Jan

29

Lead-tainted squirrel triggers state warning

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Thursday, January 25, 2007

By BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER

RINGWOOD — It’s the state’s first-ever such warning: Don’t eat too much squirrel from the woods near Ford’s toxic waste dumps in Upper Ringwood.

Two months ago, a lead-contaminated squirrel was found there. The advisory was sent this week to neighborhood residents, who maintain a hunting culture.

It said children shouldn’t eat squirrel more than once a month; pregnant women more than twice a month and other adults not more than twice a week.

Even in small amounts, lead can harm the nervous system, kidneys and red blood cell production and can affect reproduction and development.

“We’ve known for a long time something was wrong here, we just didn’t know what it was,” said resident Myrtle Van Dunk, a longtime hunter. “Now we know, but we’re concerned about the people outside this area who come here to hunt. They don’t know that the small game here is poisoned.”

The situation is so unique, the state has yet to set a standard for how much lead a human can safely ingest. This is the first time New Jersey has issued such an advisory.

What’s next

Meeting: Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Ringwood Borough Hall for federal and state officials to talk about lead levels in wildlife and other Ford-cleanup related issues.

Test results: Residents are waiting for results of deer tested the first week in January.

The advisory probably also will be placed where hunters gather, because the polluted area includes part of Ringwood State Park.

The tainted squirrel, with more than 50 parts per million of lead in its blood, was found during federal sampling of wildlife last fall. Testing also has detected high lead levels in wild carrots, mice, frogs and plants. Results are pending on deer tested this month.

Residents and local officials believe the lead is from waste Ford dumped four decades ago. Some 40 million pounds of lead-based paint sludge have been removed in an ongoing Superfund cleanup.

But the danger exists far beyond the dump site. Lead does not naturally occur in the area, but some lead-contaminated wildlife was found two miles away from the delineated dumping grounds.

Multiple federal and state agencies are involved in the cleanup. The squirrel advisory was issued by the state departments of Environmental Protection and Health and Senior Services.

Tom Slater, spokesman for Health and Senior Services, said the advisory was based on formulations taking into account lead consumption and absorption by the human body and that the same formula would be used for deer.

“Since this has never been done before, we had to establish scientific steps and take them one at a time,” he said. “But we won’t have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.”

Most residents of the community belong to the state-recognized Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe, who fish, hunt and garden for sustenance.

“We were brought up on meat we hunted ourselves,” Van Dunk said. “It tastes better to us than the stuff you buy in the store, with all the chemicals put into it and all the processing it goes through.”

Squirrel meat — mostly the hindquarters and shoulders — can be baked, fried or stewed. It would take about 20 to feed a family of four for one meal.

Ed Markowski, president of the state Federation of Sportsmen’s Club, was confident that small-game hunters would soon learn of the advisory: “Word-of-mouth works really well among hunters.”

Staff Writer Jan Barry contributed to this article. E-mail: williamsb@northjersey.com

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