Opposition to pipeline a bipartisan issue

MIDDLETOWN » Repeal and replace is a partisan issue.

The safeguards surrounding installation of Sunoco Logistic’s Mariner East 2 pipeline, however, is not.

State Rep. Chris Quinn, R-168 of Edgmont, state Rep. Leanne KruegerBraneky, D-161 of Swarthmore, and state Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19 of West Whiteland, have all called for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to halt construction of the project. Quinn and KruegerBraneky asked for the moratorium after 1,500 gallons of bentonite leaked into an unnamed tributary of Chester Creek and at least one aquifer was impacted; Dinniman, following reports of water quality issues in Uwchlan and West Whiteland townships.

“This is not a Republican and Democratic issue,” said Quinn. “We all need to be worried about the environment.”

Quinn and KruegerBraneky both requested an immediate moratorium until the DEP can ensure proper safeguards are in place to protect the safety and property of local residents. Quinn’s appeal was also directed to Gov. Tom Wolf, DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell and Sunoco Logistics officials.

Bentonite, a non-toxic lubricant used in horizontal directional drilling, leaked into the waterway Monday afternoon. DEP shut the operation down, Sunoco crews used sand bags to dam the stream and contain the release and pumps were activated to remove the clay solution, said DEP community relations coordinator Virginia Cain. A small portion made its way to Chester Creek, where it was quickly diluted by upstream flow, she added.

The same day, a “considerable amount” of groundwater was seen flowing back to the pad from the same drilling site, said Sunoco Logistics Communications Manager Jeff Shields. He said at the time there were no reports of impacts

to private wells or public water supplies, noting the company installed additional containment areas allowing the water to be collected.

The bentonite situation was the second in the county in as many months. Nearly 580 gallons of the same substance seeped into the creek in three separate instances in May as workers drilled along Chester Creek Road in Brookhaven. In similar fashion, drilling was suspended and the substance contained with sand bags.

The representatives are equally concerned about the possible impact on drinking water. Krueger-Braneky

cited the potential effect on a private drinking well in her district, similar to Dinniman’s worry when the drilling process damaged an underground water supply feeding an aquifer, resulting in nearly a dozen residences experiencing cloudy water or loss of supply from their private wells.

“Enough is enough,” she said. “I have asked DEP to conduct independent water testing in all potentially impacted private wells, as well as the Chester Creek, so that residents have independent confirmation that their water is safe.”

DEP does not have the authority to oversee private wells and Quinn and state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, are sponsoring legislation that would give the agency the proper regulatory authority to protect

them and help prevent similar situations from occurring.

The legislators have been joined by the Clean Air Council, Mountain Watershed Association, Inc. and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. In a filing with the state Environmental Hearing Board, the groups provided documentation of more than 61 drilling fluid spills that have occurred across the state in less than a two-month period spanning from late-April to midJune.

“Sunoco has unleashed drilling fluid into exceptional value wetlands, highquality trout streams, reservoirs and groundwater endangering both drinking water supplies and our natural environment,” the organizations noted in a press release.

RICK KAUFFMAN — DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA A marker for Sunoco Pipeline LP sits along a barren ridge that was cleared for construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline in Middletown.