DEP halts CNX pipeline work for muddy discharges
Harrisburg Bureau
Pennsylvania environmental regulators have stopped work for over a month at a CNX Resources Corp. pipeline construction site in Indiana County after discovering that the company installed an unpermitted culvert that diverted muddy water from its site into a high-quality stream.
The state Department of Environmental Protection hand-delivered a rare field order March 30 requiring the Cecil-based company to halt all earthmoving work at the site except what was necessary to remove the unauthorized pipe and stop more runoff and erosion.
Construction at the site is still shut down.
The company challenged the
department’s findings in an appeal it filed last Friday. It said its approved earthmoving plan allowed for the use of what it called “a conveyance pipe” and that its installed sediment barriers “were functioning properly at all times” during a day of heavy rains, despite DEP photos showing muddy water coursing under or around them.
The company said it quickly complied with DEP’s order, even though it “firmly believed that it was at all times meeting or exceeding” all permit terms and laws. It filed the appeal because it faces penalties and costs from construction delays.
DEP’s violation notice and accompanying photos from March 29 depict sediment-laden water carving gullies through CNX’s access road and pipeline rightof-way before being directed by the culvert downhill through a fabric barrier and ultimately into a tributary of Mudlick Run.
DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley said field orders “are typically reserved for severe and egregious violations, or for situations that require an immediate response.” She said oil and gas inspectors in the southwest regional office have used them between five and 10 times over the past several years.
The site had been excavated for a natural gas gathering pipeline known as the Marchand 3 in North Mahoning, but a CNX representative told DEP on April 4 that the pipeline project had been canceled and the site was going to be backfilled and restored.
A DEP inspection last Friday found that violations persist, including gullies in the soil that are evidence of accelerated erosion.
CNX spokesman Brian Aiello said Thursday that the company continues “to work cooperatively with the department to resolve the matter.”