood deserve.”

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. Nearby residents say they have suffered from cancers, kidney ailments and other conditions as a result of the pollution. Ringwood wants to cap the site, which would accommodate a recycling center placed there by Ford.

“Ringwood 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 EPA found that 1,4-dioxane is more likely to cause cancer than previously thought: Cancer could occur in one person out of 1 million exposed to 0.35 milligrams per liter of the chemical over a lifetime. However, the federal government has yet to develop a national standard for the chemical in water supplies. Cornerstone Environmental has recommended natural attenuation and chemical injections to enhance biodegradation to manage the groundwater pollution.

 “The discovery of 1,4 Dioxane in the town’s groundwater and brooks nearby is an alarm bell that we need a full and complete clean-up, not a cap that will keep toxins in the ground. For the past 40 years, EPA has looked the other way instead of protecting public health and the environment. EPA must force Ford to completely remove the 166,000 tons of paint sludge and other toxics instead of letting them off the hook for millions of dollars,” said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.