Construction on the Mariner East 2 liquids pipelines in Pennsylvania has been halted again, Kallanish Energy reports.
The Mariner East 1 liquids pipeline that has been in operation was also shut down.
Administrative law Judge Elizabeth Barnes stopped construction in Chester County’s West Whiteland Township until the state’s Public Utility Commission (PUC) determines the twin pipelines under construction are safe.
She ruled on an emergency petition filed by state Sen. Andy Dinniman, a Democrat who represents that section of Chester County, and ruled the three pipelines are “an imminent risk” to the public.
Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners knocked the judge’s decision. Her ruling was a “significant departure from the law” and from the PUC’s due-process procedures, it said.
The company said it would ask the PUC to review the order. “The entire energy industry should be concerned about (Thursday’s) order and consider this result when making decisions regarding future capital investments in the state as it upends Pennsylvania’s entire regulatory environment,” it said, in a statement, according to StateImpact NPR.
The company said the pipelines are still scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2018.
ETP subsidiary Sunoco says the pipelines are safe and meet or exceed federal and state regulatory standards.
The PUC had shut down operation of Mariner East 1 last March after sinkholes appeared in Chester County. That order was lifted last May, after investigators found no problems with that line.
Last summer, Pennsylvania shut down construction on the Mariner East 2 pipelines after multiple spills were reported along the 350-mile pipeline route across southern Pennsylvania.
Last January, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection shut down construction on Mariner East 2 for about a month and fined Sunoco $12.6 million. Alternate water was provided to some homeowners.
The $2.5 billion Mariner East 2 projects calls for two liquids pipelines to move natural gas liquids from the Utica and Marcellus shales from southwest Pennsylvania and nearby states to Marcus Hook near Philadelphia where the liquids, mostly butane and propane, would be exported for sale.
Construction began in February 2017, although the project has run into strong opposition in some areas. Mariner East 2 is designed to handle an additional 345,000 barrels per day.
The company’s Mariner East 1 Pipeline is transporting ethane and propane to Marcus Hook.
The two new pipelines and the one existing pipeline will largely follow the same route through 17 counties.
