N.J. Warns Residents Not To Eat Squirrel Near Toxic Dump

[neoshinzo]

Only in New Jersey would you have to tell the residents to not eat the toxic squirrels...

WNBC.com
N.J. Warns Residents Not To Eat Squirrel Near Toxic Dump

POSTED: 10:37 am EST January 25, 2007
UPDATED: 10:39 am EST January 25, 2007

TRENTON, N.J. -- Squirrel is off the menu. New Jersey officials are warning residents near a toxic waste dump in the northern part of the state to restrict how much squirrel they eat, two months after a lead-contaminated animal was found in the area.

A letter sent to Ringwood residents, many of whom hunt, advised them that children should not eat squirrel more than once a month, pregnant women should limit their intake to twice a month, and adults should not eat squirrel more than twice a week.

"We've known for a long time something was wrong here, we just didn't know what it was," resident Myrtle Van Dunk told The Record of Bergen County for Thursday's newspapers.

Residents and many environmental activists believe the lead comes from toxic waste, including paint sludge, dumped in the area by the Ford Motor Co. during the 1960s and early 1970s, from its now-closed car manufacturing plant in Mahwah.

Ford is removing thousands of tons of waste from a 500-acre former mining property in the Ringwood area. The site was recently relisted on the federal Superfund list, a ranking of the country's worst environmental dump sites, after multiple cleanups failed to remove all of the sludge.

This is the first time the state has issued warnings on how much squirrel people should eat, Tom Slater, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Senior Services told the newspaper; the department, along with the state Department of Environmental Protection, issued the warning.

Lead, which is harmful even in small amounts, can damage the nervous system, red blood cell production and the kidneys.

The Ringwood area is home to many members of the Ramapough Mountain Indian tribe who hunt and fish in the area.

[Execute]

I don't know what people in WI would do if that happened.

[Big John]

If your eating squirrel... perhaps death would be a release.

[whitey_ringo]

maybe this explains "me and mah boys".

[Big John]

Originally Posted by whitey_ringo

maybe this explains "me and mah boys".

You may be onto something here...

[Smashandgrab]

Damn Government always trying to tell us what we can and can't eat.......geez.....

[explosive]

haha, they will have to supplement with more stray dogs and cats

[Biohazard]

Originally Posted by whitey_ringo

maybe this explains "me and mah boys".

Fuck you I am from Jersey and we don't do that shit, ask anyone from NJ North and South jersey are like 2 different states. Now if it were WV I could understand this but NJ? But again in South Jersey there are some counrty ass mofos.

[hypocalking]

Fuckers, if they eat squirrel they deserve to fuckin die!!!!!!!

[SchoolyardChoke]

If the squirrel doesn't have three eyes or an extra leg, I say chow down! What's the worst that could happen?