Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in Paterson, NJ

Paterson anchors one of New Jersey's most historically important industrial corridors, sitting along the Passaic River at the Great Falls in Passaic County — the cradle of America's first planned industrial city, established by Alexander Hamilton's Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.). Property owners, developers, contractors, municipalities, and counsel working across North Jersey's urban industrial belt 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 Phase II investigation, remediation, and brownfield repositioning support — delivered by our Mount Holly HQ team and DSR-affiliated remediation crews mobilized to Paterson, Passaic County, and the surrounding Passaic River industrial corridor.

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).

Why Property Owners and Developers in Passaic County Choose Resource Renewal

Paterson's environmental landscape reflects more than two centuries of dense industrial activity — silk mills, locomotive works, firearms manufacturing, textile dyeing, and chemical operations clustered along the Passaic River and the S.U.M. raceway system. Today, the city is repositioning that heritage through brownfield redevelopment, mixed-use revitalization in the Great Falls National Historical Park district, and infill investment across Passaic County's urban core. Phase I ESAs in Paterson routinely surface multi-generational fill, historic dry cleaners, former gas stations, locomotive and machine shop legacy, plating and metal finishing, and Passaic River corridor sediment concerns — all of which require NJDEP Site Remediation Program and LSRP-led pathways.

  • 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

Environmental Context in Paterson and Passaic County

Industrial and Commercial Heritage

Paterson was incorporated in 1792 as America's first planned industrial city under Hamilton's S.U.M., powered by the Great Falls of the Passaic River. The city became a global capital of silk weaving ("Silk City"), home to Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works, Colt firearms manufacturing, Watson Machine, Wright Aeronautical, and a deep network of dyehouses, mills, and metal finishers. Generations of textile, chemical, locomotive, and machine-tool operations layered the urban fabric with fill material, historic underground storage tanks, solvent and metal residues, and the kinds of legacy conditions that drive Phase I ESA findings today.

Current Environmental Profile

Paterson today is a focus of NJDEP brownfield activity, urban remediation, and Passaic River corridor stewardship. The city sits within the broader Passaic River watershed — a federally designated Superfund corridor in its lower reaches — and includes active and closed Site Remediation Program cases tied to former dyeworks, mills, dry cleaners, and gas stations. Soil and groundwater concerns commonly include chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and historic fill. Vapor intrusion screening is routinely required where former industrial parcels are repositioned for residential, mixed-use, or community-facing redevelopment.

Real Estate and Development Market

Paterson is a priority market for adaptive reuse of mill buildings, transit-oriented development around NJ Transit's Main Line and Bergen County Line stations, Great Falls National Historical Park district investment, and affordable and workforce housing. Mill conversions along the Passaic River and S.U.M. raceway corridor, mixed-use repositioning in downtown and along Market Street, and infill across Passaic County all bring Phase I ESA, Phase II, and brownfield closure work into nearly every transaction. Lenders, attorneys, and developers active in Paterson rely on ASTM E1527-21 Phase I deliverables that hold up under NJDEP and LSRP review.

Local Regulators, Authorities, and Stakeholders

Environmental work in Paterson is coordinated through NJDEP's Site Remediation Program and Northern Regional Office, with LSRP oversight under SRRA. Key local and state stakeholders include the City of Paterson Department of Community Development, the Paterson Habitat for Humanity and CDC network, the Great Falls National Historical Park (National Park Service), Passaic County Planning, the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) brownfield and Hazardous Discharge Site Remediation Fund (HDSRF) programs. Resource Renewal's Mount Holly HQ team works fluently across all of these pathways.

Why This Local Context Matters for Your Project

Paterson is a complex environmental market — dense legacy industrial fabric along the Passaic River, layered fill, historic UST inventories, vapor intrusion exposure, brownfield repositioning pressure, and intense regulatory expectation from NJDEP, LSRPs, and the federal Passaic River Superfund context downstream. Resource Renewal delivers Phase I ESA and follow-on investigation, remediation, and brownfield support that is anchored in NJ practice, Passaic County experience, and the kind of locally informed judgment that keeps Paterson projects moving on schedule.

Environmental Services Available to Paterson, NJ Projects

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.

RCC investigation track Compliance DSR redevelopment track

How Resource Renewal Serves Paterson, NJ

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

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 Paterson, 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.

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