The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Sunoco Pipeline L.P. announced that they had entered into two consent assessment of civil penalties.
Sunoco agreed to pay $660,000.00 to resolve numerous violations of the Clean Streams Law, and the Dam Safety and Encroachments Act, that arose during Sunoco’s construction of the Pennsylvania Pipeline Project – Mariner East II.
The violations occurred between 2018 and 2021 in Chester, Berks, Blair, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Delaware, Perry, and York Counties. Sunoco operates numerous petroleum, natural gas, and hazardous liquids pipelines in Pennsylvania, including the Mariner East 2 Pipeline. (ME2).
These CACPs resolve Sunoco’s civil penalty liability for violations identified in the CACPs for which Sunoco has not previously paid a civil penalty through a prior consent order and agreement or CACP.
“Under Governor Shapiro’s leadership, we will continue to hold companies accountable for their actions and protect Pennsylvanians’ constitutional right to clean air and water. This money will help the Department of Environmental Protection keep Pennsylvania’s water clean,” said Richard Negrin, Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection.
“This is a critical step forward in the Shapiro Administration’s continued commitment to delivering a clean water supply to every resident and business who calls Pennsylvania home.”
The first CACP resolves civil penalty liability for numerous infractions at the Exton Library Site in West Whiteland Township, Chester County. These violations included: unpermitted discharges of sediment into wetlands and into Valley Creek and Ship Road Run, accelerated erosion and sedimentation, failure to obtain permits prior to excavating, and placing concrete into wetlands and other Commonwealth waters on several occasions. Sunoco also failed to conduct sampling as required by the terms of its authorization, and failed to take appropriate measures to prevent the release of a polluting substance.
The second CACP is an omnibus CACP that resolves civil penalty liability for various violations in Cumru Township, Berks County; Blair Township, Blair County; Jackson Township, Cambria County; Upper Uwchlan and West Whiteland Townships, Chester County; Middlesex and Silver Spring Townships, Cumberland County; Middletown and Thornbury Townships, Delaware County; Toboyne Township, Perry County; Fairview Township, York County.
Sunoco’s Horizontal Directional Drilling (“HDD”) construction activities led to complaints of impacts to private well water supplies with cloudy, turbid, and discolored water, and impacts to wetlands and other Commonwealth waters through the unpermitted discharge of grout, flowable fill material, and drilling fluids. Sunoco also constructed an impoundment and swales without a permit.
The $660,000 in penalties paid to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from the two CACPs will be allocated as follows: From the $390,000 Omnibus CACP, $240,000 went to the Clean Water Fund, $149,400 went to the Dams and Encroachments Fund, and $600 to the Chester County Conservation District. From the $270,000 Exton Library CACP, $153,850 went to the Clean Water Fund, $115,000 went to the Dams and Encroachments Fund, and $1,150 went to the Chester County Conservation District.
