NJ leads the nation in Superfund sites. FY 2026 EPA cuts reduce cleanup funding from $496M to $282M.

RINGWOOD, N.J. — The Ramapough Lenape Nation's Turtle Clan has lived on a Superfund site for more than four decades. Ford Motor Company dumped the waste that put the contaminants there. Now Ford has cut a deal that gives the automaker a legal release covering future site-related claims, while the federal agency supposed to enforce the cleanup has shed staff.

Lead in the soil runs 4.7 times higher than the rest of Ringwood. Arsenic at levels sit at about tenfold higher than the standards, according to NYU Langone's Dr. Judith Zelikoff. Soil sampling near Peters Mine Road showed arsenic at 24.8 milligrams per kilogram, well above the EPA residential screening level of 0.68 milligrams per kilogram. Mercury in residents' urine sits at double the national average, while lead in residents' blood runs at nearly five times the national average.

The $3.4 million consent decree between Ford, the Borough of Ringwood and the U.S. Department of Justice was lodged on March 19 and remains open for public comment until May 26. The deal resolves Operable Unit 3 groundwater contamination at the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund Site. It requires Ford to pump and treat benzene, lead and 1,4-dioxane from groundwater and cap contaminated areas. It also includes a standard provision that federal prosecutors will not bring site-related lawsuits against Ford for the specified remedy.

Dr. Zelikoff, who led a NYU Langone Health study released last September, said the site remains dangerous. "It is not clean. It's not clean enough to protect the health and well-being of the people," she told NJ.com.

Chronic exposure to lead, arsenic and benzene puts residents at a much greater risk of developing certain cancers, according to Dr. Zelikoff. A community health survey documented cases of thyroid cancer, alongside elevated rates of asthma, bronchitis and eczema.

The EPA disagrees. Joseph Gowers, the agency's project manager for the site, told NJ.com that capping is underway and that groundwater pumps are in the design phase. He said the agency has "no intention of walking away."

But the EPA is shrinking. The agency lost more than 4,000 employees in 2025, dropping its workforce to 12,849, the lowest since the Reagan and first Bush administrations. Representative Frank Pallone (NJ-06) the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, asserted at an April 29 budget hearing that the EPA region that includes New Jersey has cut one-third of the staff handling the state's Superfund sites. EPA has not confirmed or denied the figure.

Pallone made the claim at a hearing where he accused EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin of cutting the agency's budget by more than half, the largest reduction in EPA history. The FY 2026 appropriations that Congress passed in January gave the EPA $8.8 billion total, but carved Superfund cleanup down to $282.75 million from $496.03 million the prior year. New Jersey's House delegation voted overwhelmingly for that consolidated appropriations package, which funded multiple federal agencies to avoid a government shutdown.

The Ringwood consent decree is not trust-fund dependent: Ford is paying the $3.4 million, not federal appropriations. But EPA oversight is federally funded. The decree includes a one-year shakedown period after finalization, during which the agency must monitor Ford's compliance. With Region 2 staffing reduced (the extent of which EPA has not disclosed), advocates say that monitoring capacity is compromised. A court can enforce the decree if violations are detected, but detection depends on sampling frequency and site visits that require staff time.

The Turtle Clan is not federally recognized as Indigenous, which bars members from accessing Indian Health Service resources while they live on a site with documented contamination. The Ramapough have sought federal recognition for decades. The Bureau of Indian Affairs rejected their petition in 1996, reversed itself in 2006, then reversed again in 2010. A new petition filed in 2015 remains pending. Without recognition, Turtle Clan members rely on the same New Jersey health infrastructure as any other resident, infrastructure not specialized in chronic heavy metal exposure. Clan representatives did not respond to a request for comments from NJBallot.

The Ringwood settlement is one of multiple active or proposed NJ DEP environmental settlements on the department's docket, including deals with Honeywell in Edgewater and DuPont/Chemours in a federal case. Those settlements run parallel to federal consent decrees but do not replace them.

While Ford pays for Ringwood, the national Superfund program that funds sites without viable polluters faces simultaneous pressure. The American Chemistry Council, whose members include companies with major New Jersey operations like 3M, Chemours, Dow and Honeywell, spent millions in lobbying over two years to repeal the Superfund excise taxes on chemicals and petroleum. Those levies generate roughly $1.6 billion annually for cleanup programs. The Chemistry Council of New Jersey and the NJ Business and Industry Association each contributed to lobby state officials.

All three groups oppose "polluter pays" mechanisms, but at different levels. ACC has lobbied against federal mechanisms, while CCNJ and NJBIA opposed New Jersey's state-level Climate Superfund Act.

The public comment period on the Ford settlement closes May 26. After that, the decree moves toward finalization, and Ford's one-year shakedown period will begin. If violations surface during that year, a court can enforce the decree. But detecting violations depends on sampling and site visits that require people and time. The monitoring will take place under an EPA Region 2 office that has allegedly shed staff the agency will not account for. Meanwhile, the pumps are still under design. And the Turtle Clan is still living on the hill.

Sources
• Inside Climate News, "New Jersey Leads the Nation in Superfund Sites as EPA Funding Cuts and Staff Reductions Threaten Cleanups" (May 9, 2026)
• NJ Spotlight News, "Ford would pay for Ringwood toxic cleanup, gain legal protection" (March 26, 2026)
• U.S. Department of Justice, "Proposed Consent Decree: Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund Site" (March 19, 2026)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund Site" (updated March 2026)
• NJ.com, "Study shows alarming toxin levels remain at this N.J. Superfund site decades later" (September 16, 2025)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "EPA FY 2026 Budget in Brief" (2025)
• U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Environment, "Hearing on EPA FY 2027 Budget Request" (April 28, 2026)
• Waste Dive, "Trump signs $8.8B EPA budget bill" (January 16, 2026)
• U.S. House of Representatives, Office of the Clerk, "Final Vote Results for Roll Call 6" (January 8, 2026)
• New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Natural Resource Restoration, "Natural Resource Restoration Proposed Settlements" (April 29, 2026)
• New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "2025 Annual Report of Lobbying Activities" (May 4, 2026)
• American Chemistry Council, "Why the Superfund Excise Tax on Chemicals Should Be Repealed" (April 17, 2026)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "EPA Superfund Sites in Reuse — New Jersey" (February 27, 2026)
• Rutgers Center for Environmental Exposure and Disease, Rutgers University, "Rutgers Researchers Partner with New Jersey Communities to Tackle Environmental Health Challenges" (May 7, 2025)