Sunoco Convicted Of Environmental Crimes Over Mariner East 2 Pipeline

HARRISBURG, PA — Sunoco has been convicted of environmental crimes in Pennsylvania after construction of its Mariner East 2 Pipeline repeatedly ravaged sensitive ecosystems around southeastern Pennsylvania and damaged drinking water. On several occassions, Sunoco failed to report spills or take required precautions to prevent incidents from occurring, the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office said.

Mariner East 2 aims to transport Marcellus shale natural gas from western Pennsylvania and Ohio to Marcus Hook, on the Delaware River. The pipelines pass through 17 counties across southern Pennsylvania, including in the densely populated Philadelphia suburbs, where safety issues and water pollution impacted thousands.

“We have a constitutional right in Pennsylvania to clean air and pure water,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said in a statement. “It’s a right that was enshrined in our state constitution at a time when the people of Pennsylvania learned a tough lesson first-hand — the health of our children, and our economic future, depended on protecting our environment from reckless profit and unchecked corporate interests."

Energy Transfer Partners, which owns Sunoco and ETC Northeast Pipeline, must pay $10 million in fines for the conviction on 48 counts of environmental crimes, including violations of the Clean Streams Act.

Friday's conviction also involved crimes related to the Revolution Pipeline, a 42.5 mile pipeline in Beaver and Allegheny counties.

It's the latest legal victory won against Energy Transfer and Sunoco, which also had to pay $4 million recently after 8,100 gallons of drilling fluid were spilled into Marsh Creek State Park, devastating wildlife.

Energy Transfer has been the subject of numerous other lawsuits and criminal charges related to the activity outlined in Friday's conviction. Prosecutors in Chester County said that two state constables illegally worked for Mariner East, using their elected positions to enforce Sunoco's private security and intimidate anyone from coming near a homeowner's property in West Whiteland Township where drilling fluid had spilled.

That wasn't the only instance of local residents being negatively impacted by the company's operations, as spills infected water wells and ruined properties, officials said. Years later, some residents are still digging out.

“This has been a long time coming," Alice Mioduski of New Alexandria shared through the Attorney General's Office. She said her family's only request of Sunoco once drilling for the pipeline began was that their clean water not be impacted.

"Five years later, we still have a water buffalo on our property – forcing us to carry buckets of water into our home, to our gardens, and to our horses-- multiple times a day," Mioduski added. "As a retired couple, we never expected to be spending our time and energy carting around water because a company destroyed our supply."

Kurt Knaus, a spokesman for oil industry advocate Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance, argued that the various crimes described in the conviction had already been individually addressed.

"Hopefully, this brings closure to the issue, because it's time to put the past to rest," Knauss said. He added a defense of the neccessity of Mariner East 2 pipeline and related projects given the current global climate.

"The combined pressures of domestic inflation and global unrest underscore just how important these critical energy infrastructure projects are to our own state of affairs and the safety of our foreign partners," he said.

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