PA DEP Issues Final Guidance on Using HDD for Pipe Construction

Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) is a form of trenchless drilling to install pipelines, like natural gas pipelines, underground without digging a big trench first. It uses directional drilling, similar to drilling a horizontal shale well, in order to install the pipeline. In 2018, Energy Transfer’s Sunoco Logisitics unit, which was building the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline project at the time using HDD, and the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) settled a lawsuit with radicalized green groups, including THE Delaware Riverkeeper, the Clean Air Council, and the Mountain Watershed Association (see Sunoco Strikes Deal with Devil, “Settles” with Anti Groups re ME2). The settlement allowed Sunoco to resume HDD work to build ME2. Following the settlement, the DEP began work to formalize policies and regulations for HDD, introducing a more formal framework for something that has been, until now, less formal.

---

To view this content, log into your member account. (Not a member? Join Today!)