Some Upper Ringwood, New Jersey Residents Fear They Won't Survive Legal Fight With Ford

July 28, 2008 - Two-and-a-half years after they filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Ford Motor Co., Upper Ringwood residents are steeling themselves for a long battle one that some believe they won't survive.

"I'll be dead before I get any money," said Mickey Van Dunk, 37. He's had 17 surgeries to treat a rare autoimmune disorder that's left his face heavily scarred.

Van Dunk and his neighbors many of them members of the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe blame Ford's dumping of industrial waste in Ringwood 40 years ago for an ocean of misery: multiple cases of cancer, asthma and other sicknesses, and a neighborhood that's a Superfund site.

Since they filed their lawsuit, residents say more have become ill. Several have died of cancer, a grandfather developed throat cancer, a 12-year-old girl had surgery to remove a tumor and her 7- year-old cousin was hospitalized for unexplained nosebleeds. This is in addition to a litany of illnesses and deaths claimed in their suit, which could be the largest environmental lawsuit ever in New Jersey.

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