Mariner East 1 Pipeline Set to Restart After Sinkhole

• Sunoco/Energy Transfer intends to begin highly volatile liquid shipments as soon as possible through the 80-year old Mariner East 1 Pipeline.
• Sunoco agreed to voluntarily shut down the pipeline after part of it was exposed in Pittsburgh on Jan. 20. Sinkholes first developed in the area in November 2017.
• The original still-under-construction ME2 pipeline and ME2X pipeline are located in much of the same right-of-way as the ME1. Sunoco has seamlessly completed the 350-mile pipeline it now refers to as “ME2” with a mish-mash of all three sized pipes.

Notice was provided to the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) in Pittsburgh on Good Friday 2019 that Sunoco will restart operations. The Lisa Drive site remediation plan in the city will “contain a going-forward approach based on all data collected to date” while considering the “impact of the planned or anticipated open trench excavation of the 20-inch Mariner East 2 line,” reads an April 19 PUC press release. Here are the few of the measures being taken:

• Sunoco employees will also commit personnel to walk the ME1 section until grouting or filling of the sinkholes is complete.
• Sunoco will perform geophysical tests at Lisa Drive every six months for two years.
• Sunoco will also remotely monitor strain gauges or measurement systems.

This sinkhole isn’t the only rehab project for Sunoco: the company notified residents living within 450 feet of pipeline drilling along Boot Road near Route 202 in West Goshen Township that bottled drinking water and an alternate water supply, such as a water buffalo, could be installed and maintained at the pipeline builder’s expense.

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