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Sunoco to pay $350K fine over drilling fluid spills

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The state Department of Environmental Protection announced Thursday it was fining Sunoco more than $350,000 for spills of drilling fluids in Washington and other counties during work on the Mariner East 2 pipeline.

The “inadvertent returns” at issue included a total of six that reportedly occurred in Union and North Strabane townships in June. Documents related to the “consent assessment and civil penalty” executed between Sunoco Pipeline LP and DEP levying the fine lists a total of 69 violations between May 3, 2017, and Feb. 28.

DEP said in a statement the incidents involved drilling fluids being discharged into wetlands, wild trout streams and “high-quality waters.”

“In each instance, Sunoco was required to halt operations, remediate the impacts, and submit proposed modifications to its construction methodologies to DEP for approval,” the agency said in a statement. “Sunoco was allowed to resume operations only after DEP reviewed and approved Sunoco’s proposed modifications.”

Earlier this year, DEP suspended the company’s construction permits for the project for nearly five weeks. It announced a $12.6 million fine against the company when it lifted the suspension order Feb. 8.

DEP officials said the $355,622 fine specified in the April 27 pact between DEP and Sunoco is in addition to the previous one.

“We remain committed to following all stipulations and parameters set forth in our permits from the DEP, (Public Untility Commission) and other regulatory agencies,” said Lisa Dillinger, a spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners, in an email. Sunoco and Energy Transfer and Sunoco merged last year.

Dillinger also said the violations are “not new but related to the February settlement.”

DEP officials said the more recent penalty covers separate violations.

Most of it will go toward the state’s Clean Water Fund. The rest will be used to reimburse various county conservation districts for the costs of inspecting the affected sites.

Along with the violations in Washington County, documents list spills that occurred in Westmoreland, Indiana, Cambria and Allegheny counties, as well as others in central and eastern parts of the state.

The violations noted in Washington County include a 1,500-gallon spill into Froman Run and an unnamed tributary in Union Township, plus two others of 1,000 gallons each into unnamed tributaries of Chartiers Creek in North Strabane.

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