Video Shows Muddy Discharge Merging Into Creek Behind Exton Mall

EXTON, PA —Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection sent an inspector on Sunday to investigate reports of sediment discharge at a Mariner East worksite near the Exton Square Mall.

A surge of muddy water can be seen discharging into Valley Creek in a video posted on social media by pipeline safety watchdogs in Chester County, but contractors on site Sunday said everything was operating normally.

West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety said on Sunday sediment-laden water was flowing from a pipeline worksite at Briar Road in Exton, flowing through wetland and into Valley Creek. The group's social media post said DEP has been notified and reported a Fish and Boat commission inspector was on-site Monday morning.

West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety regularly posts video and drone recordings of the Mariner East 2 pipeline construction in the area, aiming to document events related to the work.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Community Relations Coordinator Virginia Cain confirmed that DEP had dispatched an inspector to the site on April 4, upon receiving complaints and questions.

"DEP will continue to investigate the circumstances and management practices surrounding the water management activities taking place," Cain told Patch.

The DEP report said the inspector arrived in Exton on Sunday to investigate Energy Transfer's Mariner East 2 pipeline work site.

The DEP inspection report describes a groundwater filtering system at the site that carries water through a series of large filter bags surrounded by stacked hay bales. Contractors at the site told the inspector the bags are normally changed morning and evening as the water flows out over land and into a wooded area and then into Valley Creek. Contractors told DEP that some of the "filter socks" in the woods could not be accessed because they are no longer included in the permit area.

The inspector said DEP was looking into the reports of a large sediment plume impacting the Valley Creek tributary to the east brand of the Brandywine River. The DEP report said that around 5 p.m. Sunday, there was reported a "discolored water flowing in Valley Creek in the area of the mall entrance off Lancaster Ave across from Exton Beverage."

The inspector reported driving to the nearby library parking lot to check out reports of muddy overflow there. "Water was flowing clear in the area downstream of the Limit of Disturbance (LOD) area near the library parking lot."

Cain explained "Limit of Disturbance," or LOD, refers to a permitted work area.

The inspector then drove to 410 Swedesford Road to enter the permitted work area at Meadowbrook Manor Park, according to the DEP report. The DEP inspector said he called Josh Prosceno of Tetra Tech and learned Prosceno was not on-site and was directed to speak instead with Keith Davis, the Tetra Tech representative on-site for the day.

Tetra Tech is an engineering services consultant. Tetra Tech's Davis, along with Dalton Moore, of Cleveland Integrity Services, were both sitting on the north Swedesford Road side of Valley Creek, the inspection report said. Cleveland Integrity Services is a field safety contractor to oil and gas pipeline industries.

"We walked the site and I observed that there was no activity on site other than a small group of four Michels personnel on-site to maintain the dewatering operation on the Lancaster Avenue (south) side of the creek," the DEP inspector reported. Michels is an energy and infrastructure construction contractor.

DEP's Cain explained, "This current section of the pipe is primarily being laid via open trench work. As groundwater enters the pit, (Energy Transfer Partners) and/or its contractors need to remove the water in order to continue working — in other words — they need to dewater where they are working. The water removed from the work area can either be trucked off-site or may reenter the environment through a series of best management practices."

DEP's report said Davis explained that he was taking turbidity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature readings every few hours throughout the day and that information was being entered into an app on his phone which then sent the data to multiple people at Tetra Tech, including Josh Prosceno.

DEP's inspector reported, "We met with Bill Rychman who was identified as the lead for the small crew managing the dewatering operation. Rychman stated that he was a 'sub' to Michels, but did not identify his employer by name. I asked Rychman to explain the operation taking place and asked whether there were any unusual activities that had occurred today."

Rychman reported that all activities at the site were normal, DEP's report said.

According to DEP's inspection report, "The pumped groundwater was being run through a 100-micron filter assembly at a flow rate of approximately 700 gallons per minute; the water flow fed into a large filter bag, which was surrounded by stacked hay bales, the report said. From there, the water discharged over land, through a wooded area, and out to Valley Creek." The discharge through the woods was turbid, according to the DEP report.

"However, they were running the discharge through multiple sediment removal tools. Several people also mentioned that there were filter socks set up at a point in the woods. However, they stated that nobody from the pipeline project could walk back there anymore because they no longer had permission to access certain properties outside the LOD," the report explained.

The large filter bag had been changed that morning and would be changed again in the evening, as has been their normal practice. A second filter bag could be seen set up in the area and not in use while DEP's inspector was there. "I was told that the flow would be diverted to the second bag and then the bag that was currently in use would be removed from service and replaced with a clean bag for use the following morning," the inspector reported.

Davis produced an electronic version of a DEP permit signed by John Hohenstein and said that these multiple Best Management Practices met the permit requirements for removing sediment from discharged water.

BMPs are approved via permits and their effectiveness is monitored by the entities on-site, DEP, and county conservation district staff, Cain explained. She said that in this situation, the clay in the local soil includes very small particles that are even smaller than the 100-micron mesh of the filters. "As a result, some very small clay particles are discharged even after multiple BMP’s are employed.," Cain said.

Davis also produced photos of his meter screen from previous readings he had collected throughout the day; he also showed DEP a written logbook where he was recording data from those pictures, according to the report.

West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety posted this video Monday morning — along with others — showing the muddy surged going into Valley Creek after flowing through an adjoining wetland area in Exton: