Upper Makefield Residents File Class Action Lawsuit Over Pipeline Leak

UPPER MAKEFIELD, PA — The residents of Mt. Eyre Manor and surrounding neighborhoods have filed a class action lawsuit against Sunoco Pipeline and Energy Transfer for a pipeline leak that has polluted wells and groundwater in their community with jet fuel.

In a March 27 filing by the law firm of Berger Montague, township residents Daniel and Katherine La Hart say that the pipeline leak has “unleashed a catastrophic environmental disaster” on their previously idyllic Bucks County community, subjecting the Mt. Eyre Manor community and surrounding neighborhoods to a plume of jet fuel contamination.

The Class Action Complaint alleges that the Twin Oaks Pipeline Leak has “caused severe harm and poses a serious ongoing and current danger to residents’ physical health and wellbeing, the community’s groundwater, soil, air quality, and ecosystem, and to property values.”

Led by attorneys Shanon J. Carson, Michael Twersky, Joseph Samuel, and Jordan Hughes, Berger Montague is investigating the Pipeline Leak and resulting environmental contamination, and litigating the lawsuit on behalf of their clients and the proposed Class members “to obtain appropriate relief and justice” for the residents of the community.

Berger Montague is representing more than 150 residents of the Mt. Eyre Manor and surrounding neighborhoods in prosecuting claims arising from the Twin Oaks Pipeline leak. The Defendants in the lawsuit are Energy Transfer LP and Sunoco Pipeline L.P.

On January 31, Sunoco reported a leak in its Twin Oaks Pipeline that runs through residential neighborhoods in Upper Makefield and transports hazardous and toxic liquid petroleum including jet fuel at high pressure from Aston, Delaware County, to Newark, New Jersey.

The leak, the lawsuit contends, has resulted in "a still unquantified spill of jet fuel and resulting toxins, pollutants, and contaminants" into the environment.

The defendants, the lawsuit says, have already purchased one home in the Mt.Eyre Manor community for the purpose of drilling monitoring and/or recovery wells in the residential neighborhood. The suit also contends that jet fuel has contaminated private wells in the community that provide water for drinking, bathing, cooking, and washing.

Although Sunoco identified and reported the leak to federal regulators in January 2025, it is alleged in the lawsuit that Sunoco was aware of odor complaints from residents of Upper Makefield since at least September 2023. Private wells in the Mt. Eyre Manor neighborhood in Upper Makefield Township where the leak was identified have since tested positive for jet fuel-related contaminants, the lawsuit says.

It is also alleged that toxins that were transported through the Twin Oaks Pipeline include chemicals such as kerosene, benzene, ethylbenzene, isopropylbenzene, dichloroethane, trimethylbenzene (TMB), toluene, naphthalene, methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE), and lead, "substances so dangerous that their presence presents a potential immediate threat to residents’ health and wellbeing"

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), a federal agency overseeing fuel pipelines, has issued a Notice of Proposed Safety Order and required the Twin Oaks Pipeline to operate at reduced pressure. PHMSA has stated that the Twin Oaks Pipeline may have been leaking and contaminating the properties of Bucks County residents for 16 months.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued a Notice of Violation based on its determination that pollution from the Twin Oaks Pipeline violates Pennsylvania state law.

U.S. Senator John Fetterman, U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania Senator Steven Santarsiero, State Rep. Perry Warren and the Bucks County Board of Commissioners, have all called for operations of the Twin Oaks Pipeline to be suspended as the investigation continues.

"Despite this, Sunoco continues to transport hazardous liquids including jet fuel through the Twin Oaks Pipeline," says the lawsuit.