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.

[3] In 2005, the Bergen Record did a five-part investigative series, Toxic Legacy, on the site and found extensive contamination in the nearby residential community.

[7][9][10] By the time of the plant's closure in 1980, "millions of gallons" of paint sludge, estimated as enough to fill two of the three tubes of the Lincoln Tunnel, had been dumped in the area.

After 1976 and passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), when the corporate disposal of hazardous wastes became more tightly regulated by federal law, the American Mafia conducted illegal dumping at Ringwood.

Vincent "the Chin" Gigante of the Genovese crime family reportedly threatened to execute a rival to secure the "rights" to dispose of Ford's paint sludge in the area.

[13] This began the "battle of the Ramapough Indians in a bid to secure a healthier future for their children in the face of alleged atrocities committed by the Ford Corporation and the EPA".

More than 65,000 citizens signed an online petition in opposition to the proposal, and the state Department of Environment and Parks said it never considered returning the site to Ford.

Numerous people have been more directly affected, as Ringwood has historically been a center of population for the Ramapough Mountain Indians, whose children used to play with the bright paints and debris of the landfill.