The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) continues its quest to put Mariner East 2 (ME2) Pipeline construction under a microscope. Two days ago MDN told you that the DEP had issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) for ME2 work in Lebanon County, PA, for spilling LESS THAN 1 gallon of non-toxic drilling mud (see PA DEP Shuts Down ME2 Drilling in Lebanon, PA for 1 Gal Mud Spill). Because it was the second spill at that location (the first being ~50 gallons), DEP shut down horizontal directional drilling at the Snitz Creek site. The DEP is back, riding ME2 for all they’re worth, with another NOV in Lebanon County. This one is because the DEP “observed sediment flowing into an unnamed tributary of Killinger Creek in South Londonderry Township.” If a body of water is large enough to be called a creek (something that runs year-round), it gets named. If a body of water isn’t even that big, it’s called an unnamed tributary–a body of water that may or may not flow year-round. We call it a drainage ditch. At any rate, DEP says Sunoco Logistics and their contractor building the pipeline in that area woulda/shoulda/coulda stopped a little dirt from washing down that drainage ditch if they had only used “best practices for controlling erosion.” Here’s the latest view under the microscope…
