The recent spill of roughly 10,000 gallons of pipeline drilling fluid into Marsh Creek State Park in August and the subsequent contamination it caused of the park’s popular lake — a potential threat to drinking water for Chester County residents — was unconscionable.
Many of you wrote strong and spirited letters to your local newspapers in opposition of the pipeline, including one published in the DelCo Times and another in the Meadville Tribune.
Much has happened since then so we want to take a moment to provide you with a few updates.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mariner East II has had over three dozen spills, the largest of which occurred at Marsh Creek. Sunoco/Energy Transfer Partners has been issued over 100+ violations and $13 million in penalties for polluting high-volume wetlands, waterways and private wells since the project began in 2017. There is no question whether there will be more accidents from this pipeline; as we know, when dealing with the fossil fuel industry, it’s not a matter of if but when.
One month after the spill, cleanup was still ongoing at the lake. As Sunoco had yet to provide a remediation plan for the site at that time, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issued an administrative order directing Sunoco to reroute the pipeline. While this reroute will move the pipeline away from the recently affected wetland, it will negatively impact residents who now find themselves in the new path of this disastrous project.
The reroute is not a solution. Despite their claims otherwise, DEP is not holding Sunoco "to the fullest extent possible”.
Right now, residents in Chester and Delaware counties are fighting to halt this pipeline on the charge that it is unsafe and places those in its path in unnecessary danger. Final hearings for the Safety 7 case focused on the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) began on September 29th and wrapped up this week.
The outcome of this case will have significant ramifications for the construction of this project and for the safety of Pennsylvanians all along the route.
It’s up to us to keep speaking out until the Mariner East II Pipeline is shut down for good.
Stay informed by referencing the links above and support the Safety 7 case by donating to their legal fund.