(Aug 03, 2022) Rep. Danielle Friel Otten
EXTON, Aug. 2 — Nearly two years since Sunoco Pipeline L.P. spilled drilling mud into Marsh Creek Lake and its tributaries, and more than one month past the company’s agreed-upon remediation and restoration deadline, state Senator Katie Muth, D-Chester, Berks, Montgomery, and state Representative Danielle Friel Otten, D-Chester, commented on the operator’s failure to meets its commitments, as cleanup efforts continue near Marsh Creek State Park. August 10 marks the two-year anniversary of the spill, which sent more than 20,000 gallons of drilling mud into streams, wetlands, and the lake during construction of Sunoco’s Mariner East II pipeline. A Consent Order and Agreement signed in December between the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Sunoco Pipeline L.P., a subsidiary of Energy Transfer, required Sunoco to complete dredging, remove the dredged material to an approved disposal facility, and restore the access and staging areas on or before July 1, 2022. In documents submitted to DEP on June 23 and July 7, Sunoco attributed its failure to meet the agreed-upon schedule to a number of factors, including weather, the presence of an unexpected amount of debris in the lakebed, and repeated significant equipment failures, including the July 1 failure of a containment bag at the sediment dewatering site. The biggest delay was attributed to the company’s discovery of two Read more