Pallone, Pascrell Call on Bush Administration to Resume Cleanup of Ringwood Superfund Site

Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. and Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) today called on the Bush Administration to resume cleanup efforts at the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund site and to place the site back on the national Superfund priority list. The lawmakers' request follows recent reports that, more than a decade after the cleanup at Ringwood was declared completed, the site continues to show dangerous levels of contaminants that threaten the health and well-being of nearby residents.

In a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, the lawmakers cite a recent analysis of Ringwood State Park conducted by the environmental consulting firm Chapin Engineering that reveals lead contamination 400 times higher than allowed under the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's human health criteria. The analysis also shows evidence of lead in surface water, as well as arsenic and other volatile and non-volatile organic compounds in both sludge and soil.

"We are concerned that the continued presence of toxic materials at the site -- more than a decade after cleanup efforts were declared finished -- raises serious concerns about your agency's efforts to fully remediate and monitor Superfund sites across New Jersey," the members wrote in the letter to Acting Administrator Johnson.

In the letter, the New Jersey lawmakers also expressed their concern regarding the negative impact that Ringwood has had on members of the state-recognized Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe, who continue to experience serious health problems likely connected to their proximity to the toxic waste. The lawmakers also noted that many New Jersey residents who have visited Ringwood State Park, located within the former site, might have been exposed to contamination before the recent closure of trails in the Peters Mine section.

"The fact that your agency refuses to relist the Ringwood site despite clear evidence that there is still major contamination -- presenting a serious threat to human health -- is unconscionable," Pallone and Pascrell wrote. "EPA should immediately relist the site as an active Superfund site, begin remediation and monitoring activities, and examine other complete and ongoing Superfund projects in New Jersey to ensure that threats to public health have truly been eliminated."

During the 1960s and 1970s, a subsidiary of the Ford Motor Company dumped hazardous wastes throughout the Ringwood area. The EPA declared the site clean in 1994, however four subsequent cleanups have been needed over the last decade.