Ford Should Thoroughly Clean Up What It Dumped Along Ramapo River

By Matthew Salerno

I found an article from approximately a year ago about the Ramapo River in relation to the cleanup by Ford that Chuck Stead and Geoff Welch spoke about in class. The article is featured on northjersey.com and has several references to and quotes from Chuck and Geoff about the problems with the Ramapo River.

According to the article, as well as Chuck and Geoff’s presentations, due to erosion from Hurricane Irene, paint sludge was discovered in the Ramapo River near areas where Ford dumped paint sludge decades ago. The article states that the sludge originated in Rockland County, NY but has migrated down the river into Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey, which could be dangerous as it potentially could contaminate a North Jersey water supply.

At the time of the article, Ford had not committed to doing any testing or cleanup of the Ramapo River despite calls from Chuck and Geoff about the possible dangers that the contamination posed to the population.  While it is positive that Ford is cleaning sludge up from parts of the river banks, there could be extensive damage done and more to come in the future if the site is not properly cleaned up. 

The Ramapo River really should be looked into to determine the extent of the pollution and Ford should take responsibility for the illegal dumping it did decades ago.  The damage that Ford did to the environment in both New York and New Jersey with its dumping more than thirty years ago is still being felt today by people who lived near the dumping sites and potentially the larger amount of people that are drinking water that comes from the Ramapo River.