State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) and Representative Perry Warren (D-31) sent a letter urgently requesting the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) bring an enforcement action against Sunoco/Energy Transfer to compel the remediation of the affected area near the Twin Oaks-Newark pipeline leak in Upper Makefield Township.
Since Sunoco/Energy Transfer confirmed that its pipeline had leaked jet fuel, contaminating seven wells in the Mt. Eyre Manor neighborhood in Upper Makefield Township on January 31st, Santarsiero, Warren and the Upper Makefield Township Supervisors have advocated for accountability and immediate action to ensure swift remediation and assistance for impacted residents.
The letter emphasizes that Sunoco/Energy Transfer is not taking its responsibility to remediate the leak seriously and is putting residents and the environment at continued risk for long-term damage.
The legislators specifically noted that Energy Transfer has failed to delineate the plume, limiting its ability to assess the full scope of the impact of the jet fuel release. The letter also notes Sunoco/Energy Transfer’s failure to actively draw product to the recovery wells, instead allowing the contaminants to continue to migrate through the ground.
“These delays are indicative of a polluter who is not taking its responsibility to clean up the area seriously,” added Santarsiero. “We are nearly five months since this disaster first came to public light; it is unacceptable that Sunoco/Energy Transfer is not treating this with the urgency it requires. More must be done to protect residents and the environment from continued impacts from this leak.”
“Sunoco/Energy Transfer has participated in meetings and been present in the affected neighborhood. However, that is not enough,” said Rep. Warren. “The company’s presence must be accompanied by concrete – and immediate – action to permanently and conclusively stop all leakage, correct the environmental damage it has caused and fully restore the neighborhood and surrounding land. Our letter, and our community, demand nothing less.”
Santarsiero and Warren have advocated for the complete shutdown of the pipeline until a cause of the leak is identified and all repairs are completed. The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA), a federal agency and the sole entity with oversight of the interstate pipeline’s operation, allowed pipeline operations to continue at 80% capacity as investigation and repairs to the pipeline began.
In the weeks following the discovery of the leak, Sunoco/Energy Transfer representatives disregarded several requests to provide important information on levels of contamination in all tested wells and the total list of product that have been transported through the pipeline. On February 27th, Santarsiero sent a letter to Sunoco/ Energy Transfer CEO Thomas Long demanding information and an immediate start to the investigation of the full scope of the leak.
Santarsiero and Warren continued to advocate for transparency and swift action at multiple informational meetings for residents attended by Upper Makefield Township, DEP the PA Department of Health, PHMSA, Energy Transfer, and the Bucks County Health Department. A March 19th letter to PHMSA requested the agency send a representative to future public meetings on this matter to answer residents’ questions and to confirm Sunoco/Energy Transfer’s compliance with PHMSA’s proposed order for the pipeline operation.
DEP, as the state agency overseeing the cleanup effort and long-term monitoring of the site, now has the authority to hold Sunoco/Energy Transfer to its approved Interim Remedial Action Plan.
The text of the letter from Santarsiero and Warren to DEP is available here.
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