Sunoco's Armed Guards Turn Back Public At Pipeline Sinkhole: DA

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — In the wake of the most recent sinkhole opening up along Mariner East 1 in West Whiteland Township Sunday, Sunoco has hired a private security force to keep the public away, authorities said.

The armed guards identified themselves as "constables" from Northumberland County in central Pennsylvania when pressed by a plainclothes Chester County Detective, and later stated they'd been hired as security by Sunoco, according to the Chester County District Attorney's Office.

"We want to know who hired these constables and authorized them to act like they have some type of legal authority in Chester County," DA Tom Hogan said. "This has the apperance of hired muscle showing up to intimidate our citizens."

Hogan said that he has reached out to the Northumberland County District Attorney's Office to discuss the matter.

Citizens have reported "constables" in the area of Lisa Drive — which has suffered multiple sinkholes and is the exact area which State Sen. Andy Dinniman warned the Public Utility Commission about last year — for weeks. Authorities said they discounted the reports because they had not authoritized any constables for patrol in the area.

Sunoco is the subject of a criminal investigation for their activities related to the pipelines and safety concerns in Chester County.

Sunoco will "purge" Mariner East 1 of product in the area of the recent episode, and the sinkhole — called a subsidence — will be filled.

Further geophysical testing will be performed to determine the area's safety, officials said. They added that crews will monitor the pipeline's right of ways in the area.

On Monday, Dinniman called for a shutdown of the pipeline until an independent review of both Sunoco and PUC was completed, pointing to a broken regulatory process as the key issue.

The latest incident has no impact on the nearby Mariner East 2 pipeline, officials said.

If you have any information regarding pipeline incidents to report, contact Chester County Detective Ben Martin at 610-344-6866.

See our latest coverage of the Mariner East saga in Chester County below:

• New Sinkhole Opens Up Along Mariner East 1 In Chester County
• Pipeline Worker's Comments To Chester Co. Resident Investigated
• New Legislation Aims To Improve Pipeline Safety Near Schools
• Criminal Investigation Opened Into Sunoco, Chester Co. Pipelines
• Funded By Sunoco Fine, Chesco Gets $1.8 Million For Conservation
• Sunoco Fined $12.6 Million For Mariner East 2 Violations
• Battle Against Sunoco Pipeline Is David v. Goliath, Lawmaker Says

Image via Chester County District Attorney's Office