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RINGWOOD - Big guns wage local fight
(by Teresa Edmond - Staff Writer - July 16, 2008)
RINGWOOD - With help from a nationwide law firm, Upper Ringwood residents are answering court-ordered questionnaires from Ford Motor Company and the borough to prove that the automobile giant’s paint sludge disposal in their neighborhood roughly 40 years ago certainly impacted locals’ health.
For the past few weeks, the Cochran Firm, associated with the Dream Team that successfully represented O.J. Simpson on murder charges, has been lending its expertise to Upper Ringwood residents as they fill out Ford’s questionnaires. These documents must be submitted to the state Superior Court in Passaic County by Aug. 29.
Upper Ringwood residents have filed suit against Ford and named the municipality a partial responsible party in the litigation because the borough owned the grounds Ford dumped the contaminants on, property that is now a Superfund cleanup site.
The Cochran Firm has what Benjamin Irwin, a Cochran Firm representative from the firm’s Dothan, Ala., branch, calls a “plaintiffs’ fact sheet.” This fact sheet includes Upper Ringwood residents’ health records and personal history that Ford and the borough requested via the questionnaire.
Upper Ringwood community leader Vivian Milligan said she “feels good” about Ford’s court-ordered questionnaire because it keeps the plaintiffs and defendants updated on locals’ health issues resulting from the Upper Ringwood’s contamination.
"I don't have a problem with what Ford is asking because we can only answer what we know," she said. "It's a little frustrating at times, but you have to understand that this is a big case, so it requires lots of paperwork, and you have to stay with it."
Milligan said that because of the pending suit, many other Upper Ringwood residents aren't at liberty to discuss the lawsuit in any detail.
Irwin said that his law firm will use whatever resources are necessary to defend its clients in court.
"These people have suffered for years," he said. "Our purpose is to seek justice for Ringwood residents – the plaintiffs. We'll continue pushing forward and zealously represent our clients in this matter.”
Cochran representatives have been meeting residents in their own homes and at the Church of Good Shepherd over the past few weeks. Besides face to face meetings, locals have been communicating with the lawyers by telephone, letters and "every possible way we can," Irwin said. The representatives plan to return to Ringwood and meet with residents again from July 24 to July 29.
When the residents first hired the Cochran Firm around three to four years ago, the clients tallied at 500. The number rose to 700, but dropped to about 640 due to several residents' deaths over the years.
Right now, the plaintiffs (residents) and defendants (Ford and the borough) are in the discovery phase of litigation, meaning that their respective lawyers are gathering documentation and information in preparation for trial.
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