Funded By Sunoco Fine, Chesco Gets $1.8 Million For Conservation

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Sunoco was fined $12.6 million for safety violations related to construction of its Mariner East 2 pipeline, and Chester County is reaping the benefit.

Eleven different projects across the county were given a large chunk of that fine — $1,870,098, in fact — for environmental projects.

The West Chester Area School District was one of the beneficiaries a $61,656 to help remove invasive species and restore natural diverse forest in Westtown Township, the state Department of Environmental Protection announced this week.

Upper Uwchlan Township was the biggest winner, coming away with $282,432 for restoration work in the Marsh Creek watershed.

A total of 61 projects across the state, including 11 in Chester County and five in Delaware County — the counties which Sunoco's pipelines pass through — received portions of the $12.6 million.

"These projects do not absolve Sunoco of its responsibility to restore any damage to Pennsylvania waters and wetlands through the construction of the pipeline," DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a statement. "But it is nice that this penalty could be put directly towards other deserving improvement projects in the communities along the right-of-way."

>>Sunoco Fined $12.6 Million For Mariner East 2 Violations

While many of the projects are different, they are connected by one factor: they all involve water, whether that means watershed restoration, runoff reduction, or something else.

Some of the staunchest opponents of fracking and Sunoco's Mariner East 2 pipeline are water activists who have expressed concerns over tainted drinking water in wells and other pollution. The concerns are multi-faceted: there is the fracking itself, then the construction of the pipeline, and then the possibility of accidents once the pipeline is complete.

Awardees include school districts, municipalities, and nonprofits. A full list of funded projects in Chester County is below:

• Green Valley Association of Southeastern PA – $168,212 – Riparian buffers and other features to reduce agricultural runoff in East Nantmeal Township.
• West Chester Area School District – $61,656 – Removing invasive species and restoring natural diverse forest in Westtown Township
• West Whiteland Township – $223,325 – Urban stormwater management in West Whiteland Township
• West Goshen Township – $215,273 – Urban stormwater management that will reduce impacts to Taylor Run in West Goshen Township
• Uwchlan Township – $117,324 – Urban stormwater management that will reduce impacts to impaired tributary to Shamona Creek in Uwchlan Township
• Uwchlan Township – $123,824 – Urban stormwater management that will reduce runoff pollution into a tributary of the East Branch of Brandywine Creek in Uwchlan Township
• Uwchlan Township – $99,401 – Urban stormwater management to reduce runoff pollution to a tributary to Valley Creek in Uwchlan Township
• East Goshen Township – $350,000 – Stream restoration to enhance water resources and recreation opportunities in East Goshen Township
• Wallace Township – $118,500 – Managing stormwater from nearby ballfields and parking lots to reduce pollution to Brandywine Creek in Wallace Township
• Upper Uwchlan Township – $282,432 – Restoration of the Marsh Creek Watershed in Upper Uwchlan Township
• West Goshen Township – $110,142 – Restoration of riparian buffer in the Chester Creek watershed in West Goshen Township.

Mariner East 2, if completed, would run a pipeline carrying natural gas liquids from the massive Marcellus Shale deposit in western Pennsylvania to Marcus Hook, on the Delaware River. It crosses through significant portions of Chester and Delaware counties, in addition to fifteen other counties around the state, on its way. The oil will then be shipped overseas, largely for use in creating plastics.

Image via Justin Heinze/Patch