DEP Levies Additional $355,000 Penalty Against Sunoco for Marin

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Dept. of Environmental Protection
Commonwealth News Bureau
Room 308, Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg PA., 17120

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
05/3/2018

CONTACT: 
Neil Shader, DEP
717-787-1323 

 
DEP Levies Additional $355,000 Penalty Against Sunoco for Mariner East 2 Violations 

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has levied a $355,622 penalty against Sunoco Pipeline LP (Sunoco) for violations of the Clean Streams Law that occurred during the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline between May 3, 2017 and February 27, 2018. 

“No violations are acceptable,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell.  “Cleaning up a spill does not excuse Sunoco, or any other company, from complying with the law or paying an appropriate penalty.”

Sunoco’s construction activities resulted in an unpermitted discharge of drilling fluids to wetlands, wild trout streams, and High-Quality Waters at a number of locations in Allegheny, Blair, Cambria, Cumberland, Dauphin, Huntingdon, Indiana, Lancaster, and Washington Counties in violation of its permits and the Clean Streams Law.  In each instance, Sunoco was required to halt operations, remediate the impacts, and submit proposed modifications to its construction methodologies to DEP for approval.  Sunoco was allowed to resume operations only after DEP reviewed and approved Sunoco’s proposed modifications.

Most of the penalty amount, $337,724, will go to the Clean Water Fund, with the remainder used to reimburse the county conservation districts in the impacted counties for costs incurred inspecting the various impacted sites. This penalty is in addition to the $12.6 million penalty levied against the company in February and covers separate violations. 

Additional information, including the Consent Assessment of Civil Penalty and supporting documents, can be found on the Mariner East 2 page of the DEP website: http://www.dep.pa.gov/Business/ProgramIntegration/Pennsylvania-Pipeline-Portal/Pages/Mariner-East-II.aspx