15-Foot Sinkhole Opens Up At Marsh Creek Park

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — A sinkhole 15 feet wide and 8 feet deep appeared as part of the Aug. 10 release of drilling fluids into Marsh Creek State Park wetlands, state officials and Chester County commissioners have confirmed. It is one sinkhole among "numerous others" that county officials brought to the attention of Gov. Tom Wolf yesterday.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said today that it is "aware of a subsidence that occurred in a wetland near HDD 290 on Aug. 11." HDD 290 refers to Marsh Creek State Park.

Chester County's Board of Commissioners late Tuesday sent an updated letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf regarding the appearance of sinkholes across Chester County related to Sunoco/Energy Transfer's pipeline installation sites. The board said they learned of the Marsh Creek sinkhole incident during a telephone conference with state officials on Friday, Aug. 14.

"This sinkhole is in addition to the numerous other recent sinkholes that began appearing in West
Whiteland Township, Chester County in mid-June 2020," the commissioners told the governor yesterday.

"As you may be aware, a sinkhole in West Whiteland Township in 2018 exposed the ME1 pipeline and prompted the Chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to order that the ME1 pipeline temporarily cease operations because 'permitting the continued flow of hazardous liquids through the ME1 pipeline without proper steps to ensure the integrity of the pipeline could have catastrophic results impacting the public,'" the board's letter stated.

The sinkhole at Marsh Creek has been temporarily grouted with 26 cubic yards of grout, according to DEP communications officer Virginia Cain.

"The Department expects that a mitigation and remediation plan will be submitted by Sunoco to DEP this week. This plan should include removing the temporary grout, replacing it with native soils, and reseeding the area," Cain said today.

Sunoco submitted an emergency permit request on Monday to work remediating the sinkhole, and that request is currently under review.

Work at the HDD 290 site by Sunoco/Energy Transfer is shut down and can only resume after a restart report is submitted to and approved by DEP, Cain said. She explained Emergency permits are common—and not just for pipeline work—when an issue occurs and work must be done quickly to address the situation.

Chester County's commissioners expressed intense concern that the sinkhole at Marsh Creek State Park in Upper Uwchlan Township happened "a mere 5-feet from the active Mariner East 1 (ME1) pipeline, which presently carries hazardous liquids."

The board called on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to stop construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline and to revoke Sunoco's authorization for construction, saying civil penalties and temporary suspensions were "no longer sufficient."

Cain said the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has also reviewed the sinkhole at Marsh Creek State Park.

Related: Chesco Commissioners Step Up Pressure On Gov. Wolf To Stop Sunoco

and Sunoco Halts Drilling After Marsh Creek Lake Fluid Spill and

Upper Uwchlan Twp Asks Wolf To Rescind Energy Transfer's Permits.