Sunoco accused of drilling without approval

SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP » Sunoco is again feeling the heat after the Department of Environmental Protection accused the pipeline builder of drilling without authorization.

The DEP alleges that Sunoco impacted two fresh water wells on Dec. 18, about 10 miles west of Harrisburg, when utilizing horizontal directional drilling, without authorization. The 350-mile Sunoco Mariner East 2 pipeline is now under construction.

The DEP maintains that the approved method of pipeline installation at that location was by open trench.

The DEP also alleges that a Nov. 17 inspection in Berks County also revealed unauthorized drilling.

Sediment first showed up in a West Whiteland Township couple’s well water in July. Sunoco later agreed to hook up about 30 residents to public water and pay each homeowner $60,000.

Sunoco was also rebuked for likely causing a six-foot backyard sinkhole in West Whiteland and not reporting it in a timely fashion.

Kathryn Urbanowicz, staff attorney with Clean Air Council, fired off a letter to associates.

“For this secret, unauthorized drilling to happen even once is outrageous,” she wrote. “For it to happen twice – that we are aware of — makes an utter mockery of DEP and all the calls of the pub-

lic for increased safety and transparency.

“It is painfully clear the DEP’s enforcement efforts are not consequential enough for Sunoco to deem it worthwhile to follow the law.”

The DEP alleges that the permittee (Sunoco) was not authorized to use horizontal directional drilling at the central Pennsylvania site.

The Dec. 22 notice of violation reads: “A request to modify the permit must be submitted by the permittee and approved by DEP before the permittee may commence any construction or earth disturbance activities that are not included in the information submitted in support of the application.”

Plans call for the Sunoco Mariner East 2 pipeline to stretch from Marcellus Shale deposits in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, to the former Sunoco Refinery in Marcus Hook, Delaware County.

Jeff Shields, Sunoco Pipeline Communication Manager, released the following statement Tuesday:

“The Clean Air Council is making statements that are simply false. We have made every effort in the construction of this more than 300-mile project to respect and follow the stringent conditions of our environmental permits.

“In instances where a different construction method was used other than what was outlined in the permit, the method chosen had a lesser environmental impact. We are working with the DEP to address any construction issues and to ensure that any changes to permitted activities are approved in advance.

“Regarding the Clean Air Council’s water claims, there have been no wells impacted in Cumberland County in the way they suggest. We did have some residents complain of a drop in water levels, which we are investigating. Finally, nothing we do in building this important infrastructure project is ‘secret.’

“All our construction is subject to extensive and unprecedented agency oversight and reporting requirements, which are published by the DEP, making Mariner East 2 not only the largest construction project to date in Pennsylvania, but also the most transparent.”

Urbanowicz said during a Tuesday phone interview that the violations were not accidents.

“It seems like Sunoco is making a decision to go against the environmental protections in place,” she said. “They’re undermining the whole process and the public’s ability to protect itself.”

The DEP required Sunoco to submit daily construction logs, including logs, covering the time when drilling started.

Those logs should document each day of activity, start and stop times for drilling, stage of drilling process, approximate progress, drill pressure, depth of cover, and any loss of pressure or drilling fluids.

Sunoco was also reminded that it had to offer well water users located within 450 feet of all horizontal directional drilling sites free water sampling, before, during and after the start of drilling.