Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘PIPELINE WORKERS BREACHED AQUIFER’
Energy Transfer spokesperson disputes allegation by state senator, resident
Sunoco/ Energy Transfer workers hit and breached an underground aquifer at Shoen Road which since then has fouled 250,000 gallons per day of fresh drinking water, according to State Sen. Danielle Friel Otten, D155th, of Uwchlan and Shoen Road resident Ginny Kerslake.
The two women estimate that 50 trucks, with a capacity of 5,000 gallons each, have daily been removing water from the drill site of the Sunoco Mariner East pipeline.
Sunoco/ET spokesperson Lisa Coleman responded with a one-sentence comment.
“We did not impact the aquifer at Shoen Road,” wrote Coleman on Aug. 11.
Township Manager Mimi Gleason stated on Thursday that the disturbance might be related to the recent tropical storm which flooded the area.
“Township officials are concerned about the impact on our residents and the impact to the environment from the Mariner East project,” Gleason wrote. “We will continue to do as much as we can to mitigate the impact on our residents by enforcing the local noise ordinance restricting nighttime work.
“We urge DEP to thoroughly investigate the water issues resulting from Tropical Storm Isaias and pipeline construction and to release the results to the public.”
Kerslake and Friel Otten are very thankful that the township is enforcing the township’s noise ordinance but questioned the suggestion that the water being pumped continuously from the drill pit since last week was due to storm flooding.
“About a week into drilling, groundwater started flowing down through the pilot hole to the drill pit, just as it did in their failed attempts here in 2017 and 2019,” Kerslake said.
Since Sunday Aug. 9 that water has been diverted to a filtration device and allowed to flow across the Whiteland West Apartment property and into an unnamed tributary of Valley Creek. Kerslake and Friel Otten contacted the DEP about this on Sunday, expressing concern it had not received approval and that uncontained water was pooling just three feet from first floor apartment units.
The Department of Environmental Protection issued the following statement on Tuesday: “On Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020, DEP, along with PFBC, responded to a second incident related to the HDD 360 site to investigate reports of water discharges at multiple areas in the West Whiteland Apartment Complex. DEP personnel walked the site to determine if the project was using approved Best Management Practices (BMPs). In addition to responding to the site, as part of its ongoing investigation, DEP is currently reviewing permits and plans pertaining to this location to determine if acceptable erosion and sedimentation controls were being used.”
In another pipeline-related issue at the same site, Kerslake also noted that mud emerged from the ground at her Shoen Road property just west of Pottstown Pike, on Saturday around 9 a.m. Shortly after 1 p.m. she notified the DEP of the increasing mud flow and Sunoco’s failure to halt drilling as required. The DEP arrived two hours later. “At that point it became a river of mud flowing across our property,” Kerslake said.
The DEP also released a statement concerning this “frac-out” on Tuesday: “On
Aug. 8, 2020 DEP received reports of a discharge in a swale across the road from the drill site at Shoen Road DEP responded, along with Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), and conducted a field investigation which included testing of water to determine if the water coming from the ground contained drilling fluids that would constitute an Inadvertent Return (IR). Under a 2017 Consent Order and Agreement (CO&A), findings of an IR would require a shutdown.
“To determine whether an IR occurred, the Department is following established protocol that considered three criteria: pH, conductivity, and color. These results are still under analysis. Drilling activity remains stopped at this site. If it is determined that an IR occurred, the site will be shut down in accordance with the COA and a restart report will be required. If it is determined that there was no IR, work may resume pursuant to the conditions of the Permit, the CO&A, and other applicable authorities.”
Kerslake questions the DEP’s testing protocol. “If you are investigating whether or not an IR occurred, why would you not test specifically for bentonite, the primary component of drilling mud, using x-ray diffraction analysis? It makes no sense. Why not perform testing that will be definitive?”
Kerslake said that her anti Mariner East signs have been damaged and stolen and Sunoco workers closely watch her comings and goings, taking photos and videos of her and guests.
“None of us asked for this,” she said about the pipeline construction. “No one benefits from this.
“We’re just taking on a whole lot of risk for corporate gain. Those that are tasked for protecting us and the environment have ultimately failed us.”
The pipeline runs to the north through Friel Otten’s neighborhood.
“This is an example of the crisis of our time,” the rep said. “The people of Pennsylvania have a right to clean air and pure water, public health, safety and private property.
“Yet the priority seems to be protecting a multinational, private, for-profit corporation, which then exploits and degrades our resources, our quality of life and our health and safety. Who does our government work for?”
State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19th, of West Whiteland has been a vocal opponent of the pipeline.
“The Mariner East project started with damaging an aquifer and residential wells three years ago,” he said. “It continued with spills, dozens of violations, sinkholes, geological programs, and families being forced from their homes.
“It’s destroyed neighborhoods. It’s threatening our safety and environment. Thousands of gallons of drilling fluid were spilled into Marsh Creek Lake this week. And now, yet another aquifer has been damaged. Again and again and again we’ve seen so many reasons why this project shouldn’t have been permitted in the first place. Shut it down now before it is too late.”
State Rep. Kristine Howard, D-167th, of Malvern did not immediately respond to a request for comment after a phone call to her office.
The Mariner East Pipeline is intended to weave 350 miles across the state of Pennsylvania to the refinery in Marcus Hook, Delaware County. It runs through high density areas of Chester and Delaware counties. The by-products of fracking will be used to make plastics overseas.