Ringwood Mines landfill site

About

The Ringwood Mines landfill site is a 500 acres (200 ha) former iron mining site located in the borough of Ringwood, New Jersey. From 1967 to 1980, the Ford Motor Company dumped hazardous waste on this land, which negatively affected the health and properties of Ramapough Mountain Indians. This led to Mann V. Ford, a 1997 lawsuit between Ramapough Lenape Tribe's lawsuit of the Ford Motor Company.

Used in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the large Ford Motor Company plant in nearby Mahwah, New Jersey for disposal of waste, it was identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Superfund priority list in 1984 for cleanup of hazardous wastes. EPA deleted the site from the Superfund list in 1994 but subsequently relisted the site several times due to failed environmental remediation. Portions of the landfill site were repurposed as land used for affordable housing for the Ramapough people in the 1970s, even though the land was contaminated. The plant closed in 1980.