Phase I Environmental Site Assessment in Woodbridge, NJ
Woodbridge anchors one of New Jersey's most active environmental and redevelopment markets, sitting where the New Jersey Turnpike meets the Garden State Parkway in northern Middlesex County, with an industrial waterfront on the Arthur Kill and the Raritan River. Property owners, developers, contractors, municipalities, and counsel working across the Raritan Valley and New York Harbor region 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 to 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).
Why Property Owners and Developers in Middlesex County Choose Resource Renewal
Resource Renewal's headquarters at 10 Lippincott Lane sits inside the Resource Renewal Business Park, a completed brownfield redevelopment project, and a working proof point for the methodology RCC and DSR apply to client sites across Burlington County and South Jersey.
- 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 Woodbridge and Middlesex County
Industrial and Commercial Heritage
Woodbridge Township received its royal charter on June 1, 1669 and is the oldest original township in New Jersey. Naturally rich Cretaceous white-clay deposits made it one of the nation's leading producers of fire brick and clay products by the mid-19th century — Salamander Works opened on Rahway Avenue in 1825, the C.W. Boynton factory introduced hollow tile in 1866, and M.D. Valentine & Brothers, Standwell Fireproofing, Stewart Ceramics, Crossman Clay in Keasbey, and the Florida Grove Company in Fords carried the industry through the 1930s. Heavier industry followed the water: chemical, paint, and resin manufacturing at Keasbey and Fords under Heyden Chemical, Catalin, Ashland Chemical, Sherwin-Williams, and PMC Specialties; PSE&G's Sewaren Generating Station on the Arthur Kill from 1948; and the Hess Port Reading Refinery from 1958 until its closure in 2013. That layered history drives Phase I ESA recommendations today across Port Reading, Sewaren, Keasbey, Fords, Avenel, and Iselin.
Current Environmental Profile
NJDEP Site Remediation Program records show active and closed remediation sites distributed throughout Woodbridge Township and Middlesex County. Petroleum hydrocarbons dominate the Arthur Kill and Raritan River corridor: the EPA RCRA corrective action file for the former Hess Port Reading Refinery identifies benzene, lead, and arsenic in soil and groundwater, alongside removed waste-oil and fuel-oil underground storage tanks, closed land treatment areas and ponds, and free product recovery following a pipeline release. Former paint, resin, and specialty chemical operations in Keasbey and Fords left polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons — benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, and dibenzo(a,h)anthracene — plus tert-butanol in groundwater, managed under deed notices and Classification Exception Areas. Chlorinated solvents from dry cleaners and machine shops, historic clay-pit and industrial fill, tidal sediment along Smith Creek and the Woodbridge River, soil vapor intrusion during residential redevelopment, and PFAS screening round out the typical Phase II scope.
Real Estate and Development Market
Middlesex County is one of the busiest industrial and logistics markets in the Northeast, and Woodbridge sits at its center. New Jersey Turnpike Exit 11 and the Garden State Parkway cross here, U.S. Routes 1 and 9 run the length of the township, and the Driscoll and Edison bridges carry traffic across the Raritan River. Woodbridge hosts the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, the 1.6 million square foot Woodbridge Center, Wakefern's ShopRite headquarters in Keasbey, and the Metropark office corridor in Iselin. Active redevelopment areas along Port Reading Avenue, the former Hess properties off West Avenue, and the Woodbridge–Perth Amboy redevelopment area designated in 2023 keep Phase I ESA transaction volume high across Carteret, Perth Amboy, Edison, Sayreville, Rahway, Linden, and Clark.
Local Regulators, Authorities, and Stakeholders
The NJDEP Central Regional Office provides Site Remediation Program oversight for Middlesex County. Routine touchpoints during Phase II and remedial action work include the Middlesex County Office of Planning, the Middlesex County Improvement Authority, the Freehold Soil Conservation District, and the township engineer. Sites along the Arthur Kill, the Raritan River, the Rahway River, Smith Creek, and the Woodbridge River often require coordination with the NJDEP Division of Water Quality and the Division of Land Resource Protection, with US Army Corps of Engineers permitting for in-water work and flood hazard area review across the roughly one fifth of the township that sits inside FEMA flood hazard areas. Redevelopment of legacy industrial parcels runs through the Woodbridge Township Planning Board and the Woodbridge Redevelopment Agency, and the NJDEP-designated Keasbey Brownfields Development Area carries its own department case manager and steering committee.
Why This Local Context Matters for Your Project
Local industrial history, the current contaminant profile, regulator office assignments, and real estate transaction velocity all feed directly into Phase I scoping decisions and downstream remediation planning. Three decades of project work across Middlesex County and the Raritan Valley mean RCC crews already know the regional regulators, the typical AOC profiles encountered in this corridor, and the surrounding parcels that recur in historical use research. That institutional familiarity shortens timelines and sharpens the recommendations delivered in each report.
Environmental Services Available to Woodbridge, 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.
Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
ASTM E1527-21 site assessment with NJDEP Preliminary Assessment overlay for Woodbridge and Middlesex 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.
How Resource Renewal Serves Woodbridge, 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
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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.
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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 Woodbridge and Middlesex County, the property types most likely to trigger Phase I work are refinery and petroleum terminal, warehouse and distribution, chemical and resin manufacturing, former clay and brick works, automotive, and dry cleaning sites.
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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 Woodbridge and Middlesex 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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Woodbridge sits at the crossing of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, the two busiest highways in the state, with deepwater frontage on the Arthur Kill and the Raritan River inside the Port of New York and New Jersey district. Retirement of legacy refining, power generation, and chemical manufacturing capacity has released large waterfront and rail-served parcels into a warehouse, fulfillment, and last-mile distribution market that remains one of the tightest in the Northeast. Each of those transactions typically triggers a Phase I ESA from lenders or institutional buyers, and many carry an ISRA obligation because the seller is an industrial establishment. Volume has been particularly visible in Port Reading, Keasbey, Sewaren, Avenel, and Fords, and across neighboring Carteret, Perth Amboy, Edison, and Linden.
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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 Woodbridge, 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.