Source: http://www.northjersey.com, November 30, 2016
By: Scott Fallon and David M. Zimmer
Federal regulators are forcing borough officials to design both a paving plan and an excavation plan for the Ford Superfund site until the town decides which one to go forward with, according to a letter sent to the town on Tuesday.
The letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency comes a week after town officials told the EPA that while they were committed to paving the site, they needed more information on contamination to make a final decision.
EPA officials had insisted that the town decide the Superfund site’s fate by Nov. 22 or the agency would force the town and the Ford Motor Co. to excavate 166,000 tons of contaminated soil from the O’Connor Disposal Area off Peters Mine Road.
Walter Mugdan, head of the EPA’s regional Superfund cleanups, said in the letter that town officials demonstrated they are “still committed” to the cheaper $5.4 million plan that would place an asphalt barrier over the pollution a recycling center on top. Removing the contamination would cost $32.6 million.
But because the Borough Council did not make a definitive choice, Mugdan said the town would have to design both plans to ensure there are no delays in case the borough opts for excavation. “EPA will now require that the design of the excavation remedy resume until such time as the council makes an unequivocal final decision,” he said.
Mugdan maintained that the borough’s primary concern — the discovery last year of 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen, in the site’s groundwater ­— is not a threat to human health.
The EPA has scheduled a public meeting to discuss the site next Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Ryerson Middle School, 130 Valley Road.
Borough Manager Scott Heck said the EPA’s position has no impact on the borough because Ford is conducting the design work. Heck wants to see new reports on the contamination that are due next month or early 2017 before committing to a remedy. The EPA won’t rush the council into making a decision, he said.
“It would be irresponsible to make a decision before the public has a chance to hear what the EPA has to say on Dec. 6,” Heck said.

Decades of contamination

Pollution at the site dates to the late 1960s, when contractors for Ford dumped paint sludge and other industrial waste from its former Mahwah plant next to a low-income neighborhood in the mountains of Upper Ringwood. Along with Ford, the borough is liable to pay for a portion of the cleanup because Ringwood officials allowed the dumping to occur.
Residents, including many members of the Ramapough tribe, have said the pollution has caused a number of ailments and premature deaths, though no health study has linked the two.
The EPA originally supported excavating O’Connor, but reversed that position when the borough came to the agency with the recycling plan. Ford is paying for the recycling center.
Borough officials have agreements with Ford and the borough’s insurance carriers to pay for the paving plan. They do not have any agreements for excavation, the cost of which would largely be paid by local taxpayers.
Still, the borough suspended design work on the recycling center this year, saying it wanted more information on the extent of 1,4-dioxane contamination.
Vincent Mann, chief of the Ramapough Turtle Clan, said last week that the EPA should enforce its original position: that Ringwood has to excavate the site because the borough did not make its deadline.
“The EPA was clear: Make a decision or we will force you to excavate,” Mann said. “They have to enforce that.”