A Betrayal Hidden Beneath Our Feet
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Yesterday marked Earth Day, a time to celebrate and protect the environment. But what if, right here in Ridgewood, our own community is facing an environmental crisis—one not caused by nature, but by decisions made by public officials entrusted to safeguard us?
A News 12 Investigative Report reveals that millions of pounds of toxic soil were dumped into a Zabriskie-Schedler House & Property —without proper environmental review or testing. This alarming act wasn’t an accident. It was a choice.
☠️ Toxic Contaminants Found in Ridgewood Park
According to the report, the Village of Ridgewood trucked in fill material containing hazardous contaminants, including:
-
Benzo[a]pyrene – A known carcinogen.
-
Lead and Mercury – Toxic heavy metals with severe health and environmental consequences.
-
Benzo[a]anthracene – Harmful to human health and wildlife.
Over 24 million pounds (400+ truckloads) of this contaminated soil were dumped across seven acres of publicly funded land—a space meant for recreation, preservation, and community connection. The property is also a recognized historic site and home to endangered species.
Taxpayers Left to Clean Up the Mess
Who pays for this mess? You do.
Because the Village of Ridgewood is legally responsible for the contamination, taxpayers are now burdened with the cost of remediation, which is expected to total millions of dollars.
There is currently no cost recovery plan and no accountability for the officials involved.
The fill material reportedly came from sources such as Bergen Community College and Ridgewood Water projects, further expanding the scope of concern.
And Then There’s the Water Rate Hike…
As if contamination wasn’t enough, Ridgewood Water is rationalizing a 14.6% water rate increase, citing national trends.
But let’s break that down:
-
Ridgewood Water hired a consultant to justify the rate hike.
-
They claim double-digit increases are “common.”
-
At this rate, your water bill will double in just 4.5 years.
Should a community that’s paying for environmental clean-up also be expected to shoulder aggressive utility rate increases—especially when those very utilities are part of the problem?
The Time to Act Is Now
This isn’t just about contamination. It’s about transparency, accountability, and protecting our community’s future.
🔊 The silence is complicity.
📢 Will you stand up or stand by?
Ridgewood deserves answers and a plan for action—not more excuses. Let’s hold our leaders accountable and demand safe, affordable public services.
Tell your story #TheRidgewoodblog , #Indpendentnews, #information, #advertise, #guestpost, #affiliatemarketing,#NorthJersey, #NJ , #News, #localnews, #bergencounty, #sponsoredpost, #SponsoredContent, #contentplacement , #linkplacement, Email: Onlyonesmallvoice@gmail.com
Great article, for Earth Day, but a bunch of hypocrites. They’ve been dumping toxic contaminated soil all over town for years. What a joke. what do you think there’s not any more locations that have toxic contaminated soil? . Don’t you worry we have a few more spots for you. I’ll be coming out shortly.
Not much growing at Habernickel. Does that mean toxins in the soil?
Do you want to talk about betrayal? What about the health and well-being of Village residents and employees that live and-worked at those locations. what have the mayor council Village manager done regarding the health and well-being? they have done zippo. From our investigation, they didn’t reach out to any one. No phone calls, no letters, where’s the Village health department regarding this. What about the labor unions, the village attorneys, upper management, we are sure that they have a list of personnel that were at these locations. They are not being proactive they are hiding behind the attorneys because they don’t wanna open up a can of worms, but that’s too bad. It’s opened already and it’s pouring all over the place and it’s causing the village millions so far. And we’re not done. maybe if they did the right thing just maybe, we could’ve played nice in a sandbox. Oh, this is what happens when you bring a little ball bat to a baseball game we’ve told you. well, just sit back and enjoy the show.
☠️👨🏻⚕️
Many loads, went up to that location filling the old, swimming pool, along the banks, oh yes. You can’t grow grass in oil that’s been saturated with fuel and oil. Do you wanna check out soil, go check the soil at the community garden, have that soil tested I could imagine what’s in there. How many times that location has been flooded with sewage that came from up the river. I wouldn’t eat any vegetables out of there. When’s the last time that soil was tested think about that?
Thumbs down excuse me. You must be in management. I have pictures and videos, I exactly know how many loads went to that location. And I know where the fill dirt came from. So stop.