An ongoing battle between Chester County residents and the energy companies responsible for the controversial Mariner East pipelines culminated Wednesday in a criminal investigation.
The Chester County District Attorney’s Office announced that it will examine both past and future construction of the three pipelines that, collectively, span three states, including several local counties.
Potential charges could include causing or risking a catastrophe, criminal mischief, environmental crimes and corrupt organizations, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said in a statement.
“In the last two years, we have seen these pipelines rip through the heart of Chester County,” he said. “We have seen sinkholes created by the pipeline drilling, contaminated well water and some subtle, and not-so-subtle, bullying of Chester County citizens by big corporate interests.”
The investigation involves Sunoco Pipeline's Mariner East projects stretching across the region, including near heavily populated areas, railroad tracks and schools.
The Mariner East 1, 2 and 2X pipelines are meant to ship natural gas from western Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook refinery in Delaware County. From there, the gas would be transported to Ohio and West Virginia.
Natural gas liquid includes propane, ethane, butane and natural gasoline that can be used for heating, cooking and filling up motor vehicle gas tanks.
The problem in Chester County, specially, is that much of the area is built on limestone, which is easily disturbed and cause sinkholes, Hogan said.
"You are going to create instability and that instability can endanger property ... and endanger people," Hogan said. "You are going to create danger."
Construction of the multi-billion dollar pipelines has been fraught from the beginning. Since their inception, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has issued more than 80 violation notices to Sunoco and collected more than $13 million in penalties, according to Gov. Tom Wolf's office. This included enforcing a one-month shutdown and setting guidelines to alert nearby public and private water suppliers prior to pipeline construction.
Despite these efforts, accidents continued to follow the pipelines.
Last year, a leak in Delaware County caused thousands of gallons of drilling mud to flow into Chester Creek in Middletown Township, Pennsylvania.
The mud, which consisted of potable water and non-toxic bentonite clay, entered a tributary of the creek near the pipeline.
Later, a judge granted an injunction to halt construction in West Goshen Township after officials accused Sunoco Pipeline LP of violating a settlement agreement. A spokesperson for West Goshen claimed Sunoco started construction to install and operate the pipeline near Greenhill and Boot roads without notifying local officials.
Then in a separate incident, 1,500 gallons of bentonite clay leaked into the Chester Creek in Middletown Township.
More recently in the fall, an explosion in Beaver County destroyed a home, officials said.
“We have expected the state regulators and the governor to step in and assure of the safety of Pennsylvanians. They have not,” Hogan said.
The parent company, Energy Transfer LP of Dallas, Texas, said it was "surprised" to learn of the investigation and "vehemently" denied any wrongdoing in an emailed statement.
"We are confident that we have not acted to violate any criminal laws in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and we are committed to aggressively defending ourselves against these baseless allegations," the statement said.
Meanwhile, Wolf said he welcomed the opportunity to speak with any "partners who want to constructively talk about improving state oversight."
"The commonwealth is living up to our promise to hold this project accountable to the strong protections in the permits and our abilities under existing law," a spokesman for Wolf said in a statement.
The investigation remains ongoing, Hogan added.
