Toxic Legacy Persists at New Jersey Superfund Site Despite Decades of Cleanup
Residents near Peters Mine in Ringwood, New Jersey, still suffer from hazardous garbage dumped decades after industrial pollution. Peters Mine and neighboring lands were significantly contaminated in the 1960s and 1970s when Ford Motor Company dumped millions of gallons of paint sludge. The Ramapough community still worries about health and safety due to the poisonous waste.
Ford’s company bought Peters Mine and neighboring land in the 1960s. The firm dumped 25 million gallons of paint sludge into the abandoned Peters and Cannon Mines between 1964 and 1975. The donation of 290 acres to Ringwood for a municipal dump, which closed in 1976, added to environmental stress. Environmental control was weak until 1972, when the EPA was founded. In 1983, Peters Mine became a federal Superfund site.
Early cleanup attempts were minimal. Only 7,600 cubic yards of paint sludge and 54 smashed barrels were cleared by 1990. Despite Ramapough criticism, the EPA delisted the site from Superfund in 1994 after this small effort. Reports of high harmful chemical levels in the area confirmed community fears that the cleanup was insufficient.
A larger EPA removal initiative removed roughly 53,000 tons of contaminated soil, sludge, and drum remnants from Peters Mine, the landfill, and neighboring disposal locations between 2004 and 2014. Air and groundwater have been monitored because the site is near the Wanaque Reservoir, which supplies millions of New Jerseyans with water. The EPA approved plans to cover contaminated areas and clean groundwater in 2020, but they are still under design.
Despite these measures, environmentalists and locals are worried. NYU studies found higher carcinogen levels in Ramapough residents’ blood, suggesting pollution continues to pose health dangers. Local officials say covering contaminated places is insufficient and that excavation and treatment are needed to prevent more infections.
Vincent Mann, chief of the Turtle Clan of the Ramapough, noted that the community population has dropped from over 1,000 to 200, with many dying early from chemical exposure-related ailments. Residents feel bound by economic restraints, unable to move despite health dangers.
The Peters Mine contamination is a local issue and a warning about industrial waste’s long-term environmental effects. Community members and environmentalists urge comprehensive action to address residual risks and prevent new health crises in Ringwood and the surrounding region as the EPA monitors and remediates.
Sources
NJ Advance Media, NYU Environmental Study, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New Jersey Highlands Coalition
