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Ringwood Community Action to Restore Environmental Sustainability -- Ringwood CARES -- collected 330 signatures, a first step in getting the mayor and council to pass an ordinance to clean the old Ford Motor site off Peter's Mine Road.
If the ordinance the group submitted with the petition isn't passed, organizers want a question put to the people in November.
Residents can introduce ordinances in Ringwood without action by the council.
"We wanted to ensure that [the petition] was turned in with a buffer sufficient to allow it to be on the ballot in November, if needed," CARES said.
The petition demands that an ordinance be passed that commits to the "Full Remediation of the O’Connor Disposal Area and Contaminated Water in Peter’s and Cannon Mines.”
The site has gotten renewed attention after Ringwood officials moved to cap the toxins and build a recycling center.
The fight to clean up the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund site has been going on since the 1980s, according to the Ringwood CARES website.
It was re-listed as a national priority in 2005 after being reported clean by the EPA in 1993. It's the only Superfund site in the program's history to be listed twice, according to Ringwood CARES.
Area residents, including members of the Ramapough tribe, say pollution has led to illness and death.
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