Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in Moorestown, NJ
Moorestown anchors one of Burlington County’s most active suburban commercial, office, and light-industrial markets, sitting in the county’s southwestern corner along I-295, Route 38, Route 73, and Kings Highway (CR 537), roughly ten miles east of Philadelphia and minutes from the New Jersey Turnpike at Exit 4. Property owners, developers, contractors, municipalities, and counsel working across Moorestown and Burlington County rely on focused, locally informed environmental due diligence. Resource Renewal supports these projects through RCC’s ASTM E1527-21 Phase I Environmental Site Assessment scope, layered with NJDEP-compliant Preliminary Assessments, Phase II investigation, remediation, and brownfield support that deliver both federal and New Jersey innocent purchaser protections.
Resource Renewal connects three service tracks under one platform: ASTM E1527-21 Phase I ESAs and NJDEP Preliminary Assessments delivered by RCC; Phase II Site Investigations and Remedial Investigations when Recognized Environmental Conditions are identified; and full remediation and brownfield redevelopment delivered with our affiliated platform DSR. Project teams coordinate with the NJDEP Site Remediation Program and pursue site closure under LSRP oversight toward a Response Action Outcome (RAO).
Phase I Environmental Site Assessments in Moorestown, NJ
Moorestown’s environmental profile reflects a township that moved from Quaker farmland and commercial orchards to Cold War defense electronics in barely a generation. RCA’s Missile and Surface Radar operation on Borton Landing Road — now Lockheed Martin’s Aegis campus, home of the land-based USS Rancocas test structure — anchored decades of electronics, plating, and machine shop activity, while New Albany Road carried the Pulverizing Services pesticide formulation plant, KSM Fastening Systems stud welding operations, and a corridor of light industrial and warehouse users. Otis Elevator’s regional branch, the 1867 Camden-to-Mount Holly rail line, a 19th-century gas works mapped in the 1887 Robinson atlas, and the 1963 arrival of the Moorestown Mall layered the township further. Phase I ESAs in Moorestown routinely surface historic pesticide and arsenic residues on former orchard and nursery ground, dense underground storage tank inventories along Main Street, Camden Avenue, and Lenola Road, chlorinated solvent use at electronics and metal-finishing sites, and fill of uncertain origin along the rail corridor.
- ASTM E1527-21 Phase I ESA
- NJDEP Preliminary Assessment overlay
- Phase II Site Investigation
- Soil & groundwater investigation
- LSRP-led NJDEP closure pursuit
- Brownfield redevelopment via DSR
- Active project work in 5 states
- 30+ years of NJ project history
Why Moorestown Property Owners and Developers Choose Resource Renewal
Industrial and Commercial Heritage
Moorestown was settled in 1682 by John and Sarah Roberts, grew as a Quaker crossroads village on the King’s Highway, and was incorporated as a township in 1922 out of the former Chester Township. Its economy ran on farms, commercial orchards, and nurseries into the mid-20th century, when the RCA radar complex, Otis Elevator, KSM Fastening Systems, Pulverizing Services, and the New Albany Road and Lenola industrial corridors brought concentrated manufacturing to the township. That sequence — agricultural ground converted directly to industrial use, then to office, retail, and residential use — is exactly the pattern that produces Recognized Environmental Conditions today: legacy pesticide residues in shallow soil, former USTs at farm, automotive, and fuel-storage properties, dry cleaners and machine shops in the Main Street and Lenola business districts, and undocumented fill on redeveloped parcels.
Current Environmental Profile
NJDEP Site Remediation Program records show active and closed remediation cases distributed across Moorestown Township, and the township hosts a federally directed cleanup of its own: the Pulverizing Services site on New Albany Road, a pesticide formulation plant abandoned in 1979 where EPA-led remediation removed roughly 113,000 cubic yards of soil and left groundwater monitoring in place. The 400-acre Cinnaminson Ground Water Contamination Superfund site sits immediately across the western township line in Cinnaminson and Delran. Contaminants that recur in Moorestown Phase II scopes include arsenic and lead from historic pesticide application, chlorinated solvents (PCE, TCE) from dry cleaning, electronics, and metal finishing, petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH, BTEX) from former underground storage tanks, and metals and semivolatiles in historic fill. Soil vapor intrusion screening is routine where former industrial or retail parcels convert to residential and mixed use, and PFAS investigation is now standard near firefighting training, plating, and defense electronics operations. Legacy chlordane and pesticide signatures documented in Strawbridge Lake and the North Branch of Pennsauken Creek keep sediment and floodplain questions in play on stream-adjacent parcels.
Real Estate and Development Market
Burlington County is New Jersey’s largest county by land area and one of the most active warehouse and distribution markets in the Northeast, and Moorestown carries a distinctive share of that activity through the Moorestown West Corporate Center, the East Gate and Route 38 retail corridors, and the office and flex inventory along Lenola Road and New Albany Road. The township’s largest current project is the mixed-use conversion of the Moorestown Mall, where roughly 1,100 residential units are planned, a 375-unit first phase is under construction, and Cooper University Health Care is repurposing the former Sears anchor. Those transactions, plus continued infill on former orchard and nursery ground and the reuse of remediated industrial land on New Albany Road, drive sustained Phase I ESA volume across Moorestown, Maple Shade, Mount Laurel, Cinnaminson, Delran, and Willingboro.
Local Regulators, Authorities, and Stakeholders
The NJDEP Southern Regional Office provides Site Remediation Program oversight for Burlington County, with closure pursued under LSRP oversight per the Site Remediation Reform Act toward a Response Action Outcome. Routine touchpoints on Moorestown projects include the Moorestown Township planning board, zoning board, and township engineer, Burlington County planning and economic development staff, the Burlington County Soil Conservation District, and New Jersey Economic Development Authority brownfield programs. Because the township drains to the Rancocas Creek, Pennsauken Creek, and Pompeston Creek/Swede Run watersheds, stream-adjacent and floodplain sites frequently require coordination with the NJDEP Division of Water Quality and the Division of Land Resource Protection.
Why This Local Context Matters for Your Project
Local industrial history, the current contaminant profile, regulator office assignments, and transaction velocity all feed directly into Phase I scoping decisions and downstream remediation planning. Three decades of Burlington County project work — run from Resource Renewal’s Mount Holly HQ, a short drive up Route 38 — mean RCC crews already know the regional regulators, the AOC profiles that recur in this corridor, and the historical sources that matter most in Moorestown research: orchard-era aerials, Lenola and New Albany Road industrial directories, and NJDEP case files on the township’s known contaminated sites. That familiarity shortens timelines and sharpens the recommendations delivered in each report.
Environmental Services Resource Renewal Delivers in Moorestown, NJ
Service availability spans two connected tracks: Investigation & Compliance, including transactions, financing, and regulatory closure documentation, and Remediation & Redevelopment, including physical cleanup, environmental liability transfer, and conversion of impaired real estate. RCC and DSR jointly cover the full project lifecycle from pre-acquisition due diligence through final regulatory closure and redevelopment.
Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
ASTM E1527-21 site assessment with NJDEP Preliminary Assessment overlay for Mount Holly and Burlington County properties.
Phase II Environmental Site Assessment
Subsurface sampling and certified laboratory analysis when RECs are identified during Phase I.
Site Investigation
Comprehensive site characterization, soil sampling, groundwater investigation, soil vapor assessment.
Environmental Remediation
In-situ and ex-situ soil and groundwater remediation, OM&M, and pursuit of regulatory closure.
Regulatory Compliance
Permitting, audits, hazardous waste management, SPCC plans, NJDEP agency liaison.
Brownfield Redevelopment
Acquisition, remediation, and redevelopment of impaired NJ real estate through DSR.
Environmental Liability Transfer
DSR-led liability transfer for owners seeking to exit impaired sites.
Landfill Closure
Closure, post-closure care, and EPA LMOP-aligned beneficial reuse options through DSR's TB2G™ model.
Moorestown, NJ Environmental Regulatory Context
Investigation & Compliance (RCC Track)
The ASTM E1527-21 Phase I ESA scope covers site reconnaissance, historical land use review, regulatory database searches, agency file reviews, and key personnel interviews. RCC layers the federal ASTM scope with an NJDEP-compliant Preliminary Assessment so projects carry both federal CERCLA and NJ ISRA innocent purchaser protections. When Recognized Environmental Conditions or Areas of Concern are identified, RCC moves directly into Phase II Site Investigation and, where warranted, Remedial Investigation — coordinating sampling plans, certified laboratory analysis, and data evaluation under NJDEP Site Remediation Program Tech Rules. Documentation is built for NJDEP review and LSRP certification.
Remediation & Redevelopment (DSR-Affiliated Track)
Remediation capabilities include in-situ chemical oxidation, bioremediation, soil vapor extraction, ex-situ excavation and disposal, groundwater pump-and-treat systems, permeable reactive barriers, sub-slab depressurization, and long-term operations, maintenance, and monitoring (OM&M). For owners exiting impaired property, the DSR platform provides brownfield acquisition, environmental liability transfer, and full redevelopment, applied across more than 100 brownfield sites in NJ, NY, PA, MA, and OH. The Mount Holly HQ at the Resource Renewal Business Park is itself a representative example of a former brownfield converted into productive operating real estate.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. Moorestown sits about ten miles west of Resource Renewal’s Mount Holly headquarters at 10 Lippincott Lane, itself a completed brownfield redevelopment project and the home base for RCC and DSR field crews working across Burlington County. The same Mount Holly HQ team covers Moorestown, Maple Shade, Mount Laurel, Cinnaminson, Delran, Willingboro, Cherry Hill, Marlton, and Medford, reaching Moorestown sites in well under half an hour by way of Route 38 and I-295.
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A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is a documented review of a property’s current and historical use, performed under ASTM E1527-21, that identifies Recognized Environmental Conditions and Areas of Concern. Typical triggers include commercial real estate transactions, lender requirements, attorney due diligence, pre-redevelopment review, and refinancing. RCC pairs the ASTM Phase I ESA with an NJDEP-compliant Preliminary Assessment to provide combined federal CERCLA and NJ ISRA innocent purchaser protections. In Moorestown, the property types most likely to trigger Phase I work are office and flex buildings, Route 38 and Route 73 retail parcels, automotive and fuel-storage properties, small industrial and warehouse sites along New Albany Road and Lenola Road, and former orchard, nursery, and farm tracts moving into residential or commercial reuse.
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A typical Phase I ESA runs two to three weeks from authorization to draft delivery, depending on environmental database turnaround, depth of historical research, agency file review timing, and site access. RCC can accelerate timelines for time-sensitive transactions when scope and access permit. Layered NJDEP Preliminary Assessment work is coordinated within the same engagement. Under ASTM E1527-21, a Phase I ESA is valid for 180 days, with extensions of up to one year possible if specific components are refreshed.
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When Recognized Environmental Conditions are identified, the natural next step is a Phase II Site Investigation: a defined sampling plan, certified laboratory analysis, and data evaluation against NJDEP standards. If contamination is confirmed, RCC develops a Remedial Investigation and a Remedial Action Workplan, pursuing a Response Action Outcome under LSRP oversight. For owners who prefer to exit the property rather than carry it through closure, DSR brownfield acquisition and environmental liability transfer are available as an alternative path.
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DSR is Resource Renewal's brownfield redevelopment company, with experience across more than 100 brownfield sites in NJ, NY, PA, MA, and OH. DSR services include site evaluation, environmental liability transfer, and full redevelopment. DSR is a member of the EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program and the Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast, and applies its Turn Brown to Green™ (TB2G™) model for landfill closure and beneficial reuse. EPA Brownfields Program grants and incentives may apply to qualifying Moorestown and Burlington County sites.
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Under the NJ Site Remediation Reform Act of 2009, contaminated sites are remediated under Licensed Site Remediation Professional oversight rather than direct NJDEP case management. The LSRP defines the technical approach, files key submissions, and issues a Response Action Outcome when site conditions meet applicable remediation standards. Typical sequencing is Preliminary Assessment, Site Investigation, Remedial Investigation, Remedial Action, and final RAO issuance. The RAO confirms regulatory closure and supports transactions, financing, and redevelopment.
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Burlington County is New Jersey’s largest county by land area and one of the most active warehouse and distribution development markets in the Northeast. In Moorestown that pressure shows up as repositioning rather than greenfield warehousing: the Moorestown Mall mixed-use conversion, Cooper University Health Care’s reuse of the former Sears anchor, continued leasing at the Moorestown West Corporate Center and East Gate, reuse of remediated industrial land on New Albany Road, and infill of former orchard and nursery tracts. Each of those transactions typically triggers a Phase I ESA from lenders or institutional buyers, and volume has been particularly visible in Moorestown, Maple Shade, Mount Laurel, Cinnaminson, and Delran.
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The Resource Renewal Business Park at 10 Lippincott Lane is itself a brownfield redevelopment project that moved through the same investigation, remediation, regulatory closure, and reuse process RCC and DSR deliver for clients. It is a working demonstration that contaminated parcels can move from environmental liability to productive operating real estate when investigation, remediation, regulatory strategy, and redevelopment are executed by an integrated team. Prospective clients are welcome to walk the site as part of project scoping.
Visit Our Mount Holly, NJ HQ or Find Us Near You
The Resource Renewal Business Park
10 Lippincott Lane, Unit 1
Mount Holly, NJ 08060
For ASTM E1527-21 Phase I ESA, Phase II Site Investigation, remediation, regulatory compliance, or brownfield redevelopment support on a Moorestown, NJ project, contact Resource Renewal directly. Project work in New Jersey is delivered under LSRP oversight, with field crews mobilizing from our Mount Holly HQ. Call (856) 273-1009 or request a project consultation.