PUC Enforcement Bureau Proposes $225,000 Penalty For 2017 Ethane/Propane Leak From Mariner East 1 Pipeline In Berks County

On December 13, the PUC’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement proposed a $225,000 penalty for violations of federal pipeline safety regulations resulting from an April 1, 2017 leak of 840 gallons of ethane and propane from Sunoco’s Mariner East 1 Pipeline neary Morgantown in Berks County.

Local residents reported the leak after they found product from the 1930’s era, high pressure pipeline bubbling up out of the ground.

Investigators from the Bureau later found the pipeline leak was caused by corrosion requiring the replacement of 83 feet of the 12-inch Mariner East 1 Pipeline.
The Mariner East 1 Pipeline route parallels the Mariner East 2 and 2x Pipelines across the state.

On December 11, Public Utility Commission Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth Barnes denied a petition by residents of Chester and Delaware counties to prevent the operation of a interim “workaround” that would start the shipment of natural gas liquids through the Mariner East 1 and other pipelines until the Mariner East 2 Pipeline is finished.

Judge Barnes concluded relief did not meet the requirements to be an emergency that presented a clear and present danger to life or property.  Click Here for more.

Violations

In its complaint listing 15 violations, the Bureau said Sunoco’s corrosion control procedures were deficient at the time of the leak, Sunoco failed to adequately monitor external corrosion controls, failed to correct identified deficiencies in corrosion controls, failed to maintain adequate corrosion control records and overall failed to demonstrate the adequacy of the cathodic protection system on the Mariner East 1 Pipeline.

Among the Bureau’s other recommendations were--

-- Sunoco conduct a remaining life study of the entire Mariner East 1 Pipeline to forecast the “retirement age” of the pipeline;

-- Increase the frequency of inspections on all bare steel and poorly coated Sunoco Pipelines in Pennsylvania to at least once per year;

-- Develop separate procedures to determine the adequacy of coated steel pipelines and bare steel pipelines; and

-- Implement new cathodic protection procedures and where inadequate protection exists and replace the impacted sections of the Mariner East 1 Pipeline.

Click Here for a copy of the Bureau’s findings and recommendations.

Sunoco now has 20 days to respond to the complaint. If Sunoco contests the complaint, the case goes to the Office of Administrative Law Judge for hearings and a recommended decision before being considered by the full Public Utility Commission.

Related Story:

PUC Judge Denies Petition For Emergency Order To Shutdown Interim Plan To Ship Natural Gas Liquids Through Mariner East Pipelines