State charges Mariner East II gas pipeline owner with 48 environmental crimes

The owner of the Mariner East II natural gas pipeline has paid the state about $20 million in fines over the past four years after being cited for a series of environmental violations.

Now, Energy Transfer L.P. is accused by a statewide investigating grand jury of committing 48 environmental crimes during the construction of the project, Pennsylvania’s attorney general said Tuesday.

The Dallas-based company was charged with 46 environmental crimes during the construction of the 307-mile pipeline from Washington County to the Marcus Hook natural gas refinery complex south of Philadelphia. The pipeline system carries natural gas liquids — propane, butane and methane — from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to Marcus Hook for domestic and international use.

The office of Attorney General Josh Shapiro did not release details of the alleged environmental violations or where they occurred. A spokesperson did not respond to a request for more information.

The state Department of Environmental Protection added two additional charges of environmental crimes after the grand jury had concluded its work.

The department has been consistent in enforcing the permit conditions and regulations and has held Sunoco LP accountable, collecting more than $20 million in civil penalties, DEP spokesman Jamar Thrasher said.

The DEP, which shared information with the Attorney General in several instances, will review the charges and determine if any additional actions are appropriate at this time, Thrasher added.

An Energy Transfer spokesperson could not be reached. The company was the successor to Sunoco Pipeline L.P., a partner of Sunoco Logistics.

Mariner East II, one of three Mariner East pipeline systems traversing the state, cuts across 17 counties. In Westmoreland, the pipeline was laid from Rostraver Township through South Huntingdon, Sewickley, Penn, Salem, Loyalhanna and Derry townships.

Sunoco Pipeline agreed to a series of about eight consent decrees totaling $971,793 in fines plus a $12.6 million fine in early 2018, according to the a DEP website detailing the fines and locations of the environmental violations. In the consent decrees, Sunoco Logistics does not admit it committed any environmental violations.

Among the alleged environmental violations cited by the DEP in the consent decrees, Sunoco allegedly spilled about 615 gallons of drilling fluid into Loyalhanna Lake and its recreation area in May 2017. One of the highest fines was about $355,000, for polluting steams in Westmoreland County, including a tributary of Sewickley Creek, along with trout streams.