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EPA Vows Cleanup

Posted on: Monday, 10 October 2005, 15:00 CDT

By JAN BARRY, STAFF WRITER

The top federal environmental official for the metropolitan area toured Ford's former dumpsite in Ringwood on Friday and promised skeptical residents that a complete cleanup of paint sludge and other industrial waste is a top priority of his agency.

"This is the first time I've been here, but it will not be the last, I assure you," Alan J. Steinberg told a small crowd of Upper Ringwood residents during a whirlwind tour of their mountain neighborhood. In his visit, Steinberg, regional administrator for the federal Environmental Protection Agency, observed paint sludge that had remained on the site despite four previous cleanup efforts by Ford.

Steinberg was flanked by U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg and state Environmental Commissioner Bradley Campbell. Also on hand were borough officials, Ford cleanup contractors and high-level staffers at Steinberg's office, the EPA's Region 2. Senior members of Campbell's state environmental protection staff were also present.

Steinberg said the EPA is considering relisting the Ringwood site on the national Superfund cleanup list. He proposed forming a community advisory group, whose members would have access to senior EPA officials. And he vowed to ride herd on Ford's agreement, signed last month, to do a thorough reinspection of the area.

"EPA may have misstepped in the past at this site, but we have always had the best interest of the Ringwood community at heart," said Steinberg, a West Orange resident who took the post last month.

In an informal meeting later in Borough Hall, Steinberg said he understands the residents' concerns, as presented this week in The Record's "Toxic Legacy."

The Record's five-part special report described Ford's dumping of industrial waste in the Ringwood watershed region and the failure of previous EPA-supervised attempts to remove it all. Ford operated a mammoth assembly plant in Mahwah between 1955 and 1980; it dumped thousands of tons of paint sludge and other industrial waste in Ringwood from 1967 to 1971.

Meanwhile, Ford issued a statement criticizing The Record's report. The automaker posted it unannounced on its Web site devoted to the Ringwood cleanup.

The lengthy statement is dated Oct. 6.

It reads, in part: "Ford is disappointed that the Bergen Record's series - dubbed 'A Toxic Legacy' - has presented a one-sided, sensationalistic accounting of a serious issue that deserves more sober and accurate reporting. The Record's writers have sullied Ford's reputation by presenting an inaccurate picture of Ford's commitment and track record in addressing Ford-related wastes on the Ringwood site."

The statement takes issue with specific points of the "Toxic Legacy" report, then goes on to say, "In summary, Ford's commitment to addressing its wastes at the Ringwood site has been unwavering, and it continues to this day."

Kathleen Vokes, a Ford corporate spokeswoman in Michigan, said the company had nothing more to say beyond the Web site statement.

(It can be found in its entirety at Ford's Ringwood-cleanup Web site - ringwoodsiteupdate.com. It is also available via a link in the "documents' section of The Record's Web presentation, northjersey.com/toxiclegacy.)

Although they welcomed Steinberg's involvement, Lautenberg and Campbell said they want quicker action to remove paint sludge that was dumped in the former mining area by Ford haulers.

"It's reassuring to hear that the EPA is intent on being helpful," said Lautenberg, who has pressed to have the site put back onto the national Superfund list.

After an initial cleanup effort in the late 1980s, the EPA declared the area clean and took it off the list in 1994.

Ford crews returned to the site three times in the 1990s to remove paint sludge.

They returned again in 2004 because residents complained that sludge and other waste still remained on the mountain.

Lautenberg said he still feels that "a good kick in the pants would help."

Campbell, who called for a federal criminal probe of Ford's actions after inspecting the area last spring, was equally blunt.

"This is a case where the promise of Superfund was betrayed," he said.

When Friday's tour group reached an area that residents called Sludge Hill, Campbell said he was astonished to see chunks of sludge still untouched by cleanup crews.

"The paint sludge that was here in April is still here. From April until a few days ago, nothing has been done," he said.

Steinberg, who was standing nearby, turned to neighborhood association president Wayne Mann and other residents and said: "I will come up as often you need me."

* * *

Staff Writer Barbara Williams contributed to this story.

E-mail: barry@northjersey.com

Source: Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.

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