The New Jersey Ramapough Indians
-- A Native American Population’s Healthcare Crisis --
OVERVIEW
The Ford Motor Company operated a car manufacturing plant in the town of Mahwah, from 1955 to 1980, approximately 25 years. When it opened, in 1955, it was the largest car factory in the USA. From 1967 to 1974, the Mahwah Ford Motor plant, used the abandoned mine shafts of the nearby Ramapo Mountai
ns, as a dumpsite for their toxic waste consisting of paint sludge, and solvents. The volume of toxic waste the plant produced and dumped during that time period was millions of gallons of paint sludge. This entire dumpsite encompassed 500 acres and was owned by the Ringwood Realty Corporation, a Ford subsidiary created at that time. In 1970, Ringwood Realty donated 290 acres, more than half of the dumpsites’ acreage, to the Ringwood Solid Waste Management Authority. The Ringwood Solid Waste Management Authority began operating a legitimate municipal disposal area on that acreage in 1972. HISTORY
The Ramapough Mountain Indians, also known as Ramapo Mountain Indians or the Ramapough Lenape Nation, are a group of approximately 5,000 people living around the Ramapo Mountains of northern New Jersey and southern New York. The Ramapough have been identified by the state of New Jersey by Resolution 3031 as an Indian tribe since 1980. They were also recognized by the State of New York by Resolution 86 in 1979. "The Ramapough have been repeatedly and consistently identified as an Indian entity since 1900 by historians, anthropologists, various other scholars, journalists, and federal and state reports." The Ramapough Indians have lived and supported themselves on this land in the Ramapo Mountains since the 17 Century. The Ramapough are descendants of the Leni-Lenape Indians, who worked in the iron mines located in these Mountains until they were closed in the 1950’s. Today, there are approximately 400 Ramapough Indians living on this land. The Ramapough families utilize the acreage for their survival. In order to provide nutrition for themselves and their families they cultivate gardens for vegetables, and they hunt small game. This land is an integral part of the lives of the remaining Ramapough families whose heritage is a part of this land. This former Ford Motor Company dumpsite, now a toxic waste environmental hazard, is located in the heart of this Native American community. INVESTIGATION
In 1983, after an initial investigation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated the area, known as the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund site, as one of America’s most toxic sites, placing it on the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL). The Ford Motor Company was found responsible and forced to remove 7,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil. In 1994, the EPA claimed that the clean up was complete and removed Upper Ringwood from the Superfund List. The removal of the Ramapough site from the Superfund List was grossly premature. Over the next ten years, Ford was obligated to return to the site and clean up five additional times. In 2005, the Bergen Record published a major expose entitled Toxic Legacy. This article exposed the remaining existence of thousands tons of contaminated paint sludge, found not only in the abandoned mines, but also in the backyards of the population living in this location. See: www.toxiclegacy.com. In 2006, for the first time in the history of Superfund, the EPA put the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund site back on the NPL. In 2011, HBO released Mann v. Ford, a documentary which provides comprehensive coverage of the lawsuit that the community filed against the Ford Motor Company. The documentary clarifies the extent of the contamination and the health issues faced by the people who live on the Superfund site. See: http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/mann-v-ford/index.html
TOXIC EMERGENCY
The Environmental Pollution
Acreage: Paint sludge has been found in over 500 acres. Each of three, distinct types of Paint sludge contains a number of contaminants including, but not limited to, lead, arsenic, chromium and antimony. One type of sludge contained levels of volatile organic solvents so high that it could not be disposed in the U.S. Paint sludge is present in massive deposits, but was also present in residents' yards and many scattered locations. Water: Current Ground water sampling has indicated some sporadic levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and metals above drinking water standards. Historically, residents used wells that drew water from the bedrock aquifer below and from natural springs for their drinking water supply. The Wanaque Reservoir, which provides drinking water to millions of people, is one and a half miles downstream from this toxic dumpsite. The creeks and streams flowing through this site all drain into the Wanaque. Air: PCBs and dioxins have also been found. There have been hundreds of reported fires in the mines and other dumpsites throughout the years. Highly carcinogenic dioxins are dispersed into the air and environment when PCBs are burned. HEALTH CRISIS
Immediate Healthcare Tragedy
Currently, there is no healthcare documentation of the health status for the residents of this affected community. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) concluded the site historically presented, and continues to present, a human risk due to the levels of hazardous substances present. According to the ATSDR report, the presence of paint sludge in many areas throughout the site and the accessibility of this sludge constitute the primary public health hazard associated with the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund site. While water, biota, and animals have been tested and found to have elevated levels of contaminants, residents themselves have only been sporadically tested. There is no monitoring of the residents who are ill and becoming ill due to this pollution. This Healthcare Emergency needs to be monitored and treated by a team of medical professionals. It is obvious that severe medical problems exist in the Upper Ringwood Ramapough Indian population. Many are suffering from cancer, diabetes, respiratory illness, skin disorders, migraines, and other ailments. Many have already died. Local physicians who are not specialists in toxicology or environmental disease, and ill-equipped to administer life saving techniques and medicines are currently treating the population. RAMAPOUGH HEALTHCARE ACTION PLAN
The EPA, DEP, and ATSDR, are working toward a clean up, and will pursue testing, but no one is currently addressing the diagnostic and treatment needs of this population. The Ramapoughs need immediate and ongoing treatment. There are various options that can be pursued and implemented:
• Partnering with private foundations to fund community medicine;
• Partnering with a medical school that has a specialty in environmental medicine and toxicology;
• Establishing a means of transportation to bring residents to appropriate treatment centers.
• Determine where there are gaps in services that are vital to this community.
• Provide tutoring for children who are in need of supplemental help in school. This is one of the worst environmental disasters in the United States and is located just 19 miles from New York City. We need to address this emergency before more lives are lost. Several in the population have already died. There are many children, as well adults, living on and utilizing this land. It is of the utmost importance that we proceed without delay to ensure that the health and well being of this population is restored and the environmental hazard does not further pollute the surrounding lands, air and water.
