HI,
I have been learking here for a while (mostly reading the GT500 forum), This is my first post here though.
I'm a huge industrial history buff. Old Railroads, mines, and factories are fascinating as hell to me. Since we actually used to build and make stuff here in NJ, There are tons of old RR lines, abandoned industrial sites, and hundreds of old Iron mines to explore.
This first site:
http://www.toxiclegacy.com/
Tells the story of the Ford Motor Co. assembly plant in Mahwah NJ and the toxic waist they left behind. This plant opened in 1955 and was the largest auto plant in the world. It had 10 miles of assembly lines under 1 roof. It was build literally on the border of NJ and NY and employed 5,000 people. In the mid 70's Ford told the managers of both the Mahwah and Edison NJ plants that they had 5 years to clean up their act, Start building better products and get labor relations in check or they would be closed. Edison did get it's act together and stayed open until just recently. Mahwah on the other hand was a total cluster ****. The cars and trucks built there had quality problems, There were frequent labor troubles, and even mob influence. There was even a strike by black panther members once. Therefore Mahwah was closed in 1980. By 83 the plant was torn down and the land was sold. 5,000 people were out of work.
I always thought it was pathetic and sad that a auto plant like this was only open for 25 years, The plant was closed because of stubbornness and stupidity of all involved. It seams like such a waste.
Anyway, while it was open they built 6 million cars there. All these had to be painted, and all that lead paint made a lot of waste, It came to about 6,000 Gallons of paint sludge a day. All of this had to be gotten rid of right? Ford hired contractors to dump the sludge, What they did at first was to just dump the paint sludge outside of the plant just across the state line in NY. Once the sludge dried they would dump more on top. They did this until the sludge was 6 feet thick over several acres which just happened to be right next to the Ramapo river. Later Ford purchased an old abandoned iron mine a few miles away in Ringwood NJ which also borders NY. They then started dumping the sludge and other waist into the mines. The contractors then started dumping it anywhere they could get away with it, They dumped it into rivers, streams, on farms, and even in peoples yards. Now there is toxic paint sludge dumped all over the area and some say it's making people sick. The whole story is told in the site posted.
What does this have to do with inbreeds?
Well, almost everyone in northern NJ has heard of the "Jackson Whites" The Jackson whites hate that name and call themselves the Ramapo Mountain Indians. They are a group of people that have lived in the Ramapo Mtns for 200+ years. They all have Dutch names and are decedents of freed slaves that were owned by Dutch farmers in the area. They also have West Indian, American Indian, German and other white blood. Along with the freed slaves, white and west Indian prostitutes brought by the British during the revolution who were freed when the Americans forced the British out of NYC also ended up in the area too. They all started breeding amongst themselves and with the local Indians and over time formed their own sort of race.
Most Ramapo Mountain Indians have black features however they have almost a bronze skin color and white mannerisms and speech patterns. NJ and NY gave them Indian status but the Feds have not because they can not prove their ancestry.
Since they were outcasts for years and years most of them never left the mountains where they live. They inter married and had children together all this time. Cousins had kids with cousins and so on. Once Iron was discovered in the mountains and the big mining co's came, They hired the mountain people to work the mines, Which they did for almost 100 years. Once the mines closed, The Ramapoughs stayed in the co houses and have lived there ever since. Over the years they came to own much of the land and it was very clear outsiders did NOT go there. They would steal everything you had and might even kill you. It was like this for generations. A lot of the Ramapoughs are poor and live in shacks out in the woods while others work own nice homes and live like most other Americans. But since they lived in the old mine worker houses and Ford dumped sludge in the mine, Guess who is getting sick? the Ramapoughs. Now, Some say it is the Ford paint sludge that is making them sick while others say it was the inbreeding that went on for years and years. This is no bullshit. It was just like Deliverance in those hills for generations and the Ramapoughs have some wacky illnesses. All 25 Miles from Times Square.
Today, Ford is doing the 5th clean up of area. However nobody thinks they will ever even find all of the sludge let alone clean it all. There is paint sludge literally 10 feet from where other sludge was cleaned and the area declared clean by Ford and the EPA. This stuff is everywhere. That first site I posted is huge, It takes hours to read it all but I found it totally fascinating to read. Have a look if you have any interest in this kind of stuff.
This site has a lot of good info on the Jackson Whites:
http://www.netstrider.com/documents/whites/
This is Fords web site on the clean up of the area:
http://www.ringwoodsiteupdate.com/
I have been learking here for a while (mostly reading the GT500 forum), This is my first post here though.
I'm a huge industrial history buff. Old Railroads, mines, and factories are fascinating as hell to me. Since we actually used to build and make stuff here in NJ, There are tons of old RR lines, abandoned industrial sites, and hundreds of old Iron mines to explore.
This first site:
http://www.toxiclegacy.com/
Tells the story of the Ford Motor Co. assembly plant in Mahwah NJ and the toxic waist they left behind. This plant opened in 1955 and was the largest auto plant in the world. It had 10 miles of assembly lines under 1 roof. It was build literally on the border of NJ and NY and employed 5,000 people. In the mid 70's Ford told the managers of both the Mahwah and Edison NJ plants that they had 5 years to clean up their act, Start building better products and get labor relations in check or they would be closed. Edison did get it's act together and stayed open until just recently. Mahwah on the other hand was a total cluster ****. The cars and trucks built there had quality problems, There were frequent labor troubles, and even mob influence. There was even a strike by black panther members once. Therefore Mahwah was closed in 1980. By 83 the plant was torn down and the land was sold. 5,000 people were out of work.
I always thought it was pathetic and sad that a auto plant like this was only open for 25 years, The plant was closed because of stubbornness and stupidity of all involved. It seams like such a waste.
Anyway, while it was open they built 6 million cars there. All these had to be painted, and all that lead paint made a lot of waste, It came to about 6,000 Gallons of paint sludge a day. All of this had to be gotten rid of right? Ford hired contractors to dump the sludge, What they did at first was to just dump the paint sludge outside of the plant just across the state line in NY. Once the sludge dried they would dump more on top. They did this until the sludge was 6 feet thick over several acres which just happened to be right next to the Ramapo river. Later Ford purchased an old abandoned iron mine a few miles away in Ringwood NJ which also borders NY. They then started dumping the sludge and other waist into the mines. The contractors then started dumping it anywhere they could get away with it, They dumped it into rivers, streams, on farms, and even in peoples yards. Now there is toxic paint sludge dumped all over the area and some say it's making people sick. The whole story is told in the site posted.
What does this have to do with inbreeds?
Well, almost everyone in northern NJ has heard of the "Jackson Whites" The Jackson whites hate that name and call themselves the Ramapo Mountain Indians. They are a group of people that have lived in the Ramapo Mtns for 200+ years. They all have Dutch names and are decedents of freed slaves that were owned by Dutch farmers in the area. They also have West Indian, American Indian, German and other white blood. Along with the freed slaves, white and west Indian prostitutes brought by the British during the revolution who were freed when the Americans forced the British out of NYC also ended up in the area too. They all started breeding amongst themselves and with the local Indians and over time formed their own sort of race.
Most Ramapo Mountain Indians have black features however they have almost a bronze skin color and white mannerisms and speech patterns. NJ and NY gave them Indian status but the Feds have not because they can not prove their ancestry.
Since they were outcasts for years and years most of them never left the mountains where they live. They inter married and had children together all this time. Cousins had kids with cousins and so on. Once Iron was discovered in the mountains and the big mining co's came, They hired the mountain people to work the mines, Which they did for almost 100 years. Once the mines closed, The Ramapoughs stayed in the co houses and have lived there ever since. Over the years they came to own much of the land and it was very clear outsiders did NOT go there. They would steal everything you had and might even kill you. It was like this for generations. A lot of the Ramapoughs are poor and live in shacks out in the woods while others work own nice homes and live like most other Americans. But since they lived in the old mine worker houses and Ford dumped sludge in the mine, Guess who is getting sick? the Ramapoughs. Now, Some say it is the Ford paint sludge that is making them sick while others say it was the inbreeding that went on for years and years. This is no bullshit. It was just like Deliverance in those hills for generations and the Ramapoughs have some wacky illnesses. All 25 Miles from Times Square.
Today, Ford is doing the 5th clean up of area. However nobody thinks they will ever even find all of the sludge let alone clean it all. There is paint sludge literally 10 feet from where other sludge was cleaned and the area declared clean by Ford and the EPA. This stuff is everywhere. That first site I posted is huge, It takes hours to read it all but I found it totally fascinating to read. Have a look if you have any interest in this kind of stuff.
This site has a lot of good info on the Jackson Whites:
http://www.netstrider.com/documents/whites/
This is Fords web site on the clean up of the area:
http://www.ringwoodsiteupdate.com/
