PA Environment Digest Blog: Attorney General Shapiro's Statement Announcing 48 Environmental Criminal Charges Against The Mariner East Pipeline In 11 Counties

The following is the opening statement by Attorney General Josh Shapiro at the announcement his Office was filing 48 counts of environmental crimes in 11 counties against the owners of the Mariner East Pipeline on October 5--

We are here at [Marsh Creek State] Park because Pennsylvanians have a right to clean air and pure water. It's a right that is enshrined in article one, section 27 of our Commonwealth's Constitution. And we are one of just a handful of states that have constitutional guarantees to protect our environment.

The case I'm here to announce today began through a referral by the districts' attorneys, as I said before, in Chester, Delaware, and Berks Counties and was submitted to the women and men of the 45th Statewide Investigative Grand Jury.

Their diligence and their hard work has resulted in criminal charges that I'm here to announce today against Energy Transfer, the corporate successor to Sunoco, for illegal behavior that, uh, related to the construction of the Mariner East II Pipeline that polluted our lakes, our rivers, and our water wells and put Pennsylvania's safety at risk.

Today, we are filing 48 comprehensive criminal charges against Energy Transfer. Forty-five of those charges are for illegally releasing industrial waste at 22 sites in 11 different counties across Pennsylvania.

And it's important to note that while we're here in Chester County, this had a broad impact across our Commonwealth, from Washington and Westmoreland Counties in Western Pennsylvania to Blair and Huntington and Cumberland, all the way to Berks and Delaware, and of course right here in Chester County in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Two of these charges were able to be included because of information formally provided to our office yesterday by the Department of Environmental Protection. And I know that caused a brief, but necessary postponement in our announcement in order to allow the Office of Attorney General to do our due diligence. Again, two of these charges were able to be included because of that information we received yesterday.

There are three additional charges, including one felony, for illegal and dangerous conduct statewide. Those charges include one charge for using unapproved additives in their drilling fluid, one charge for contaminating local water supplies, and one felony charge for willfully and consistently failing to report these releases to the Department of Environmental Protection.

Look, when construction of Mariner East II began, DEP approved a process known as horizontal directional drilling for Energy Transfer to build this pipeline. This type of drilling requires high pressure fluid, usually water mixed with bentonite clay and other additives, to keep the drill bit moving, to prevent the underground tunnel from collapsing, and to move rock and soil and replace it with the pipeline.

Drilling like this is obviously complicated. An error can lead to unsafe fluid escaping or it could contaminate local water supplies, polluting on the surface of local lakes and rivers. Every time those errors happen, the driller is required to report it under state regulation to the Department of Environmental Protection so DEP can then take action.

The grand jury heard testimony and saw evidence showing that releases of this fluid were frequent and damaging and largely unreported and that hundreds of thousands of gallons of contaminated drilling fluid found its way out of the drill path, into our waterways, and into some Pennsylvania homes.

The grand jury saw evidence that Energy Transfer knew about these releases and often chose not to report them to DEP until fluid emerged on the surface somewhere visible for all.

And more than that, the grand jurors heard testimony and saw evidence that some contractors used, in addition to the bentonite, unapproved chemicals for this type of drilling, including chemicals that can irritate the skin and eyes.

Under state regulation, DEP keeps an approved chemicals list, and unapproved chemicals must go through a review process to determine if they are needed.

The grand jurors found records showing subcontractors sometimes ignored these procedures and that Energy Transfer didn't adequately oversee those subcontractors, which allowed unapproved additives to be used.

Understand that that failure to oversee is not an error. But here in Pennsylvania, it is a crime. We're here today at Marsh Creek Lake, one of the many lakes and streams across Pennsylvania that the pipeline passed and polluted.

Places we treasure like Loyalhanna Lake and Raystown Lake, look, these are places that we have a duty to protect and to conserve. They're a part of our heritage here in the Commonwealth. It's where generations have come together to make memories, to fish, and to boat and to hike with their families.

In August of 2020, early estimates and some news reports from your outlets said that 8,100 gallons of fluid spilled into this lake right here behind me from a release.

The grand jury heard testimony and have actually put that number significantly higher, between 21,000 and 28,000 gallons of contaminated fluid poured into this waterway.

In total, more than 80,000 gallons of drilling fluid were lost in tributaries, on the surface, and in and around the lake during the construction of one segment of the pipeline between 2017 and 2020.

Grand jurors saw records showing that it took more than 100 people in cleanup crews to contain this pollution and simply begin to restore this body of water.

Many of these losses were never reported to DEP when they happened, despite the fact that Energy Transfer knew about those releases.

This was a major incident, but understand, it wasn't an isolated one. This happened all across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

And Pennsylvanians from impacted communities testified about thousands of gallons of drinking fluid being lost underground, in ground waters and in, in our groundwater and lakes and rivers and streams, and ultimately rendered them to be contaminated.

The result-- Pennsylvanians who live next to construction, well, they suffered. And evidence presented showed the drinking water from a minimum of 150 families in the Commonwealth was contaminated.

Take a look at these images around me. In a public park near one of the victim's homes, Rosemary from Media, who signed an easement for Energy Transfer to use a small part of her land, she testified to the grand jury that Energy Transfer claimed the incursion on her land would be, quote, "minimal."

Well, it was all underground and she wouldn't even notice it, she was told.

Then, they began to drill. She told the grand jurors that her water pressure dropped and a strange color sediment destroyed her shower, her dishwasher, and several toilets in her home, and then the sink holes opened up.

Her daughter then had to be hospitalized after drinking the contaminated water, despite assurances from Energy Transfer that the water was safe for her to drink.

And it wasn't just Rosemary. You understand?

The grand jurors heard dozens of stories just like hers, from people like Karen in Glen Mills and families from Johnstown and Jeannette.

What they said was consistent throughout their testimony, that Energy Transfer started drilling, the fluid started leaking, their drinking water was impacted, DEP wasn't notified, and nobody was held criminally accountable.

The charges that we announce today begin to change that.

If you believe that your drinking water or your property was impacted by these inadvertent returns, it's important that we in the Office of Attorney General know. Please contact our Environmental Crimes section directly at 570-904-2643, or you can email us directly at EnvironmentalCrimes@AttorneyGeneral.gov.

Now, listen. This isn't a lawsuit seeking penalties or fines. These are criminal charges for breaking Pennsylvania law.

The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Energy Transfer for polluting our water dozens of times, yet the violations continue.

So it's fair then for someone to ask, you know, "What does it mean to criminally charge a corporation in an environmental case under the laws of our Commonwealth?"

Well, first, unlike other crimes, state law does not require a company to intentionally or knowingly harm the environment in order for us to secure a conviction in these cases. There's actually a duty under the law to protect our air and water. And when companies harm these vital resources through negligence, it is a crime.

Second, by charging Energy Transfer, we will force them to contend directly with criminal charges in a criminal courtroom here in Pennsylvania, and we will seek to hold them criminally accountable for their conduct.

Third, we are sending a very clear message to other companies that we take our environmental laws and public health very, very seriously in the Office of Attorney General. And if they break our criminal laws, there will be consequences for that.

Lastly, it allows us to keep investigating and uncovering all of the environmental crimes that, uh, that happened here. We can shed light on them and ensure that the truth is told for each and every crime that was committed.

And yet, under our laws, if convicted, this company, they'll be sentenced to fines. They'll be sentenced to fines. And I'm here to tell you that's not enough. That's not enough.

Corporations should not be treated leniently just because there's not a mug shot of Energy Transfer being arrested today. They should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

And that is what we are here to do, to apply the law without fear or without favor.

As these charges make clear, there is a real wide gap between what our Constitution guarantees, clean air and pure water, and the reality for families and communities in the path of this pipeline.

The oversight provided by DEP at times failed people. The laws we have to stop these crimes are simply not enough. We can't rely on these out of state companies to police themselves.

Hell, they work for shareholders, not for us. It's the government's job to set the ground rules to protect us and to protect the public. And it's my job, it's our office's job, to uphold these laws.

And so that's why I am calling once again for stronger laws to hold these companies accountable and to protect Pennsylvanians' health. [Read more here.]

I'm here to say that lawmakers need to do more. Lawmakers need to do more.

And that's why we demand once again for DEP to toughen up the independent oversight we need them to provide on the industries that they regulate and why we will pursue this case with everything we have in the Attorney General's Office, led in the very capable hands by Becca Franz, because when companies, when companies break the law and put public safety at risk, we have shown that we will take them on and work to hold them accountable.

It's our duty, and we fundamentally believe that these charges will have an impact.

For community members who are desperate to be heard, who have been crying out for a long time to be heard, I want you to know that we are listening and we hear you. We hear you.

We know more must be done, and we are here to take on this fight for you. And we are not done.

To Energy Transfer and any other company out there, you are officially on notice. We are prepared to hold you criminally accountable when you break the laws here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and harm the good people of the Keystone State.

And with that, I'd be more than happy to do my best to answer your questions.

NewsClips:

-- Inquirer - Frank Kummer: AG Shapiro Announces Criminal Charges Against Mariner East Pipeline Owner For Leaks

-- PG - Anya Litvak: PA Attorney General Announces 48 Criminal Charges Against Energy Transfer In Mariner East Pipeline Construction

-- PA Cap-Star: Shapiro Files Criminal Charges Against Energy Transfer In Construction Of Mariner East 2 Pipeline

-- AP: Mariner East Pipeline Developer Charged In Connection With Contamination