On September 22, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced that it has collected a civil penalty of $736,294.11 from Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco) for violations associated with the construction of the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline in Columbia, Lancaster, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, and Wyoming counties.
The penalty was part of a Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty (CACP) entered into between DEP and Transco.
DEP will collect $680,000 of the civil penalty, and the remaining penalty, $56,294.11, will be distributed among the county conservation districts that inspected the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline during its construction to reimburse the costs they incurred during their inspections.
“Impacts from construction activities that harm or have the potential to harm waters of the Commonwealth are unacceptable, and we will continue to hold operators accountable,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.
The violations included failure to properly maintain erosion and sedimentation best management practices, inadvertent returns of drilling fluids at drilling sites in Lebanon, Luzerne, and Wyoming counties, and sediment discharge into waters of the Commonwealth. Full details are available in the CACP.
In addition to the civil penalty, Transco will provide $100,000 to the Shamokin Creek Restoration Alliance to fund two water quality improvement projects in the Shamokin Creek watershed along Quaker Run and Buck Run in the Borough of Kulpmont in Northumberland County.
Click Here for a copy of the Consent Order.
For more information related to DEP’s oversight of the pipeline project, visit the DEP Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline webpage. Media questions should be directed to Jamar Thrasher, DEP Press Secretary, jthrasher@pa.gov or 717-319-1758.
[Posted: Sept. 22, 2020] PA Environment Digest
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