EnviroPolitics Blog

Sunoco proposes changes to Mariner East 2 construction

Mariner East 2 pipe being installed in 2017 in Washington County, Pa.

Jon Hurdle reports for StateImpact:

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public hearing on plans by Sunoco Pipeline to modify its construction of the controversial Mariner East pipelines at two sites in Chester County’s West Whiteland Township.

The DEP said Monday that Sunoco proposes to change its construction method for the pipelines from horizontal directional drilling (HDD) to a conventional bore at one site and from HDD to a combination of conventional bore, open trench and HDD at the other sit

The changes would mean “major modifications” to the company’s permits under the DEP’s Chapter 105 water obstruction and Chapter 102 erosion control regulations, and so require DEP approval after a public hearing, the department said in a statement.

The meeting will be held on April 30 from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm at the EN Peirce Middle School in West Chester. The DEP also extended a public-comment period from April 21 until May 11.

The statement said one of the affected sites is on East Swedesford Road, where the local water utility, Aqua America, has raised concerns about a well at Hillside Drive. The other location is along North Pottstown Pike, where the new work plan has been prompted by hydrogeological analysis and seismic testing, DEP said. Sunoco submitted both plans last October.

The sites are among about 60 along the cross-state pipeline route that have been subject to a court-ordered “re-evaluation” of local geology after a string of drilling-fluid spills.

Sunoco sought the change “to ensure Aqua America’s water supply would not be impacted,” spokesperson Lisa Dillinger wrote in an email. The change would allow construction to continue “in the most efficient manner possible while keeping safety as our first priority

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Spectre of fracking waste clouds treatment plant bill in NJ

Opponents worry that loophole in bill on governor’s desk will allow fracking waste to be discharged into river

dupont wastewater treatment

Tom Johnson reports
for NJ Spotlight:

At one time, the sprawling 1,455-acre DuPont Chambers Work facility was the largest commercial wastewater treatment plant in North America, dumping as much as 40 million gallons daily into the Delaware River.

The business was largely phased out six years ago, a victim of industry trends to minimize waste and other factors. But the facility, now operated by a spinoff company, could experience a bit of economic revival under a bill on Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk.

The legislation, overwhelmingly approved by both houses last week, has significant implications for Chemours, which now operates the site. If signed by the governor, the company would avert a much more rigorous review from environmental regulators to allow the plant to renew commercial operations, according to critics.

“This bill will put more pollution into the Delaware because it creates a loophole that redefines a hazardous waste facility, allowing them to dump toxic chemicals,’’ said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. The bill would allow the facility to bring in more and different hazardous waste to be treated at the plant, he said.

But backers of the bill, including Assemblyman John Burzichelli, a sponsor, argue the facility would provide a valuable function by ensuring safe handling of hazardous waste. “It has a history of safety; it has a history of compliance,’’ he told a legislative committee that heard the bill earlier this year.

The facility’s treatment plant currently discharges waste from onsite into the river, but the bill would allow it to resume accepting waste from other businesses offsite, a red flag to environmentalists who fear that could include waste from natural-gas fracking operations in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

“If this bill is signed, it could allow comingled fracking waste to be dumped in the river,’’ said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “That’s a disaster in the making for the ecology of the estuary.’’

Jeff Fritz, state government affairs director for Chemours, downplayed the concerns raised by critics in a legislative hearing in February. He said the company would still need to obtain a modified permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which would set the standards for discharges into the river.

Murphy is on record as opposing fracking within the Delaware River Basin. At a press conference in February, the governor said he is against dumping of fracking waste within the basin, as well as water withdrawals within the watershed to support fracking outside the region.

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MA’s top court refuses to block Exxon climate fraud probe

The ruling clears the way for state Attorney General Maura Healey’s investigation into whether oil giant Exxon misled the public and investors about climate change.

David Hasemyer

BY DAVID HASEMYER, Insideclimate news

The judge noted that ExxonMobil has both Exxon and Mobil franchises in Massachusetts. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

In its ruling, the state’s highest court noted that ExxonMobil reaches the Massachusetts public through a franchise
network of over 300 Exxon and Mobil stations in the state. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images

The Massachusetts Supreme
Judicial Court has handed ExxonMobil another defeat in the company’s legal
battle to head off climate investigations into whether it misled investors and
the public about the risks of climate change.

The court ruled Friday that Attorney General
Maura Healey has the authority to compel Exxon to turn over records showing
whether the oil company’s marketing or sale of fossil fuel products violated
the state’s consumer protection law.

In its 32-page opinion, the state’s highest court
ruled that Healey may proceed with enforcing a civil investigative
demand—similar to a subpoena—for Exxon documents related to climate change
dating back four decades. Her office issued the demand nearly two years ago.

The court rejected each of Exxon’s arguments
that Healey’s investigation should be stopped. Among other things, Exxon had
claimed that Healey was biased based on her participation in a coalition of
attorneys general formed to look into the fossil fuel industry’s actions, and
that the company was outside of Healey’s reach because the corporation did not
do business in the state, though it has 300 Exxon and Mobil franchise gas
stations in Massachusetts.

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He who owns the tractor software owns the farm

American farm equipment has grown larger and more productive, but also more dependent on electronic sensors and computer software.

When something goes wrong, repairs can be costly, and tractor-makers like John Deere are withholding the diagnostic tools that a farmer could use to fix his own equipment.

This has led to a legislative debate called ‘Right to Repair.’

[Motherboard Video]

Related: New Jersey Just Introduced Right to Repair Legislation

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Pa reporters win awards for series on toxic water

Jenny Wagner and Kyle Bagenstose

Staff writers for the Bucks County Courier Times and The Doylestown Intelligencer have earned state awards for their environmental reporting from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors. The awards will be presented in Gettysburg in June.

Kyle Bagenstose and Jenny Wagner earned first-place honors in the Best Investigative Reporting category and second place in the Best Public Service category for their continuing work on this news organization’s Unwell Water series.

Since 2014, 22 public wells and about 200 private wells in the area have been shut down by contamination from perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate. The series tells the stories of local people who believe they’ve been sickened by chemicals, speaking with health experts on the potential toxicity of the chemicals, and examining the actions taken by local, state and federal agencies as they address the contamination.

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NJ lawmakers quietly pass two cantankerous enviro bills

By Frank Brill

EnviroPolitics Editor

“Not with a bang but a whimper” (The Hollow Men,T.S. Eliot )

After months of sustained criticism at public hearings, in newspaper editorials, and in radio and social-media ads, legislation to hand PSEG an annual $300 million public gift to keep their utility profits stable–and a separate bill boosting clean energy (at an uncertain taxpayer cost)–both cleared the New Jersey Senate and Assembly on April 12 with hardly a peep. They now await Governor Phil Murphy’s approval, amendment or veto.

Tom Johnson reports in NJ Spotlight and Michael Sol Warren in NJ.com on the legislation’s background and passage.

PSEG’s case for the subsidy pales in comparison to the legislation’s deficiencies. Star-Ledger editor Tom Moran lines them up in: Will Murphy save us from PSEG’s outrageous nuke subsidy?

After reading Moran’s piece, you wonder how such lame legislation got through both houses with relative ease?

Two reasons:
1. The prime bill sponsor is Steve Sweeney who, as Senate President, controls what legislation comes up for votes in the upper house. If you’re a lawmaker who ever hopes to have one of your bills passed, you’d damn well better vote for the Senate President’s bills.

2. PSEG is a political powerhouse.

The company has top-notch executives who understand New Jersey politics and strive to maintain a positive public image.
They build and maintain a solid energy infrastructure and train employees to keep your lights on during storms or to restore power promptly after an outage.
They respond to legislators and to local officials whose constituents have utility-related gripes.
They support a host of community events and place brand-awareness ads in dozens of publications and with media outlets like NJTV News.
Unlike many energy utility companies across the country, they take a progressive stance, advocating for solar and offshore wind energy and for conservation, too.
But when their stock price is threatened, PSEG can forsake the good-guy image and order their internal and external lobbyists to do bare-knuckled combat in the legislative trenches. And, by the way, they never lose.

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