Two pipelines in Pennsylvania, Ohio amass more than 800 violations: report

Two pipelines being built across Pennsylvania and Ohio by Energy Transfer and its Sunoco subsidiary have amassed more than 800 state and federal permit violations, a Reuters analysis published Wednesday revealed.  

Energy Transfer’s Rover and Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipelines have been under construction across Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively, since 2017 and have been hit with violations over spilling drilling fluid, creating sinkholes in backyards and improperly disposing trash, Reuters reported.

{mosads}The violations allegedly included 681 federal violations accumulated by the Rover pipeline alone. 

The pipelines — which will carry gas from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia — were each originally scheduled to be completed by late last year, Reuters noted.

The news service compared the violations that have been amassed by the Rover and Mariner East 2 pipelines to four similar projects and found that, on average, the other projects had only 19 violations during construction. 

James Lee, a spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said in a statement that the Rover pipeline has “fundamentally changed” how the state will authorize future construction.

“Ohio’s negative experience with Rover has fundamentally changed how we will permit pipeline projects,” Lee said.

Both the Rover and Mariner East 2 pipelines have long been seen as controversial. The Rover pipeline has had a number of spills, including two that released more than 2 million gallons of drilling fluid into wetland in Ohio last year, according to PBS.

Drilling fluids from the Mariner East 2 pipeline have also spilled into waterways. 

Energy Transfer spokeswoman Alexis Daniel said that the company has gone “above and beyond” to meet regulations. 

Energy Transfer also operates the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, the construction of which has led to protests that have drawn national attention.