Judge shuts down work on Sunoco pipelines, cites danger
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WPVI) -- An administrative law judge has shut down work on a natural gas liquids pipeline in the Philadelphia suburbs, saying Sunoco has failed to take reasonable steps to warn people and protect them from danger.
Public Utility Commission Judge Elizabeth Barnes ruled the company had to stop work on the Mariner East 2 pipeline in Chester County's West Whiteland Township and halt the use of Mariner East 1 to transport liquid fuels through the area.
"Sunoco has made deliberate managerial decisions to proceed in what appears to be a rushed manner in an apparent prioritization of profit over the best engineering practices available in our time that might best ensure public safety," Barnes wrote in a decision made public Thursday.
Messages left for the company and its lawyers were not immediately returned.
The judge said state Sen. Andy Dinniman, who sought the ruling, showed the company's drilling practices are putting water supplies at risk.
"From the beginning, we knew this was a 'David vs. Goliath' battle," said Dinniman, who lives about 2 miles from the pipelines. "Well, in this round, David won and the people of West Whiteland and Chester County won."
He said the order affirmed his claims the project has potentially endangered the health, safety and well-being of those who live in the area.
Work is nearly complete on the 350-mile-long (563-kilometer), 20-inch-diameter (50-centimeter-diameter) pipeline to carry propane, butane and ethane from western Pennsylvania across the southern portion of the state to a terminal near Philadelphia. A second, 16-inch-diameter (41-centimeter-diameter) line is following the same route, and Mariner East 1, which dates to the 1930s, has been sending natural gas liquids eastward for about a year.
Barnes wrote that Sunoco Pipeline LP has a history of leaks and failures to report spills when they've occurred, causing sinkholes, putting wells at risk and creating the possibility of a public catastrophe.
"Sunoco may have given safety pamphlets to 66,000 people along the 350-mile route, and to schools within (a half-mile) of the pipe," the judge wrote. "However, given that vapor clouds can move depending on weather conditions and people are mobile within their communities, this is insufficient."
Possible ignition of a vapor cloud, she said, "could have catastrophic results" and justifies slowing down the project for safety and pipeline integrity tests.
She said there is an "imminent risk to the public" and a need for more study, as well as development of emergency evacuation and notification plans.
"The risk of physical injury or death in a densely populated area because of unsafe construction and operations constitutes irreparable harm," Barnes wrote.
Sunoco Pipeline LP, based in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, is a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners LP.
STATEMENT FROM SUNOCO:
Sunoco Pipeline, L.P., a subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, provides the following response to today's Interim Emergency Order and Certification of Material Question ("Order") issued by Elizabeth Barnes, Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC), on the Amended Petition for Interim Emergency Order ("Petition") regarding the operation of its Mariner East 1 pipeline and construction of its Mariner East 2 and 2X pipelines in West Whiteland Township in Chester County, PA.
We strongly disagree with Judge Barnes' Order and believe there is no evidence or legal basis to support Senator Dinniman's claims in his Petition and the Order that followed. Further, the Order directly contradicts the detailed work of PUC staff and the May 3, 2018, unanimous decision of PUC commissioners to return ME1 to service. Specifically, the safe operation of ME1 was verified through exhaustive geophysical testing and analysis that was verified by the PUC's Investigation & Enforcement division and their experts, which was the basis for the PUC's 5-0 decision to return the line to service.
We will pursue all legal remedies to overturn this Order, including our right to request PUC review of the Order, which will be filed within the next seven days.
Regarding ME2 and 2X, we will continue with construction in all areas along the route except for the 3.5-mile segment that runs through West Whiteland Township. ME2 is 98 percent complete with 94 percent of the HDDs completed or underway. We remain focused on the safe construction of the line and do not anticipate that this Order will affect our stated in service timeline to place ME2 into service in the third quarter of 2018.
Today's Order is a significant departure from the law and the due process procedures that the PUC follows in rendering decisions. Judicial decisions must be based on facts and evidence-not conjecture or extrajudicial claims and issues that are not within the record, but only appear in an order for the first time. The entire energy industry should be concerned about today's Order and consider this result when making decisions regarding future capital investments in the state as it upends Pennsylvania's entire regulatory environment.
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