By Barbara A. Preston | Posted January 15, 2026
Some residents have raised questions on social media regarding whether the Johnson & Johnson diaper manufacturing site and office complex on Grandview Road in Skillman, which now goes by the name Kenvue, is contaminated.
Rumors may have started with this sign, which was posted on the Kenvue property in May 2024.
Photo by Barbara A. Preston
Kenvue is in the process of selling the property to developer Eli Kahn who has proposed to build housing on the property. If Montgomery officials do not permit housing, he says he will build a business park, possibily with lite industry on the site.
The Montgomery News spoke to Melissa Witt, the Global Media Relations Leader at Kenvue about the Environmental Investigation sign on the property. She said:
"Our separation from Johnson & Johnson required a site assessment under NJ State law for business transactions of that nature. Our assessment did not reveal conditions requiring remediation, and we are completing the final actions required by NJDEP. Our commitment to care extends to the communities we operate in, and there are no concerns for employees, visitors, or the community."
Township Administrator Lori Savron, doing her due diligence, asked independent environmental consultant Rohan Tadas, CHMM, LSRP, to report on whether the property has a contamination issue. Tadas gave a brief presentation at the Dec. 18 Township Committee meeting.
Rohan began by identifying himself as a licensed site remediation professional who works for Environmental Resolutions, Inc. (erinj.com), which is a leading engineering, planning, environmental, and surveying consulting company. He earned a master’s degree in Environmental Pollution Control from Penn State University Kenvue Site, in 2003 and has worked in his field for at least 18 years.
Tadas told Township Committee members that he “reviewed some available online documents of the former J&J property now known as Kenvue.”
“Because J&J sold to Kenvue, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) required J&J to do what’s known as an ISRA, or an NJ Industrial Site Recovery Act [investigation], which are a very onerous, strict, regulations,” Tadas said.
ISRA requires owners of facilities with specific industrial classifications to investigate the property for contamination prior to any property transfers when the business ceases operations or is to be sold. The owner must then remediate any contamination prior to a sale or transfer of property ownership.
J&J as the property owner retained a site remediation professional to investigate the property, looking for any potential areas of concern, according to Tadas. The investigator found 99 potential areas of concern, of which two required additional investigation and sampling, Tadas said.
Advertisement
The investigator then collected samples and found some contamination, which he reported in the J&J site investigation report, and then he collected further samples in that area to delineate the extent of the contamination, Tadas said.
The investigator [who was not named during the meeting] then identified the contaminants as being potentially from an off site source or to be naturally occurring, but not necessarily related to a discharge from the J&J facility. The investigator took appropriate steps to address the offsite contamination, Tadas said, and then issued what’s known as an “Unrestricted Use Response Action Outcome (RAO) for the entire property.”
This means that a Licensed Site Remediation Professional (LSRP) has determined the site’s contamination is fully remediated, allowing for any use permitted by local zoning, without needing future controls or permits, signifying a complete and protective cleanup for unrestricted public health and safety.
“In essence, it says, based on what I’ve seen, I don’t see any need for further investigation here. The site is closed.
However, Tadas included three caveats.
1. The building interiors were not addressed.
“If we are investigating a property and contamination enters the building from an outside sources, we have to investigate the interior,” Tadas said. “Here, it was not done because no contamination from outside the building went inside.”
2. He included a notice for “Regional natural background variation.”
This means that soil contamination found at a property is naturally occurring and not from a man-made pollution event, meaning no further cleanup beyond these natural levels is required under state regulations, often resulting in a No Further Action (NFA) outcome. It acknowledges contamination exists but explains it’s due to naturally occurring substances (like metals or arsenic) at levels typical for the region, not industrial spills.
3. Historically applied pesticides were not investigated.
Pesticides were not investigated. The NJDEP allows an environmental investigator to put a notice in the file that says, “We think historically there are applied pesticides here, but we’re not going to investigate it.”
Tadas said it is somewhat common to expect that farmers would have applied pesticides on their land.
The Kenvue site was a farm, prior to its development by Johnson & Johnson. The property across the Grandview Road (owned by Kenvue but to be acquired by Eli Kahn) is still a farm.
Photo by Barbara A. Preston
Tadas concluded: "There is no contamination on the property that needs to be addressed further. However, in the event that the property is going to be converted to residential use, or to a school, then those historically applied pesticides must be investigated,” he said.
As of now, the Kenvue property can be used for a commercial or industrial use. The buyer would have to retain a professional, and go through their own assessment of the property in order to get NJDEP clearance to build housing or a school.
