DEP Assesses $355,000 Penalty to Sunoco for 2018, 2019 Mariner East 2 Violations

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has assessed a $355,636 penalty from Sunoco Pipeline LP (Sunoco) for violations related to the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline in eight Pennsylvania counties.

One of the areas where a violation occurred was in Piney Creek, Woodbury Township, Blair County. DEP documents indicate that the horizontal drilling occurred under Lower Piney Creek Road, Piney Creek and State Road 866.

The problem developed in June 2017, when a problem was noted while drilling through limestone and shale. Drilling fluids were observed to be discharging into the stream. Drilling was stopped while the problem was studied and remedial actions were taken.

Nine landowners within 450 feet of the discharge were notified by letter in October-November 2017. Offers were made to sample the landowners’ private water supplies or wells.

Four landowners replied, verifying the presence of private wells within 450 feet of the discharge area. DEP documents indicate that the landowners were all contacted and offered alternatives to the use of their well water.

Sunoco Pipeline LP, the drilling company, eventually abandoned attempts to install the 16-inch pipeline in that location by that method and selected an alternative method and route.

The other counties in the penalty assessment are Berks, Cambria, Cumberland, Delaware, Lebanon, Washington and Westmoreland.

The violations took place between August 2018 and April 2019. The penalty was part of a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty (CACP) signed earlier this month.

“Protecting the waters of the Commonwealth is one of the top priorities of DEP and we will continue to hold polluters of those waters accountable,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.

Sunoco’s horizontal drilling activities resulted in unauthorized discharges of drilling fluids consisting of bentonite clay and water, also known as inadvertent returns, to Piney Creek in Blair County; tributaries and wetlands connected to Hinckston Run, Stewart Run, and Little Conemaugh Creek in Cambria County; Letort Run and wetlands and tributaries to the Yellow Breeches Creek in Cumberland County; a tributary to Chester Creek in Delaware County; Snitz Creek in Lebanon County; a tributary to Peters Creek in Washington County; and a tributary to the Conemaugh River in Westmoreland County.

As part of the agreement, DEP has assessed a civil penalty of $355,636 for the violations, which Sunoco has agreed to pay to the Commonwealth. A portion of the civil penalty, $5,912, will be paid to the county conservation districts to reimburse them for their costs incurred during their investigation of the inadvertent returns. The remaining penalty, $349,724, will be paid to the Clean Water Fund.

Additional information, including the CACP and supporting documents, can be found on DEP’s “Mariner East 2 Pipeline” website.