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Onerous New Regulations Approved for PA Liquids Pipelines, Landmen

In 2019, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) began formulating new regulations for intrastate pipelines transporting gasoline, petroleum, crude oil, and natural gas liquids like ethane. In July 2021, the PUC finally published a draft of new regulations (see PA PUC Proposes New Regs for Pipelines—Landmen Must be Licensed). The onerous regulations landed with a thud. The DEP and antis loved them; the oil and gas industry hated them. After another two years of tinkering, the PUC’s regs, all 314 pages of them, are now approved and about to be adopted as the equivalent of law in the Keystone State.
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What Happened to $42 Million in Fines Paid by Mariner East Pipe?

In July, MDN compared the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection to an organized crime mob with its ongoing shakedowns in assessing “fines” on the Mariner East pipeline project (see PA DEP Squeezes Another $660,000 from ME2 Pipe for “Violations”). At that time, we were aware that over $30 million had been extorted (er, a, extracted) from Mariner East in so-called fines. We were grossly wrong. The actual number is over $42 million! The enviro-left was giddy with the fines but is now asking the question, where did all that money go? Because it sure didn’t go into their pockets (as promised)…
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PA DEP Squeezes Another $660,000 from ME2 Pipe for “Violations”

The problem with the pay-for-protection scam is that it never stops. A mobster comes calling on a business, and for a “small” and regular fee, the mobster will guarantee nothing “happens” to the business. “Just think of it as insurance.” It’s a shakedown–a scam. And over the years, the price keeps going up. What if the mobster is a government agency, like the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP)? The DEP keeps shaking down Energy Transfer and its Sunoco Pipeline subsidiary over the construction and operation of the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline. Over the years, the DEP has fined ET/Sunoco over $30 MILLION for so-called penalties related to building ME2. [And another $30.6M related to the Revolution Pipeline explosion.] Yesterday, the DEP announced ANOTHER $660,000 in “penalties” related to building ME2. When will it end?
Read More “PA DEP Squeezes Another $660,000 from ME2 Pipe for “Violations””

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PA & TX Congressmen Tour Philly’s Marcus Hook NGL Facility

Marcus Hook complex (click for larger version)

U.S. Congressman Dan Meuser (PA-09) joined Congressman Troy Nehls (TX-22) for a roundtable discussion and tour of Energy Transfer’s Marcus Hook facility near Philadelphia last week. Marcus Hook is where the mighty Mariner East pipeline system terminates. Mariner East flows natural gas liquids (NGLs), including ethane, propane, and butane, to the Marcus Hook refinery, where a fractionator separates them into their respective hydrocarbon streams. The various NGLs are then (mostly) loaded onto ships and exported. The entire system–the pipeline and the refinery–is a marvel. Meuser and Nehls were there to learn more about it.
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Disabled Vet Sues ME2 Pipeline for Destroying Home Water & Sewage

A disabled Navy veteran and his wife, who live in a rural, wooded area of Cambria County, PA, say their lives were upended beginning in 2017 when Sunoco (Energy Transfer) began constructing the Mariner East 2 NGL pipeline across their property. According to the vet, Sunoco cut down more than 60 large trees on his property, destroyed several small ponds, destroyed his water well, and destroyed (caved in) his septic system. The property is now susceptible to frequent flooding and sewage backups into the house.
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Cambria Landowners Sue ME Pipe for Allegedly Polluting Water Well

Pipeline lawsuit photo of sewage in the home (click for larger version)

Husband and wife Ronald and Jane Shawley, who live in Cambria County, PA, filed a lawsuit against the Mariner East 2 pipeline last week, alleging the pipeline has made their home “nearly uninhabitable.” The Shawleys say work done to install the pipeline fouled their water well and collapsed their septic system causing raw sewage to flow into their kitchen sink. According to the lawsuit, the Shawleys are seeking over $150,000 in damages and are demanding that the case be brought before a jury.
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Shapiro Announces Water Testing for Homes Affected by ME Pipeline

In August, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (a confirmed shale energy hater who becomes Governor on Jan. 1), announced that he had finally bullied Energy Transfer into pleading “no contest” (meaning they don’t admit to a darned thing) in a so-called criminal case against the company for a series of accidents affecting construction for both the Revolution and Mariner East pipelines (see ET Pleads No Contest to “Crimes” for ME, Revolution Pipelines). Part of the plea deal includes ET funding a program to test water supplies for those who claim their well water was damaged by the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline. On Friday, Shapiro announced the water-testing program has finally launched.
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PA PUC Cuts $48K Refund Check for Mariner East Pipeline Penalty

In March, MDN told you that the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a ruling against the now completed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, assessing a $51,000 fine on the project for work done near an apartment complex (see PA PUC Judge Fines Mariner East Pipe $51K for Work Near Apt Bldg). In June, the full PUC voted to accept and enforce the $51,000 fine recommended by the PUC judge (see PA PUC Upholds ME Pipe Fine of $51K for Work Near Apartment Bldg). Two months later (in August), the PUC voted to reverse its own decision, lowering the fine from $51,000 to $3,000 (see PA PUC Reduces ME Pipe Fine to $3K for Work Near Apartment Bldg). However, that wasn’t the end of the story…
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PA PUC Reduces ME Pipe Fine to $3K for Work Near Apartment Bldg

In March, MDN told you that the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a ruling against the now completed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, assessing a $51,000 fine on the project for work done near an apartment complex (see PA PUC Judge Fines Mariner East Pipe $51K for Work Near Apt Bldg). In June, the full PUC voted to accept and enforce the $51,000 fine recommended by the PUC judge (see PA PUC Upholds ME Pipe Fine of $51K for Work Near Apartment Bldg). And now, two months later, the PUC has voted to reverse its own decision, lowering the fine from $51,000 to $3,000. Why? What changed?
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Fed Judge Certifies Class Action Investor Lawsuit Against ME2 Pipe

In January 2020, the retirement systems for public employees of various municipalities, including the Allegheny County (PA) Employees’ Retirement System, filed a lawsuit against Energy Transfer and subsidiary Sunoco Logistics alleging top management made false and misleading statements about the construction of three Mariner East 2 and the Revolution natural gas pipeline projects in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit alleges because of those statements, the share price of their stock fell, and investors lost a boatload of money. In April 2021, the lawsuit survived a motion to dismiss by Energy Transfer (see Fed Judge Allows Investor Lawsuit Against ME2 Pipeline to Advance). Yesterday the same federal judge who allowed the case to continue in 2021 certified the case to be converted into a class action. Let the (legal) sharks begin to feed…
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ET Makes Significant Progress Cleaning Up Marsh Creek Lake

While drilling in Chester County in August 2020 in the Marsh Creek State Park area, Energy Transfer’s (ET) Mariner East 2X pipeline experienced an “inadvertent return”–nontoxic drilling mud coming up out of the ground where it’s not supposed to (see Mariner East 2X Construction Causes Another Drilling Mud Spill). In this case, an estimated 8,100 gallons of non-toxic drilling mud came up in a small section of the 535-acre Marsh Creek Lake. It was a costly episode for ET. In December, the state announced a gun-to-the-head “agreement” with ET that forced ET to pay a $4 million fine and spend another $4 million (or more) to dredge and fix the area, with an extra $341,000 in civil penalties for permit violations as the cherry on top (see PA Charges Mariner East Pipeline $8M+ to Fix Marsh Creek Lake). ET is making excellent progress on cleaning up Marsh Creek Lake.
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PA PUC Upholds ME Pipe Fine of $51K for Work Near Apartment Bldg

In March MDN told you that the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a ruling against the now completed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, assessing a $51,000 fine on the project (see PA PUC Judge Fines Mariner East Pipe $51K for Work Near Apt Bldg). This latest parting shot at the now-completed NGL pipeline project was levied for being too loud and not doing enough to communicate with residents of an apartment complex near where the pipeline was doing construction work in Delaware County. Yesterday the full PUC voted to accept and enforce the $51,000 fine recommended by the PUC judge.
Read More “PA PUC Upholds ME Pipe Fine of $51K for Work Near Apartment Bldg”

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Mariner East Pipe Fulfills Promise as Southeast Pa. Economic Engine

As we told you last week, Energy Transfer, during its first quarter update, spoke about the now-completed Mariner East pipeline system that flows NGLs, including ethane, propane, and butane, from eastern Ohio and southwestern Pennsylvania all the way to southeastern PA and the Marcus Hook terminal (see Energy Transfer 1Q: ME Pipe Done; Possible Marcus Hook Expansion). Here’s two pieces of information we picked up in a new article in the Philly Inquirer: (1) The original ME1 Pipeline (an older pipeline repurposed to use for NGLs) is being converted back into flowing refined fuels from Midwestern refineries to the Philadelphia market, and (2) a temporary workaround pipeline in the Philly area used for ME was taken out of service back in February.
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PA DEP Approves Restoration of ME2 Pipe Spill @ Marsh Creek Lake

Northern Red Belly Cooter

If you lurk around the shoreline of Ranger Cove at Marsh Creek Lake (Chester County, PA) this week or next, you may spot people setting traps for Northern Red Belly Cooters. What’s a Northern Red Belly Cooter? It’s a turtle. The people setting the traps are working for pipeline giant Energy Transfer (ET). The traps are part of a plan to relocate the turtles while work is done to remediate a spill of nontoxic drilling mud that ended up in the lake back in the summer of 2020. Moving turtles is part of a plan approved by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to clean up the spilled drilling mud and restore Marsh Creek Lake to its “pristine” (man-made) condition.
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PA PUC Judge Fines Mariner East Pipe $51K for Work Near Apt Bldg

Earlier this week the Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) issued a ruling against the now completed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, assessing a $51,000 fine on the project. Which is relatively minor considering the project has already been fined by the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) more than $20 million. This latest parting shot at the now-done NGL pipeline project levied for being too loud and not doing enough to communicate with residents in an apartment complex near where the pipeline was doing construction work in Delaware County.
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Antis Lie About Work to Commission & Restore Mariner East Pipe

Even though construction is completed for the Mariner East pipeline system, anti-fossil fuelers are still lying about the project and its status. Energy Transfer said during its recent quarterly update that Mariner East is in the process of being commissioned, i.e. tested (see All Construction for Mariner East 2 Pipeline Now Done, Online 1Q). As testing takes place, sometimes ET needs to replace a small section of pipe *already in the ground* to ensure the pipeline is 100% safe when it goes into full operation. Antis point to pipe replacement as evidence the project is still “under construction.” That is false. Construction of the project is done.
Read More “Antis Lie About Work to Commission & Restore Mariner East Pipe”