Three environmental organizations again have filed legal actions aimed at shutting down construction on some segments of the cross-state Mariner East 2 pipeline project.
The lawsuits, filed Wednesday by Clean Air Council, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Mountain Watershed Association, claim an early February agreement between the state and Sunoco Pipeline L.P. that settled environmental violations and allowed work on the pipeline to resume fails to enforce previously agreed upon protections against spills. The defendants are the state Department of Environmental Protection and the pipeline company.
The DEP shut down construction of the natural gas liquids pipeline on Jan. 3 after more than 120 drilling fluid spills, but allowed construction to resume Feb. 8 under a settlement that included a $12.6 million fine.
According to the environmental groups, that settlement also allowed Sunoco to ignore protocols for preventing and responding to horizontal drilling spills contained in the settlement of an earlier lawsuit.
“When DEP halted construction of Mariner East 2, it seemed like they were finally listening to the concerns of impacted residents and communities. However, by allowing construction to resume and scaling back hard-fought environmental protections, DEP leaves us no other choice but to take legal action yet again to protect citizens’ rights,” said Melissa Marshall, an attorney with Mountain Watershed Association.
Alex Bornstein, senior litigation attorney with the Clean Air Council, said the groups have filed a breach of contract complaint and a petition for a preliminary injunction with Commonwealth Court that seeks to stop work at “dozens of locations where Sunoco is going ahead with horizontal drilling.”
Mr. Bornstein said no hearing date had been set. The environmental groups have also filed a formal appeal of the DEP-Sunoco Feb. 8 settlement agreement with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
Neil Shader, a DEP spokesman, said the department does not comment on litigation.
Sunoco, a subsidiary of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, said the lawsuits filed Wednesday are without merit.
“We remain fully in compliance with all agreements and permits and are committed to doing so throughout the remainder of our construction,” said a company statement. “This is a disingenuous attempt by the opposition to continue to try to find a way to slow down this important infrastructure project that is 94 percent complete on mainline construction, with 84 percent of drills completed or underway. We look forward to being in service by the end of the second quarter.”
Sunoco is building the twin pipelines across 17 counties to carry natural gas liquids -- propane, ethane and butane -- from Marcellus and Utica shale gas regions in eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania to terminals near Philadelphia.
Don Hopey: dhopey@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1983, or on Twitter @donhopey
First Published: March 1, 2018, 2:09 a.m.
