Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in Toms River, NJ

Toms River anchors Ocean County along the Jersey Shore — one of the most significant historical environmental cases in the United States and a sustained suburban repositioning market sitting along the Toms River and Barnegat Bay watershed. Property owners, developers, contractors, municipalities, and counsel working across Toms River and Ocean 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 Phase II investigation, remediation, and brownfield repositioning support — delivered by our Mount Holly HQ team and DSR-affiliated remediation crews mobilized to Toms River, Ocean County, and the broader Jersey Shore 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 Ocean County Choose Resource Renewal

Toms River's environmental landscape reflects one of the most consequential industrial legacy stories in the United States — the former Ciba-Geigy (now CIBA Specialty Chemicals) chemical manufacturing facility, a federal Superfund site that operated from the 1950s and became central to one of the most well-documented childhood cancer cluster investigations in modern environmental history. Today, Toms River is the heart of Ocean County's sustained Jersey Shore growth, with ongoing residential and mixed-use development, suburban brownfield repositioning, Barnegat Bay watershed considerations, and continued NJDEP and EPA oversight of legacy industrial parcels. Phase I ESAs in Toms River routinely surface historic fill, chlorinated solvents and pharmaceutical/dye manufacturing residues at legacy sites, petroleum hydrocarbons from historic USTs, dry cleaner legacy, and Barnegat Bay corridor 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 Toms River and Ocean County

Industrial and Commercial Heritage

Toms River is best known as the home of the former Ciba-Geigy dye and pharmaceutical manufacturing operation, a federal Superfund site whose legacy is documented in Dan Fagin's Pulitzer Prize-winning book Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation. Beyond the Ciba site, the township has a long history of light industrial, commercial, and supporting Jersey Shore tourism and hospitality activity. Generations of chemical, industrial, commercial, and shore-economy operations layered the township with historic fill, underground storage tanks, dry cleaners, gas stations, and the kinds of legacy conditions that drive Phase I ESA findings today.

Current Environmental Profile

Toms River today sits within active NJDEP and EPA Region 2 oversight on legacy industrial parcels, alongside sustained Ocean County residential and commercial growth. The former Ciba-Geigy Superfund site remains a defining regional environmental case, with ongoing remediation, groundwater monitoring, and community oversight. Soil and groundwater concerns commonly include chlorinated solvents, petroleum hydrocarbons, pharmaceutical and dye manufacturing residues at legacy sites, heavy metals, and historic fill. Vapor intrusion screening is routinely required where former industrial or commercial parcels are repositioned for residential, mixed-use, or community-facing redevelopment.

Real Estate and Development Market

Toms River is one of the most active Ocean County repositioning markets — Jersey Shore residential and mixed-use growth, downtown revitalization, suburban brownfield repositioning along Route 9, Route 37, and Route 166, and continued infill across the township. Lenders, attorneys, and developers active in Toms River rely on ASTM E1527-21 Phase I deliverables that hold up under NJDEP and LSRP review — particularly given the regional sensitivity to legacy industrial conditions and Barnegat Bay watershed protection.

Local Regulators, Authorities, and Stakeholders

Environmental work in Toms River is coordinated through NJDEP's Site Remediation Program and Central Regional Office, with LSRP oversight under SRRA. Federal Superfund oversight of the Ciba-Geigy site is led by EPA Region 2. Key local and state stakeholders include the Toms River Township Department of Community Development, the Ocean County Planning Department, the Ocean County Soil Conservation District, the Barnegat Bay Partnership, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), and Toms River Field of Dreams and other community redevelopment efforts. Resource Renewal's Mount Holly HQ team works fluently across all of these pathways.

Why This Local Context Matters for Your Project

Toms River is a high-sensitivity environmental market — defining national-scale industrial legacy (Ciba-Geigy Superfund), Barnegat Bay watershed protection considerations, layered historic fill, UST inventories, suburban residential and mixed-use repositioning pressure, and significant regulatory expectation from NJDEP, LSRPs, and EPA. Resource Renewal delivers Phase I ESA and follow-on investigation, remediation, and brownfield support that is anchored in NJ practice, Ocean County experience, and the kind of locally informed judgment that keeps Toms River projects moving on schedule.

Environmental Services Available to Toms River, 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 Toms River, 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

  • Mount Holly is Resource Renewal's headquarters city. The Resource Renewal Business Park at 10 Lippincott Lane is a completed brownfield redevelopment project and the home base for RCC and DSR field crews working across Burlington County. Surrounding municipalities served from this HQ include Burlington, Westampton, Lumberton, Eastampton, Hainesport, Pemberton, Cinnaminson, Maple Shade, Moorestown, Cherry Hill, Marlton, and Medford.

  • 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 Mount Holly and Burlington County, the property types most likely to trigger Phase I work are industrial, automotive, agricultural, fuel storage, and dry cleaning sites.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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 Mount Holly and Burlington County sites.

  • 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.

  • 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. The I-295 / NJ Turnpike Exit 5 / Route 38 corridor and proximity to the Port of Philadelphia have driven sustained conversion of agricultural and former industrial parcels into large-format warehouse, fulfillment, and last-mile distribution facilities. Each of those transactions typically triggers a Phase I ESA from lenders or institutional buyers. Volume has been particularly visible in Mount Holly, Westampton, Burlington Township, Florence, and Mansfield.

  • 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 Toms River, 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.

Contact Resource Renewal for Project Support