Neighbors get their wells tested for gas after Sunoco pipeline leak
Kat La Hart speaks about the need for well testing, which was done by Sunoco’s third-party company GES, in her Upper Makefield neighborhood.
The state has found that the company whose pipeline poisoned private wells near Washington Crossing violated state law, according to an order issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection on Thursday.
Energy Transfer, the parent company of pipeline operator Sunoco, violated the Clean Streams Law by leaking petroleum into the watershed of an Upper Makefield neighborhood off of Mt. Eyre Road, state regulators wrote on March 6, and may be subject to civil penalties.
The state order formalizes several water safety measures that the company had already begun implementing, and requires documentation of the implementation. The order also outlines a number of remediation requirements, but stops short of issuing penalties.
Jet fuel contamination has been found in at least 11 wells since a Sunoco pipeline leak was discovered under a Glenwood Drive home in late January. Neighborhood residents smelled and tasted gas in their water as early as September 2023, but Sunoco’s investigation at the time did not identify a leak.
An initial investigation by federal regulators at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has found that the pipeline was leaking for at least 16 months.
What is PA requiring pipeline company to do under Act 2?
Thursday’s state order requires the pipeline company to provide water filtration systems and bottled water to area homes that test above the limit for volatile organic compounds, which includes petroleum products, and to provide regular updates on water test results and water filtration installations.
Energy Transfer has signed up for a voluntary cleanup program under Act 2, which requires the company to submit a work plan for establishing the extent of the leak. The company has previously said it doesn’t know how much fluid leaked, how far it spread, or how long the pipeline had been leaking. The company will also have to submit progress reportrs on remediation efforts and public communications plans to the state.
The state could fine the pipeline comapny up to $10,000 per day for the leak. Sunoco has recently cast doubt on the federal regulator’s findings that the pipeline has been leaking for at least 16 months.
The state order comes a week after Governer Josh Shapiro’s office sent a letter urging the federal Department of Transportation, which oversees the interstate pipeline, to ensure public safety after the leak. The fact that the leak originated from a dent that had been repaired with a sleeve, and that there are dozens of similar sleeves currently in place, raises “questions about the integrity of the entire pipeline,” Shapiro wrote.
Bucks County officials call for shutdown of pipeline
Elected officials at various levels — Upper Makefield supervisors, state Rep. Perry Warren, D-31 of Newtown, state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-10, of Lower Makefield, the county commissioners, and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-01 of Middletown — have called on Sunoco to shut down the pipeline until its investigation is complete. However, Shapiro’s Feb. 28 letter stopped short of calling for a shutdown.
In 2022, as attorney general, Shapiro secured criminal convictions against Sunoco and Energy Transfer for violations during construction of the Mariner East 2 Pipeline, and for “repeatedly ignoring” environmental regulations that played a role in a 2018 pipeline explosion.
The convictions came with a $10 million fine, along with the cost of remediation efforts. Energy Transfer brought in nearly $90 billion that year.
Jess Rohan can be reached at jrohan@gannett.com.