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Gas Liquids Pipeline Owner Agrees To Safety Study, New Fine

Marie Cusick
/
StateImpact Pennsylvania

The heavily fined owner of natural gas liquids pipelines across southern Pennsylvania is agreeing to another $200,000 fine and a study on risks to the Mariner East 1 pipeline.

Lawyers for a subsidiary of Texas-based Energy Transfer LP submitted the paperwork Wednesday to the state Public Utility Commission, whose members must approve a proposed agreement with agency enforcement lawyers before it becomes final.

The case stems from a 2017 leak in Berks County on a section of corroded pipeline. The study must include an analysis of corrosion, structural issues and other threats to the 1930s-era pipeline.

Energy Transfer's Mariner East 1, 2 and 2X projects are blamed for polluting waterways in dozens of places and causing sinkholes near homes. Pennsylvania's environmental regulators halted Energy Transfer's construction permits and prosecutors are investigating the projects.

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