Post by Okwes on Oct 9, 2006 10:15:19 GMT -5
Ramapoughs blast EPA's offer
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
By JAN BARRY
STAFF WRITER
RINGWOOD -- Residents of the area federally relisted as a Superfund toxic waste site aren't happy with what the Environmental Protection Agency offered them Monday. That offer was an opportunity to apply, under certain circumstances, for a $50,000 technical-assistance grant. In a meeting with EPA representatives, Wayne Mann, president of the Upper Ringwood neighborhood association, said he felt the community was owed a lot more, starting with a commitment to remove all the paint sludge from the area, including however much was dumped into mine shafts. And he also wanted to know why the EPA didn't order Ford Motor Co. to fully clean up the site a decade ago, when it previously was on the national Superfund list of contaminated sites.
"I appreciate the offer. But for me personally, this is a slap in the face," Mann said. "Fifty thousand dollars compared to the historical damage is more than a slap in the face."
Pat Carr and Cecilia Echols of the EPA said they didn't know the history of the site and weren't there to discuss it.
Echols, a community involvement coordinator, set off another round of anger among the 30 or so residents and supporters at the meeting, while explaining the process of applying for a grant. Among the groups not eligible for such grants are municipal governments and Native American tribes. Many of the residents of the Upper Ringwood neighborhood are members of the state-recognized Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe.
"We are Native Americans," said Marcey Langhorne of Peters Mine Road. "People working on this for the EPA should know that."
Echols said she would have to find out whether that prohibition applies to Indian groups that have state, but not federal status. In general, she said, grants are only given to community groups formed for the purpose of administering such grants. Another stipulation is gaining 501(c)3 non-profit status from the IRS.
Langhorne was doubtful about the ability to swiftly fulfill that requirement.
"That's like setting up a church. It would take months to do."
The hearing was presided over by U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage. In a wider-ranging discussion with the audience, Garrett said he agreed that the EPA should make sure the area is fully investigated and that anything that is a public health threat is removed.
"We want to make sure it is cleaned up all the way to the bottom. What you don't want is to have this meeting in 2016 -- 10 years later, it's still there," he said.
In addition to the Ringwood cleanup, Ford this month is to begin clearing lead-based paint sludge at a dump site in Hillburn, N.Y., just over the border from Ford's former auto assembly plant in Mahwah. That plant operated from 1955 to 1980 and was the source of much of the toxic waste at Ford dump sites.
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation last year ordered Ford to remove paint waste that was buried in the floodplain of the Ramapo River starting in the mid-1950s.
Ford removed tons of industrial drums, tires and other debris on the Hillburn site in the late 1990s.
New York also ordered Ford to remove paint sludge from other unauthorized dumps about two miles north along the Ramapo River near public water wells and from a pond area behind a housing development several miles away in Pomona, N.Y.
The EPA last week put the Ringwood site back onto the Superfund list of the nation's most contaminated sites. Relisting was requested by New Jersey and members of Congress in the wake of The Record's "Toxic Legacy" report last October.
On Thursday, the EPA's Office of Inspector General will hold a public hearing at the Ringwood Library focusing on how the site was handled and removed from the Superfund list in 1994. It will explore whether the incomplete cleanup may have been linked to the minority status of the largely Ramapough Mountain Indian community in the area.
Under EPA oversight, Ford removed more than 13,000 tons of paint sludge and soil in 2005 -- more than was removed in all previous years combined. Another 4,000 tons of hazardous waste have been dug up this year.
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
By JAN BARRY
STAFF WRITER
RINGWOOD -- Residents of the area federally relisted as a Superfund toxic waste site aren't happy with what the Environmental Protection Agency offered them Monday. That offer was an opportunity to apply, under certain circumstances, for a $50,000 technical-assistance grant. In a meeting with EPA representatives, Wayne Mann, president of the Upper Ringwood neighborhood association, said he felt the community was owed a lot more, starting with a commitment to remove all the paint sludge from the area, including however much was dumped into mine shafts. And he also wanted to know why the EPA didn't order Ford Motor Co. to fully clean up the site a decade ago, when it previously was on the national Superfund list of contaminated sites.
"I appreciate the offer. But for me personally, this is a slap in the face," Mann said. "Fifty thousand dollars compared to the historical damage is more than a slap in the face."
Pat Carr and Cecilia Echols of the EPA said they didn't know the history of the site and weren't there to discuss it.
Echols, a community involvement coordinator, set off another round of anger among the 30 or so residents and supporters at the meeting, while explaining the process of applying for a grant. Among the groups not eligible for such grants are municipal governments and Native American tribes. Many of the residents of the Upper Ringwood neighborhood are members of the state-recognized Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe.
"We are Native Americans," said Marcey Langhorne of Peters Mine Road. "People working on this for the EPA should know that."
Echols said she would have to find out whether that prohibition applies to Indian groups that have state, but not federal status. In general, she said, grants are only given to community groups formed for the purpose of administering such grants. Another stipulation is gaining 501(c)3 non-profit status from the IRS.
Langhorne was doubtful about the ability to swiftly fulfill that requirement.
"That's like setting up a church. It would take months to do."
The hearing was presided over by U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage. In a wider-ranging discussion with the audience, Garrett said he agreed that the EPA should make sure the area is fully investigated and that anything that is a public health threat is removed.
"We want to make sure it is cleaned up all the way to the bottom. What you don't want is to have this meeting in 2016 -- 10 years later, it's still there," he said.
In addition to the Ringwood cleanup, Ford this month is to begin clearing lead-based paint sludge at a dump site in Hillburn, N.Y., just over the border from Ford's former auto assembly plant in Mahwah. That plant operated from 1955 to 1980 and was the source of much of the toxic waste at Ford dump sites.
New York's Department of Environmental Conservation last year ordered Ford to remove paint waste that was buried in the floodplain of the Ramapo River starting in the mid-1950s.
Ford removed tons of industrial drums, tires and other debris on the Hillburn site in the late 1990s.
New York also ordered Ford to remove paint sludge from other unauthorized dumps about two miles north along the Ramapo River near public water wells and from a pond area behind a housing development several miles away in Pomona, N.Y.
The EPA last week put the Ringwood site back onto the Superfund list of the nation's most contaminated sites. Relisting was requested by New Jersey and members of Congress in the wake of The Record's "Toxic Legacy" report last October.
On Thursday, the EPA's Office of Inspector General will hold a public hearing at the Ringwood Library focusing on how the site was handled and removed from the Superfund list in 1994. It will explore whether the incomplete cleanup may have been linked to the minority status of the largely Ramapough Mountain Indian community in the area.
Under EPA oversight, Ford removed more than 13,000 tons of paint sludge and soil in 2005 -- more than was removed in all previous years combined. Another 4,000 tons of hazardous waste have been dug up this year.