the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Results for soil samples taken at the Schedler Property on June 26 and 27, 2024 were finally uploaded to the Village website on August 8. The 6952 page report confirms what residents had reported for years, dangerous and hazardous substances extend beyond the berm into the 7 acre parcel.
The “Free Soil” obtained from various sources, Ridgewood Water and Bergen County Community College, will end up costing the public millions and there is no real measure of health and environmental impacts.
A few next steps:
-Ground water investigation for mercury
-The soil used to build the Berm (without approvals) will be removed
-Soil removal remediation within the 7 acre parcel is also required
Link to full report
https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/
Wow. This is amazing considering the fact that Ridgewood kept saying that the soil was not contaminated and that the residents were being dramatic and overreacting. I guess the NJDEP thought otherwise and that is why the village was mandate to check the quality of the soil.
Mayor should resign immediately
this Monday is not too soon
how as mayor u can knowingly put ur residents at risk is criminal
Village Engineer should be fired immediately, he is a repeated threat to the public. If the Village Manager saves him from this one, Keith Kazmark is also implicated.
Watched the video yesterday and Kazmark is going to try to get insurance money to pay for the clean up. How can you do that when you refuse to open an investigation in the first place. An insurance claim will request specific details of the screw up. The village engineer said he didn’t check the updated NJDEP standard for toxic chemicals and compare to reports submitted for the dumping. Village knew there was other dumping that occurred on the property but did nothing. Mayor was informed,and did nothing. Village attorney did nothing. so all of this screwing up and doing nothing will yeild money from an insurance claim. Boy the village is really good at spin doctoring now aren’t they? How does this really work?
“Watched the video yesterday and Kazmark is going to try to get insurance money to pay for the clean up.”
No! This is not the answer!
They made a mistake.
Don’t pay with OUR money to fix your mistake!
They should pay OUT OF THEIR OWN DAMN POCKETS!!!!!!! (this will teach a valuable lesson)
The Village will NEVER admit that they made a mistake that will cost anyone money personally, so that is not going to happen. Yes, Village Manager needs to investigate and not try to cover up any details that include gross negligence. The toxic soil is damaging to the Schedler property and the eco system that exists. A full scale investigation is required and Kazmark has friends in high places, so the Attorney General should also be providing overwight into this situation.
Implicated?
Wait, these people have an agenda and the asleep at the wheel residents have NO say so in the matter. This is how Ridgewood is operated. Has been for years. Now, do as your told, go back to Wall Street tomorrow and make the coin. bring it back here and hand it over. Send Junior to the over hyped 150 mill a year school’s have him graduate and then move out. Rinse and repeat. Get it?
That is the stepford community that these jokers want us to live in. Robotic where no one questions anything and just writes the check. Like you said rinse and repeat. Nuh huh. Those days are over and it is time to pay the piper. Acountability 101 will be the order of the day at this academy.
Idiot Festival
An almost 7,000 page document outlining highly toxic chemicals, like Mercury, that directly contradict what Mayor Vagianos said wasn’t true and didn’t exist. When they say that the truth is stranger than fiction, they are not kidding. He had plenty of time to call and email his pals to come rally and cry over the field they desperately wanted, not needed, and frankly may be waiting on for an extended period. This series of bad and very public decisions, that are on Vagianos’ watch. When you choose a pet project over and above the safety of the residents, you are not fit to serve as mayor.
#recallpaul
Peewee is a dirtbag…no pun intended.
Yes Paul, Ridgewood ceratinly is reminiscent of a Normal Rockwell poster, you’ve got that right. Hide behind your smoke and mirrors show all you want, the truth always comes out.
I hope the residents and employees that have been exposed to this long term are okay.
Village Mange (not Manager), are you going to keep looking the other way and covering up for the Engineering Department?
Mayor Paul Vagianos, you claimed to have worked for NJ Department of Environmental Justice as a prosecutor. Why didn’t you listen to the public’s complaints and why haven’t you had the responsible party prosecuted? Do they have something over your head?
This is criminal! Thank you to the residents who uncovered the truth. Shame on the Village Manager, Council Majority and Mayor Paul Vagianos. #NJDEP #NJAG Help
What about Habernickel. We need to have that tested too. It should not take an army of neighbors to beg for testing. It should be done immediately
It’s the same way they keep poisoning our water.
The Village Engineer, Chris Rutishauser dumped and has been dumping soil everywhere, not just Ridgewood.
I hope he is honest about all locations! He should be questioned. Habernickel is a known dumping sight too I heard. By the playground
We shouldn’t have to beg for testing
Unfortunately, if Habernickle neighbors are concerned or parrents who have children playing on that field, they will have to beg just like the Schedler neighbors did and still are. This Mayor has proven they do not care about people getting sick by toxic contamination or chemicals because they are still talking about artificial turf next to the well water for those residents and for kids to play on it. They are not listening. Do you want your kids to get sick? They are on the worng side of all of these decisions and would have put the children of this town in harms way.
What a disappointment the Village Manager, Keith Kazmark turned out to be.
He’s a POS, his true colors are coming out, just wait, there will be more.
I think Kazmark cares about Kazmark. Ridgewood is a stepping stone for this guy. We can probably take bets on how long he will be here.
Kazmark was a nepotism plant (ties to Ridgewood through his cousin attorney Steve Wellinghorst) and since day 1 Kazmark came in hot and has had a huge ego as CEO of Ridgewood and kieeping his profile and social media posts front and center. He is good at making it look like he does care but when you are in Camp Vagianos, you are on the taking of Pelham 123 while politicking his way through Bergen County for some kind of higher office in future). He seems to move around a lot and seems to be ambitious beyond a VM role.
Kazmark was a nepotism plant (ties to Ridgewood through his cousin attorney Steve Wellinghorst) and since day 1 Kazmark came in hot and has had a huge ego as CEO of Ridgewood and kieeping his profile and social media posts front and center. He is good at making it look like he does care but when you are in Camp Vagianos, you are on the taking of Pelham 123 while politicking his way through Bergen County for some kind of higher office in future). He seems to move around a lot and seems to be ambitious beyond a VM role.
Are they going to contact the people that attended the Schedler Open House and tell them they were exposed to dangerous chemicals?
What about the employees that have been working there and moving soil there all along? Contact a lawyer and get to a doctor ASAP.
Mayor Paul Vagianos used his weight, as he previously worked for NJ Environmental Justice, to discredit residents and cover up the concerns as misinformation.
Read page 18 of this submission to NJDEP.
https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/Projects/SHPO20240514/13881-021RidSchZabSRAFINAL20240514.pdf
Yes, it is full of lies just like everything else that comes out of Vagianos mouth. That is why people call him PauLIE. He put information into the document knowing full well he wasn’t telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth. he spun his narrative and figured he would send this nonsense to a state agency for favoritism, just like they are doing with the Commissioner Shawn LaTourette. There are only so many back slapping sessions that you can have where you outright lie but then the truth actually comes out.
Just like they spun feed the frontlines and called healthbarn non profit. Lies. It’s for profit business not a non profit. Took the money and ran! Where is that money?
If it were not for the quick thinking of residents and the responsiveness of people at the NJDEP who saw fit to mandate Ridgewood’s testing of the soil, those poor people would be living in a toxic nightmare. Nothing would have been done to ensure it was safe and no one would have been the wiser, until….people got sick. Mercury, and those other benzine substances are highly dangerour chemical compounds which would have been covered by a giant plastic artificial turf playing field, full of toxic PFAS on top of the chemicals that exist in that soil. That is how much Vagianos, Winograd and Weitz care about your family. Wait till next years tax increase. It is gonna be a good one. This is already turning into your basic nightmare and when they start adding up the dollars and cents to fix the Town Garage property that will be fun too.
maybe we can ask Keith if there will be any more money left over once our insurance premiums have run dry.
Then why are they spending so much money on dumb things like a pavilion at Habernickle. They should be saving there Pennie’s at this point
The Village of Ridgewood, same guy that facilitated the dumping at Schedler, provides truck loads of “free soil” to residents. For all we know, everything is contaminated. All sites should be tested.
What about the soil and mulch that has been delivered to Habernickel park. I years to see a pile of it being used for that garden over in that park
The runoff had to have affected the nearby East Saddle River, water walls and Ridgewood Water facility, all one block away.
I might point out that contaminated soil always existed, it just came from another place.
Have the soil in your own yard tested and see what is found. I bet you’ll find many surprises. Tainted soil along rt 17? Shocking!
The old dude who threw the political re-election party for PauLIE Vagianos and the Greenwashing Bee Boy Frank Mortimer may want his money back. Schedler 2.0 might be a long way off and when all is said and done it might be Schedler 2 million point “OH” when all is said and done.
Unfortunately the dumptruck that has backed up with all of Vagianos’ BS during his tenure as mayor might have to be retired along with his shit shovel, as this is really bad. Wondering how much insurance money Ridgewood can get in light of major screw ups starting with the village engineer Rutihauser and Melandrovic . Kazmark will certainly require the who, what, when and where in order to get any money
When does unethical become really serious. Paul Vagianos is a terrible mayor and will eventually bankrupt the village. He doesn’t care about the residents, that much is clear. He cares about his special intersts, politics, pocketbook, period.
Other towns have had their mayors recalled. I believe the Attorney General shoudl be contacted and a full scale investigation should be lauched immediately. The village said not to worry about anything when the first soil report was given and they still held the open house
Bergen County’s Commissioners are: Thomas J. Sullivan Jr. (D, Montvale, 2025), Chair Germaine M. Ortiz (D, Emerson, 2025), Joan Voss (D, Fort Lee, 2026), Vice Chair Mary J. Amoroso (D, Mahwah, 2025), Rafael Marte (D, Bergenfield, 2026), Steven A. Tanelli (D, North Arlington, 2024) and Tracy Silna Zur (D, Franklin Lakes, 2024)
James J. Tedesco, III is Bergen County Executive
WHAT ARE TOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS? Your Bergen County Community College Soil is/was contaminated. Guidelines were not followed and the public was injured.
Kazmark is probabaly friends with all of them and goes to their pool parties
(D), (D), (D), (D), (D), and (D).
What do you think they will do about it?
Mayor Vagianos is definitely to blame for alot of the problems plagueing Ridgewood today but you can not forget the Weitz, Winograd and Perron are also in the crapper too with this whole project. They are a bunch of manipulators who have lied and omitted information because it didn’t fit their narrative and was convenient to do so. They are all complicit. It does not make it okay on an level. This will be a painful and painstaking process and will probably take years, so let’s vote Vagianos out and bring in someone new who can really run a municipality the right way, not into the ground like this current mayor.
Berm is 28ft wide, 15ft high, 1200 feet long that’s a lot of soil that needs to be removed. Someone should be fired for this and the Mayor Paul Vagianos immediately removed for dismissing claims to NJDEP.
Check the soil/water at Graydon and Habernickel Park.
Habernickel has a garden over there. They better start testing asap
The corn I planted over there glows in the dark but it tastes good !
Are we not going to say anything about the hysterical graphic? Brilliant.
Hold on here hold on, this has been going on before this current mayor in Council. And manager. They stepped into this shit. There’s plenty of blame to go around. The bottom line is who’s signed off on receiving the soil. And this has been going on for, the past few months inspection. And supposedly the mayor, the council the manager, the board of health and the DEP have not reached out to all the employees that worked at that site. Remember the records show three employees Operating equipment From this street Department. One previously. Retired a year ago. Has anybody reached out to the retired employee probably not, this is an extremely embarrassing and major problem the villages they are fully responsible for the health and well-being of these employees.
Village Engineer Chris Rutihauser and his asst village engineer, Jovan Mehandzic, are responsible for having soil dumped and put the “word out”. Rutihauser “didn’t know” what the standards were. Talking about phoning in your job. He will get a slap on the wrist but just like all of the other wrong doers who have breached ethics and skirted the requirements, they will walk away with a handsome pension and will be laughing all the way to the bank.
Rutihauser and his side kick are the ones that provided the assurances tha that the soil wasn’t contaminated. The mayro at the time would have expected that he knew how to perform his job. Downes cut down all of the 3 and a hlaf acres of trees-who was overseeing that-Rutihauser-the berm was constructed-who was overseeing that? Rutihauser. All roads in this debacle lead to Rutihauser. Who was giving him the instructions? Was Vagianos involved? we already know that Vagianos brought Primavera in to talk Schedler to get things moving. So the blame is sqaure on the 2 idiots in engineering and the village manager and whoever was pulling the strings to get this done.
I hope they take this seriously and start testing at Habernickel. There is a garden there and lots of sports and activities. And of course a business that uses the entire park
Get testing
Did they use any of the contaminated soil to fill in the unlevel ground from taking down the barn at Habernickle.
Did they test the soil that was left behind from the infested barn?
Has anybody called Kamala Harris to see what she thinks ?
Yes. “The contaminated soil is soil that’s contaminated. It’s dirt that’s dirty than dirt and that’s bad.”
But, it is a contamination that burdens the VC , however in time will be unburdened and in the end the burden of the past will unburdened by the burden of the future.
Okay, that’s what I thought she would say. Thanks.
How do you get yellow school buses into Venn diagrams..?
This is not even funny. We don’t even know at what level of contamination that we put our employees at risk. They were walking in it, they were breathing it, They had their brakes and lunch at that location, those chemicals got on their clothes, and they brought it home, and so on. The village needs to reach out. They have to meet their guilt. They screwed up their responsible, and unfortunately the cat is out of the back. So they need to do their part, and have a conference with all the employees that work at that site and send them at least tested.
We think that they should publicize the list of all employees that worked at that site, volunteers, inspectors, neighbors, This is just a beginning. We are not staring apart. We are being proactive. The village is known not to look out for health and well-being for their employees. It’s a known fact.
Hey, guess what? I just found the photo that they were large pockets of water on that property wide by 20 feet long and 10 feet deep and that’s going back August. 2019 when that berm Just started. I have many pictures,
onlyonesmallvoice@gmail.com
Send the pictures to schedlerfriends@gmail.com
So whoever was in charge in July 2019, that is the mayor, the council, the manager, the health department, engineering, that is exactly when this berm What is starting to erect soil was being hauled, and village equipment operators were starting to work on this site. I have full documentation, photos that will blow your mind.
It aways comes back to the village engineer
Anyone who drove past the site on rt 17 should be notified of this tragedy and brought into the potential lawsuit. Maybe valley hospital can provide physical exams.
All you naysayers – better Vote Paul out in November.
Start telling your friends.
Seriously – make change happen.
Cut our losses. Sell to a developer. Maybe make a profit. It would be perfect for commuters with ready access to Rte 17 and Garden State. Would not impact downtown traffic and would bring in tax revenue. Win-Win!
I am tired of the same 5 neighbors clogging up social media with their whining. Be careful what you wish for.
And residents of Ridgewood are getting really tired of the same 5 ignorant individuals who make the same comments such as yours. Those who constantly talk about selling to a developer. Have you really not been paying attention? Like not even one little bit? It is a historic property. A registered historic property. Not sure what more anyone can say so that you actually let it sink in to your brain. Therefore, there will never be a development of housing on that property. Ever. I feel sorry that you are focused on your rant but please educate yourself. It is embarrassing.
Would the property even be worth anything if it’s contaminated? I don’t think even the greediest developer would touch toxic soil?
Who were the Employees in charge of 2019. Not just one person that’s Who won this Started. Who was engineering answering too.☠️
You know we are sorry we don’t want to see anyone lose that job, but and we mean Bob, this is totally ridiculous
This is going to cost the village millions, and where is that coming from the insurance is not going to pay for this. Back in 2019 the Village manager, which is now the clerk, and had engineering should be removed immediately discharged for not performing their job. Who else can you blame your people tell us . We are the taxpayers who are going to pay this big bill. They don’t even have an estimate yet to remove all this. This is big money and I’m sure there’s multiple locations. This story for the real news Fox, five on cable, not CNN the fake news.
The public should alert the Insurance company and auditors.
The common denominator throughout the construction at Schedler was the oversight of Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser. Why is he still employed at the Village of Ridgewood?
Have any news stations picked this story up yet…?
Snoop Dogg back from Paris yet..?
How are these people still employed at the village? The performance level is horrendous. If they are not terminated, then you know they have a lot of dirt on the town. Blackmail is being used.
Investigate the Village Engineer. Math is not mathing. He has million dollar homes in the mountains, NJ and FL. Not to mention, rides around on a pretty expensive Harley. Short of gold bars falling out of his pockets, what more do you need?
Wow. Seriously. He is definitely the number one guy who needs to be investigated
Regarding that email to send photos, unfortunately it’s too dangerous, because I don’t know how secure your email is and if someone’s trying to interfere. I have the photos on my phone. I’m sure maybe we can meet up somewhere
yea right , just stop
Duck Pond. 11:30PM. Code word: Fidelio.
Excuse me you’re right, I don’t need any retaliation. I have photos improve that nobody else has. You just remember there may be some top officials that have photos, but they’re not going to share with anyone because they need to play stupid. I have the proof of the pudding, you know what that’s worth like my attorney says, you got the golden Ticket . Just maybe I’ll hold off and give it to Fox five. The D e p would love to see what I have .
Yes, you should definitely share them with the right news outlet at the right time. Otherwise your golden ticket is worth nothing and will help no one and this mayor and council get away with their usual dog and pony shitshow.
Dear Undercover, if you really have photos that can help the public send them via regular mail to the families most affected and at risk. I did a tax lookup and found those closest to the contaminated site. You remain anonymous and the family gets the proof needed.
DHARIA Family 471 W SADDLE RIVER RD
ENNER Family 491 W SADDLE RIVER RD
SHETH Family 501 W SADDLE RIVER RD
DA SILVA Family 520 W SADDLE RIVER RD
Hopefully, in time, you’ll also share the photos you have of the Kennedy assassination, the ones taken from the front of the limo.
But what’s the point of bragging about earth-shattering, incriminating evidence if you refuse to anything about it? Because you’re afraid for life and livelihood? Condemning your neighbors just to save your own ass? Listen, if you’re not willing to take one for the team, just shut up. I.e. this is presenting the way you think it is.
Can you imagine what those photos are worth to the right network.🧐
You all put this mayor down but who voted him in?
People make mistakes. He has lied, manipulated, conived and schemed. If we had a magical time machine and could go back to that fateful day, we wouldn’t have voted for Winograd or Weitz. They were the ones who voted for Vagianos to be Mayor, and Perron went along with it too. We need to clean this slate. The people of Ridgewood did not vote for Vagianos to be mayor and he was already on the council. His tenure has become painful and his lies are hurting Ridgewood.
Will work on photos, on vacation.