Mann V Ford Motor Co.

 

Oki Niksokowa – 

I live in what should be a pristine environment of the Adirondack Park in Northern New York! A national park that covers over 6 million acres of wilderness land,  one that on any given weekend is invaded by out of state people from New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts  to the point of overflowing. I have lived here most of my life which is a very long time to endure the incredible lack of freedom and privacy that should be afforded by all this space.  During that time I have come to resent these out of stater's who come here and do to our Adirondack Mountains what they have done to their own states. I mean my God these people make a mess of their own environments to the point of non-livability and have nowhere to go but here and then they have the incredible lack of respect to mess up our home – criticize our laid back lives and impose their wills upon their hosts – something that would not be tolerated by Native People some 300 years ago.

I do realize that they provide a lot of income to the folk here who depend in tourism to make a living and that’s a good thing but to try to impose their unkempt environments and attitudes upon us is intolerable. I have often gone into outrageous tirades about these supposed responsible human beings who think only of themselves – but yet won’t do anything in their own states to make it livable and enjoyable again. I have been to the Pine Bush in central New Jersey and tried to picnic with my children in their parks amongst the garbage and litter that are everywhere and tried to swim in the ocean off Toms River only to come home with some disease from the incredible pollution of the water to the point that my children and my wife and myself all became sick at the same time within two days of that little outing into nature. 

Why the hell does this continue without abatement, where are the Real Human Beings?

So when I saw the following article come out of New Jersey – promulgated by people who very obviously care I have to applaud their efforts and do anything I can to help their quest.  Here is their story…. - Two Feathers

MANN v. FORD CHRONICLES THE EPIC BATTLE OF NEW JERSEYʼS RAMAPOUGH MOUNTAIN INDIANS AND THEIR MASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY WHEN THE DOCUMENTARY DEBUTS JULY 18, EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO

 

The Ramapough Mountain Indianshave lived in the hills and forests of northern New Jersey, less than 40 milesfrom midtown Manhattan, for hundreds of years. In the 1960s, their neighbor in nearbyMahwah, the Ford Motor Company, bought their land and began dumping toxic wastein the woods and abandoned iron mines surrounding their homes.

Ford has acknowledged the dumping.In the 1980s, the Ramapoughʼs homeland was placed on the EnvironmentalProtection Agencyʼs list of federally monitored Superfund sites – and supposedlycleaned up by Ford. However, thousands of tons of toxic waste were left behind. In2006, the residents of Upper Ringwood, after suffering for years from a rangeof mysterious ailments, including deadly cancers, skin rashes and high rates ofmiscarriage, filed a mass action lawsuit seeking millions of dollars from Fordas compensation for their suffering. Ford denied all responsibility for theillnesses devastating the community and claimed its flawed cleanup had fullycomplied with all EPA rules.

MANN v. FORD tells the story of asmall community’s epic battle against two American giants: the Ford MotorCompany and the Environmental Protection Agency, which failed to ensure that Fordcleaned the land of deadly toxins and erroneously MANN v. FORD – 2 declared the communitysafe and clean of toxic waste.