Chesco DA Files Public Nuisance Suit Against Sunoco Over Pipeline

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — A civil public nuisance lawsuit has been filed against Sunoco by the Chester County District Attorney's Office in regards to their ongoing activities connected to the Mariner East 2 pipeline.

The suit, filed under Pennsylvania's Clean Streams Law, cites public health and environmental protection issues, as well as concern over Sunoco's (and partnership owner Energy Transfer's) willing disregard of terms and conditions laid out in their work permits.

It's the most recent development in the years-long controversy surrounding the pipelines that has spurred a bipartisan response across multiple levels of government.

According to Michael Noone, Chester County's First Assistant District Attorney, this new suit will force Sunoco to "take steps" to rectify the situation.

Specifically, three key issues are laid out in the Notice of Intent filed by the DA's Office on Tuesday.

The first is the issue of at least 49 exposed —unburied — pipelines in Valley Creek in West Whiteland, which authorities say violates both the Clean Streams Act and the permit issued to Sunoco, while also posing a threat to local residents. The Department of Environmental Protection ordered Sunoco to fill the pipelines on Sept. 11, and they have not done so, according to the Notice.

The second cites a "pattern and practice" of Sunoco violating the conditions of its permits, and lists 98 separate violation notices that have been issued in relation to the Mariner East 2 project alone since 2017. Five of those violations have occurred in Chester County.

The third points to the repeated discharge of of drilling fluids, causing property damage and loss of clean drinking water for Chester County residents, as well as violating industrial waste discharge requirements in the Clean Streams Act.

This suit is not an attempt to halt the project (as Chester County government announced in April) or to prosecute Sunoco criminally (that investigation has been underway by the DA's Office for some time). Rather, authorities say this suit will give Sunoco 60 days to "abate" the nuisance; if that time period passes and Sunoco does not correct the issues, the DA's Office will bring the suit to the Chester County Court of Common Pleas.

Though the suit focuses on environmental damages and public safety threats posed by Mariner East 2 and its construction, there remain separate concerns related to Mariner East 1 and the potential of life-threatening accidents given the proximity of the pipelines to highly populated areas. There's also the recently exposed case of two state constables who illegally worked for Mariner East, using their elected positions to intimidate members of the public and enforce Sunoco's private security.

Supporters of the pipeline say that Noone, a Republican who is running for District Attorney to replace the recently departed incumbent Tom Hogan, is politically motivated because the county is "trending Democratic."

"Like other investigations and frivolous lawsuits brought against this pipeline, this one has nothing to do with the project itself and everything to do with a certain date in November," Kurt Knauss, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance, said in an email to Patch. "It has all the appearances of a politically motivated filing, because the record is clear. This is a legally permitted project that underwent years of intense regulatory and public scrutiny."

Knauss is referring specifically to the "scrutiny" of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Department of Environmental Protection, the regulatory agencies in Pennsylvania which handle Sunoco's permits. Both agencies have faced bipartisan concern for their handling of the pipelines. Hogan said how the DEP's addressed case of the constables was "troubling," as they wanted all of the DA's Office's communications on prosecution to go through their office.

"In almost 30 years working in the criminal justice system, I have never seen a state or federal agency retain criminal defense lawyers to communicate with the prosecutors that the agencies were supposed to be helping," Hogan said. "It raises questions for the public about what exactly is going on with the Mariner East Pipeline and Pennsylvania's government."

Chester County's Democratic State Sen. Andy Dinniman, a longtime advocate for pipeline safety reform and greater oversight, has also repeatedly pointed to troubling aspects of the PUC's regulatory process, saying they've ignored obvious safety issues for some time.

"I couldn't help but wonder how we could have any confidence whatsoever left in the PUC when it comes to the safety of this pipeline," Dinniman said after a meeting back in January.

An extensive 2018 report from the Public Accountability InitiativePublic Accountability Initiative raises concerns that the PUC's handling of the Mariner East project indicates a conflict of interest, as four of the five members of the PUC decision-making board have ties to the natural gas industry.

Mariner East 2, which remains under construction in Chester County, aims to carry natural gas liquids from western Pennsylvania to the Delaware River.