Sunoco ordered to supply homes with bottled water and filtration systems in the wake of jet fuel spill
It must begin supplying bottled water within five days to homes with wells in the Mt. Eyre section of Upper Makefield, Bucks County, plus others within a 500-foot buffer.
Pennsylvania environmental regulators on Thursday ordered Energy Transfer, the parent company of Sunoco, to supply all residents of a Bucks County neighborhood with bottled water and install well filters following a January pipeline spill.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) also ordered that Energy Transfer take a variety of other actions, including site remediation, within a strict timeline.
The spill of jet fuel and possibly other petroleum products in the Mount Eyre neighborhood of Washington Crossing in Upper Makefield has provoked the ire of hundreds of residents who have harangued Sunoco officials at multiple meetings, saying they do not trust the company.
» READ MORE: Pipeline leak tainted at least 6 water wells in Bucks town with jet fuel. Neighbors are outraged.
“Today’s order will ensure that these residents have safe drinking water, the contamination is cleaned up, and the community has a direct line of contact with Energy Transfer to express their concerns,” acting DEP Secretary Jessica Shirley said in a statement. “Clean, safe drinking water is one of the most important resources we have, whether that is from a public water supplier or a private water well. Pennsylvanians have a constitutional right to pure water and we will work to ensure that right is protected in Upper Makefield Township.”
The order states that Energy Transfer must begin supplying bottled water within five days to all properties with underground wells in Mount Eyre, plus others within a 500-foot buffer. It does not specify the number of homes.
It also states that within 10 days, the company must install point-of-entry treatment (POET) filter systems on the water supply for each property, maintain the systems, and regularly test the water.
Earlier this week, Energy Transfer said it had already begun installing the treatment systems and hired subcontractors to perform water testing.
DEP officials said a subcontractor for Energy Transfer has tested 447 samples of well water for petroleum contamination. Six of those tested above drinking water standards for petroleum products.
Energy Transfer said Monday that five additional wells had detectable amounts of petroleum contaminants, but below statewide health standards.
Treatment systems have been installed at 42 homes. Energy Transfer has agreed to install at least 102 more treatment systems requested by homeowners.
Last week, more than 200 residents packed a board of supervisors meeting, casting doubt on Sunoco’s testing results from the pipeline spill, and company officials repeatedly apologized.
» READ MORE: Bucks County residents fear Sunoco pipeline leak could be more widespread than company acknowledges
Some homeowners had their wells tested independently and found the presence of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive that was banned in 2006. MTBE can cause headaches, nausea or vomiting, dizziness, coughing, and “feeling of spaciness,” according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sunoco has entered into the DEP’s voluntary cleanup program, which requires an investigation, installation of sampling wells, data, a plan for remediation, and permits.
The company’s 14-inch steel Twin Oaks Pipeline, built in 1958, transports mostly jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline from Sunoco’s Twin Oaks Terminal in Aston, Delaware County, to the company’s Newark Terminal in Newark, N.J. It includes a pump station in Bucks County. The pipeline runs about 106 miles mostly through suburbs, crossing numerous rivers, including the Delaware, and runs adjacent to numerous state and local parks.
It runs adjacent to and under homes and schools in Upper Makefield.
Though the spill was detected in January after a complaint from residents about an odor in their water, a federal agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said fuel had leaked for at least 16 months before that.
» READ MORE: Feds say Sunoco hazardous pipeline leaked fuel in Bucks Co. for at least 16 months