Pipeline drilling to resume in Delco, Chesco
A ruling issued Thursday by the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board has lifted the temporary halt on horizontal directional drilling in connection with the Sunoco Pipeline Mariner East 2 project. The decision came in response to an emergency order filed by the company requesting for work to resume at 17 of its 55 locations within the state.
The action, signed by Judge Bernard A. Labuskes Jr., will permit drilling to continue at 16 sites, including Commerce Lane and Chester Creek in Delaware County and Eagleview and Ship Road in Chester County. Drilling is still halted at Creek 110 in Lebanon County.
Worked stopped July 25 after the board granted the petition of Clean Air Council, Mountain Watershed Association, Inc. and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network to halt all drilling operations associated with the pipeline. The groups released DEP documents detailing more than 61 spills reported by Sunoco during activities.
Sunoco subsequently filed its appeal to modify the order and the board stated its change came “in further consideration of the permittee’s emergency motion.”
Both counties have experiences incidents in connection with the project. In May, nearly 580 gallons of bentonite, a non-toxic lubricant used in horizontal directional drilling, seeped into Chester Creek in Brookhaven. Last month, approximately 1,500 gallons of the same substance leaked into an unnamed tributary of Chester Creek in Middletown.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection filed notices of violation against Sunoco in each case, citing an “inadvertent release” of the solution, and drilling was suspended while it was contained.
Private wells were affected in Uwchlan and West Whiteland townships after the drilling process damaged underground water supplies feeding aquifers. Nearly a construction dozen residences experienced cloudy water or loss of supply from their wells.
In its emergency motion, Sunoco indicated the board’s order “superseded the DEP permits to the extent that they authorize Sunoco to conduct horizontal directional drilling.” It added the board stated its decision may be modified in part if the company “provides detailed affidavits explaining why it would cause equipment damage, a safety issue or more environmental harm than good to stop drilling at locations where drilling is actively underway.”
Sunoco provided an explanation of the steps involved in the process, noting “the risk of collapse of a drilled hole where horizontal directional drilling is suspended,” which could require the drilled hole “to be abandoned and a new pilot hole drilled in its place.”
In asking permission to resume work at the 17 locations, Sunoco noted only one had experienced an inadvertent release. The six seepages at the remaining spot have been corrected, noted the appeal.
Several members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, local community groups and individual homeowners called for a halt to the drilling last month. None could be reached for comment.
The board’s decision was applauded, however, by the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance, which advocates for the safe, responsible development of critical energy infrastructure projects that strengthen local economies. The DEP permits issued for the project are among the most stringent the department has ever issued, said spokesperson Kurt Knaus.
“Restarting these sections means some of the laborers who were idled can get back to work,” he added. “With the strict [DEP] requirements in place, Mariner East 2 is providing countless economic benefits for Pennsylvania. We hope work on the remaining sites will resume following the hearing next week.”
The environmental groups were originally slated to argue their case before the board Aug. 7. The hearing has been moved to Aug. 9, according to a notice on the board’s website.