by David Wheeler

When you think of Native American tribes in the modern day United States, it's a safe bet that most people wouldn't think of Ringwood, New Jersey, a suburban community nestled into the rugged mountains just 40 minutes northwest of New York City.  Yet the Ramapough Mountain Indian Tribe has been a key fixture in American history, from Revolutionary War-era iron mines to the construction of the Empire State Building.  The Ramapoughs, however, have returned to prominence for the worst possible reason - the dumping of toxic sludge on their neighborhoods by mob truckers hired by Ford Motor Company.  HBO is premiering their documentary film, Mann v. Ford, tonight at 9 PM Eastern Standard Time.

Ever since those years of dumping back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Ramapoughs' tragic saga has expanded to include devastatingly high levels of rare cancers, children dying young, and dangerous sinkholes opening up in families' backyards.  For a community that had long lived off the land by catching fish, hunting game, and growing vegetables, learning that the land itself was the potential cause of their health problems was a cruel blow.

The HBO film, produced by Jamie Redford, Micah Fink and Maro Chermayeff, spotlights the legal case built around this case.  As the film shows, though the legal "dream team" included representatives from firms that included the Cochran Firm, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s firm, and firms from the Erin Brockovich and 9/11 responders cases, the legal case of Mann v. Ford has been anything but smooth, with potential legal miscalculations and the worst possible timing of Ford's financial downturn.

Yet the Ringwood saga is about more than the legal case.  After the United States Environmental Protection Agency had failed the tribe back in the 1980's and early 1990's by mistakenly declaring that the site was safe - overlooking 47,000 tons of toxic sludge in doing so - the EPA has now made the Ringwood cleanup a top priority, removing much of the toxic sludge with more key decisions on the way.  The Ramapoughs, led by Wayne Mann, have gained a strong voice and input into the cleanup process, assisted strongly by outsiders such as the nonprofit Edison Wetlands Association's Bob Spiegel and the Bergen Record's award-winning Toxic Legacy front-page investigation.  Spiegel's independent sampling and investigations helped spur the stronger EPA actions, and the Toxic Legacy series brought the Ramapoughs' saga out of the shadows and into the public spotlight.

For more information on the Mann v. Ford film, click here: Mann V. Ford homepage

To learn more about the Ringwood Superfund cleanup, visit here: Ringwood Superfund Site

To help protect the Ramapough Mountain Indian Tribe and fully remediate the Superfund Site, click here to sign the petition: Protect the Ramapough Mountain Indian Tribe!

To visit the Mann V. Ford page on Facebook, click here: Facebook.com/MannVFord

Recent news stories on the Ramapoughs' saga include:

• The Record: HBO film to highlight Upper Ringwood battle against toxic waste
• The Record: Upper Ringwood residents' environmental battle showcased in HBO documentary
• Associated Press Video: Robert Redford's Son Exposes US Toxic Disaster

David Wheeler is the author of Wild New Jersey: Nature Adventures in the Garden State.