28 Environmental Organizations Demand DEP Revoke Mariner East Pipeline Permit For Lebanon County Spills

On October 5, 28 nonprofit organizations from across Pennsylvania submitted a second letter to Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell, demanding the DEP immediately and permanently revoke all Mariner East Pipeline construction permits.  

The groups cited hundreds of spills of horizontal directional drilling (HDD) fluid, an industrial waste, across Pennsylvania and into waters of the Commonwealth. 

This second letter comes in the wake of continued and repeated spills at Snitz Creek in Lebanon County. 

There have been at least a dozen and a half incidents at the site over the course of more than three years of construction, collectively releasing hundreds of thousands of gallons of drilling mud into local waterways, contaminating both surface and groundwater. 

The first letter was submitted to DEP back in August by thirty environmental and conservation organizations after a massive spill of over 8,000 gallons of drilling fluid into Marsh Creek Lake, a reservoir for much of Chester County’s drinking water.  

According to FracTracker more than 300 spills have released over a quarter million gallons of drilling fluid into Pennsylvania’s waterways since DEP issued the Mariner East 2 Pipeline permits. 

The organizations that have signed these two letters represent a diverse array of environmental organizations as well as conservation groups, grassroots community organizations, civic associations, faith-based groups, and legislative action groups. 

The groups have stated that DEP has failed to protect the public and environment by allowing Sunoco to continue construction despite numerous permit violations and that “Sunoco/ Energy Transfer has lost its social license to operate in Pennsylvania.”  

The groups caution that previously issued fines have not deterred this pipeline operator from further repeated violations. 

“The repeated spills of drilling fluid into Snitz Creek are yet another example that Energy Transfer refuses to comply with laws that protect our water resources,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director and Chief Counsel. “Fines and penalties issued by DEP have done nothing to deter the operator from continued violations.  The only corrective option at this point is to revoke the permits and shut this criminal enterprise down.”

Click Here for a copy of the letter.

(Photo: StateImpact.)

NewsClips:

More Spills At Lebanon Mariner East Pipeline Drill Site Earn Sunoco More Violations

New Drilling Mud Spill At Lebanon County’s Sniz Creek Since Mariner East Pipeline Project Began

Related Articles:

-- 31 Environmental, Conservation Groups Demand DEP Revoke Mariner East Pipeline Permits

-- Clean Air Council: Another Spill From Construction Of Sunoco's Mariner East II Pipeline In Chester County

-- Mariner East Pipeline Drilling Stopped Indefinitely At Site Of Leak Into Marsh Creek State Park Lake, Chester County; Pipeline Company Will Be Held Accountable

-- Mariner East Pipeline Can Resume Construction In Chester County Under Temporary Supercedeas Granted By Environmental Hearing Board

-- DEP Orders Sunoco To Reroute 1+ Mile Of Mariner East Pipeline, Investigate Chester County Marsh Creek Lake Spill, Restore Impacted Resources

-- DEP OKs Permit Changes For Mariner East 2 Pipeline In Delaware, Chester Counties

-- DEP Assesses $355,000 Penalty On Sunoco For 2018, 2019 Mariner East 2 Pipeline Construction Violations

-- PUC: Pipeline Safety Investigation Underway Involving Sunoco Pipeline Under Construction In West Whiteland Twp., Chester County

[Posted: October 5, 2020]  PA Environment Digest