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$200,000 Penalty Proposed In PUC Settlement Of 2017 Mariner East 1 Pipeline Leak Case

On April 3, Sunoco and the PUC's Bureau of investigation and Enforcement filed a proposed settlement with the Public Utility Commission proposing a penalty of $200,000 in matters related to an April 2017 leak from the Mariner East 1 Pipeline in Berks County.

In addition to the penalty, Sunoco would agree to--

-- Conduct a remaining life study of the entire Mariner East 1 Pipeline to forecast the “retirement age” of the pipeline;

-- Increase the frequency of inspections on all bare steel and poorly coated Sunoco Pipelines in Pennsylvania to at least once per year;

-- Develop separate procedures to determine the adequacy of coated steel pipelines and bare steel pipelines; and

-- Implement new cathodic protection procedures and where inadequate protection exists and replace the impacted sections of the Mariner East 1 Pipeline.

A proposed settlement in December would have penalized Sunoco $225,000, but had similar additional requirements.

The entire case-- settlement petition and all of the other filings-- goes to the full Commission for their consideration about next steps. In addition to reviewing the settlement, they will need to decide how to handle the various petitions to intervene and other filings.

The April 1, 2017 leak of propane and ethane involved the loss of about 840 gallons of product near Morgantown Road in Morgantown, Berks County. Local residents reported the leak after they found product from the 1930’s era, high pressure pipeline bubbling up out of the ground.

Investigators from the Bureau later found the pipeline leak was caused by corrosion requiring the replacement of 83 feet of the 12-inch Mariner East 1 Pipeline.

The Mariner East 1 Pipeline route parallels the Mariner East 2 and 2x Pipelines across the state.

Click Here for a copy of the proposed settlement.

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Related Stories This Week:

Rep. Quinn Introduces Bipartisan Package Of Pipeline Bills To Regulate Routes, Emergency Plans And More

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Hershey Residents Allowed To Return To Homes, Businesses After Gas Leak

NewsClips:

Hurdle: Sunoco Agrees To Mariner East 1 Pipeline Leak Settlement

Maykuth: Sunoco Proposes $200K Fine, Remaining Life Study Of Leaky Mariner East 1 Pipeline

Litvak: Sunoco, PUC Reach Deal Over Mariner East 1 Pipeline Leak, Corrosion