https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/27/pennsylvania-residents-mariner-east-pipelines-drinking-water-contamination
[links and images in online article]
'We can't live like this': residents say a corrupt pipeline project is
making them sick
Nina Lakhani in Delaware county, Pennsylvania
Mon 27 Jan 2020
A community in Pennsylvania says clay-colored water appeared during a
drilling mud spill, but the pipeline company insists it’s not to blame
Nina Lakhani in Delaware county, Pennsylvania
Mon 27 Jan 2020 10.00 GMT
Last modified on Mon 27 Jan 2020 10.01 GMT
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Erica Tarr, 31, at her home in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Tarr says, ‘I
can’t bathe my daughter, wash my hands or do a load of laundry, it’s
like living in constant crisis’.
Erica Tarr, 31, at her home in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Tarr says, ‘I
can’t bathe my daughter, wash my hands or do a load of laundry, it’s
like living in constant crisis’. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian
Every evening Erica and Jon Tarr load up their car with towels,
toiletries, and dirty dishes, before driving their two-year-old daughter
to a relative’s home to bathe, wash-up and eat a meal cooked in clean water.
The Tarrs, who moved into their spacious detached home in semi-rural
Pennsylvania last April, have relied upon bottled water and family
generosity since June 2019 when their crystalline tap water first turned
murky.
Since then, they’ve spent more than $32,000 dollars on new equipment,
lab tests, bottled water, repairing pipes and parts damaged by the
turbid water. It still isn’t safe, and they don’t know why.
“It’s sad and frustrating, I can’t bathe my daughter, wash my hands or
do a load of laundry, it’s like living in constant crisis. We’re not the
only ones in this situation, but we feel so alone,” said Erica Tarr, 31,
a paediatric nurse.
The clay-colored water appeared around the time of a drilling mud spill
at a nearby construction site for the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipelines – a
beleaguered multi billion dollar project transporting volatile natural
gas liquids from shale fields of eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania
to an export facility in Delaware county, ready to ship to Europe to
manufacture plastics.
The ME2 horizontal directional drilling (HDD) project – which is subject
to multiple criminal and regulatory investigations – has contaminated
surface and groundwater sources in hundreds of mud spills, and created
sinkholes in parks, roads and back yards since construction began in
early 2017. HDD drilling is particularly susceptible to spills known as
inadvertent returns, in which lubricating mud erupts through weak spots
in the rock.
But as the Tarrs’ tap water became increasingly turbid and the pressure
plummeted, the pipeline company Sunoco Logistics, a subsidiary of
Texas-based Energy Transfer LP, insisted the project was not to blame.
The Tarr family, like 13 million or more American households, relies on
a private well for drinking water which they – not regulators – are
responsible for monitoring and keeping safe. So, in October they
installed a sophisticated filter system and drilled a new well in their
picturesque wooded backyard, a couple of hundred meters from the worksite.
The water seemed fine for a few days, but then started smelling strongly
of nail polish and burned Erica’s mouth when she tried brushing her teeth.
Lab results detected toluene and MTBE – volatile organic compounds found
in fuel.
According to local records, an old Sunoco fuel pipeline leaked tens of
thousands of gallons of hazardous liquids close to the Tarr’s new well
back in 1992. It’s unclear whether the underground legacy contaminants
were disturbed by the current construction work. (A geologist hired by
the company found that ME2 construction activities did not impact the
Tarrs well.)
Then, in early January the tap water turned murky once again, John and
daughter Evie got sick, and dark grainy sediment coated the cistern.
“It’s a nightmare … living without water for so long is a nightmare,”
said Tarr. “ It’s like we’ve been thrown to the wolves, left to figure
it out … we can’t keep living like this.”
The Mariner East 2 pipeline project stretches 350 miles through 17,
mostly densely populated counties. It runs alongside the 1930s Mariner
East 1 gasoline pipeline, recently repurposed to transport butane,
propane and ethane – which are odorless and highly flammable.
The US fossil fuel industry has surged over the past decade as a result
of unconventional techniques that combine horizontal drilling and
fracking to extract oil and gas from shale and other underground rock
formations.
ME pipelines have the capacity to transport enough ethane to manufacture
just under a billion single plastic bottles every day, according to
analysis by Food and Water Watch, a not-for-profit accountability watchdog.
The project has been mired in controversies from the start:
In early 2018 the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)
shut down the project for a month and fined Sunoco $12.6m for what it
called “egregious” violations of environmental laws during its first
year of construction. Shortly after, the Public Utilities Commission
(PUC) ordered a temporary shut down after sinkholes opened up at a
construction site in West Whiteland Township, Chester county.
In January 2020, the DEP issued a $2m fine for another series of
drilling fluid spills in 2017 which contaminated Raystown Lake in
Huntingdon county. Some were not reported for over 500 days.
“There have been questions about the quality of the permits since they
were granted in 2014 … there is a pattern of malfeasance that is
established and known which was overlooked when permits were granted by
the DPE and Wolf administration,” said Sam Rubin, from Food and Water Watch.
A spokesman for Democratic governor Tom Wolf said he believes in strong
environmental protection and responsibility for permit holders. “The
significant fines, penalties, oversight and accountability by the DEP
under his administration are evidence of exactly that.”
Still, the project is also subject to ongoing criminal and civil
investigations which include:
A FBI corruption investigation into Wolf’s administration handling
of the permit process
State and county investigations into alleged corruption, criminal
misconduct and environmental crimes
At the end of 2019, security personnel working with Energy Transfer
were charged with bribery and criminal conspiracy for allegedly
recruiting, hiring, and hiding payments to state police officers. The
company says the charges have no merit.
A homeowner is suing Sunoco, claiming its drilling punctured the
aquifer supplying his water well and led to E coli contamination that
made him ill
Residents who live close to the pipeline – known as the Safety
Seven – have an ongoing case with the regulator, the PUC, to shut down
the project on the grounds it poses unacceptable safety risks, and the
company has failed to develop a credible evacuation plan.
“Only in Pennsylvania can an operator create a documentable track record
over decades of serial destruction and contamination and continue to be
permitted by state agencies and aided by legislators in further rolling
back environmental protections,” said state congresswoman Danielle Friel
from Chester county, who was elected in 2018 on an anti-pipeline ticket.
Chester county commissioners have slammed the company for “appalling”
lack of pipeline information, accusing the company of withholding safety
information, putting profit over safety, and creating mistrust among
residents – allegations Energy Transfer denies.
Friel added: “Pennsylvania has a corruption problem. Through a massive
lobbying, campaign finance and public relations effort, the fossil fuel
industry has successfully manipulated our legislature, our local
governments and regulatory agencies.”
Lisa Coleman from Energy Transfer said: “We are committed to adhering to
the rules and regulations specified in the approved permits as we
complete the construction and restoration phases of our projects ... We
believe our project was properly permitted by all agencies.”
Despite mounting public opposition and fears about the company’s safety
record, emergency plans and alleged criminal wrongdoing, Wolf refuses to
halt the project.
This intractable position has left communities dealing with contaminated
water and environmental hazards feeling desperate.
Rosemary Fuller – one of the Safety Seven – lives a couple of miles from
the Tarrs in a large gated property where the family moved in 2003,
smitten by the “idyllic peaceful” location. They signed a permanent
easement – or right of way – over to the company in 2015 after being
assured the project was safe and unobtrusive, according to Fuller, 60.
The pipelines run along the main road which runs through the well-to-do
semi-rural neighborhood.
Almost five years later, noisy construction sites are dotted throughout
the community, there are six sinkholes within a mile or so of Fuller’s
house, and in November a valve site situated within this densely
populated residential township leaked gasoline. Residents called
emergency services after smelling the strange odour.
Dangerous bacteria including E coli were detected in the Fuller’s well
water last July, since then the family has relied on bottled water
delivered by Sunoco.
Last week, a film of petrol blue coloured grease was visible in the
cistern and sink where Fuller brushes her teeth.
The project has had a huge impact on the whole family: Fuller’s husband
has incurable cancer which means his immune system is compromised, and
therefore spends most of the week away from home to avoid getting sick
from the water. Meanwhile Fuller spends her time analysing lab reports,
risk assessments, and company documents which are spread across the
kitchen counters and dining table.
“It’s a nightmare, I’m dealing with this all day every day, when I
should be with my husband. I have nightmares that my daughter drives
into a sinkhole,” said Fuller tearfully. “I feel so unsure about the
present and the future that I just want rid of my home.”
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