Posted on 13 October 2017 by Editor
Ramapo Hamlet residents have gotten an eviction reprieve. During the first week of October residents were delivered eviction notices by the Town of Ramapo. The Town Council had determined to sell off the hamlet land.
Hamlet of Ramapo residents got an eviction reprieve from the Town’s decision to raze the some 15 homes and sell off the 20 hamlet acres for light industrial or commerical use.
CBS2, News12, The Journal News, and other outlets reported on the eviction by the town. People voiced a certain outraged — not only related to the eviction but the sudden proposed land use change for the Hamlet, especially with Ramapo development a front and center issue for residents. Continue Reading
Posted on 13 November 2015 by Editor
Educator Chuck Stead with Ramapo College students at the Torne Valley Medicine Garden braiding newly harvested ceremonial Sweet Grass.
Add the fresh aroma of newly cut Sweet Grass to your list of good Fall things. Continue Reading
Posted on 11 January 2015 by Editor
Arcadis began preparation for continuing environmental remediation work in Torne Valley at the site of a former sand quarry. Torne Mountain is seen in the distance. / Photo by Geoff Welch
Before Torne Valley was a Superfund site, parts of it were used as a sand quarry, with the sand deposits part of the valley’s natural aquifer — now classified by NY state as a principle aquifer and used as a major regional water supply. Back in the 1950s, pockets of the valley were dug through along Torne Brook for natural resources. Those sandy areas eventually became a graveyard for paint sludge brought in from the former Ford Motor Company plant in Mahwah, NJ. Continue Reading
Posted on 30 July 2014 by Editor
NY Department of Transportation contractors and crew repair worn road on the southbound lane of the Korean Memorial Highway Bridge in Hillburn, NY.
One of Western Ramapo’s bumpiest bridges has been given some TLC this week. The Korean War Memorial Highway Bridge carries Rt. 59 traffic over the Norfolk Southern Railroad in Hillburn, NY at the entrance to Torne Valley Road. New York Department of Transporation contractors were working the last Tuesday and Wednesday of July cutting clean sections of concrete on the southbound lane. The end result is a smooth new section of bridge road. Continue Reading
Posted on 09 June 2014 by Editor
Turtle clan Chief Vincent Mann from the Ramapough Lenaape is given a friendship gift while Chuck Stead and Chris St. Lawrence look on / Photo by Geoff Welch
The sun shone bright and hot Sunday as people from across Ramapo, and beyond, gathered to celebrate the huge new medicine garden in Torne Valley. Covering half an acre, the Ford Motor Company built a large, raw-post and fenced-in garden that will feature Sweet Grass for basketry and smudging as well as herbs and other native plants. Continue Reading
Posted on 06 June 2014 by Editor
Blunt Mountain mint, Pycnanthemum Muticum, transplanted from the Harmony Hall Herb Garden to the Saltbox Environmental Research Center in Torne Valley by volunteers Nathan and Angela.
The slow, steady work by hand and machine to clean up Torne Valley is bearing fruit. The story of how 55 gallon drums of paint sludge trucked from the long-closed Mahwah automobile factory and dumped in the valley are now legendary. Continue Reading
