Upper Makefield residents press for answers on pipeline leak: ‘We had the wool pulled over our eyes’

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Residents and elected officials continue to press Energy Transfer to shut down the Twin Oaks Pipeline, which leaked jet fuel and contaminated six private water wells in Upper Makefield Township at levels above the statewide drinking standard.

Community members in the Mt. Eyre neighborhood first noticed a gasoline smell in their water in September 2023. Water sampling tests at the time did not show any contamination, and Energy Transfer didn’t detect a leak.  A preliminary investigation from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the federal agency that regulates the pipeline, found the leak had been going on for at least 16 months before Energy Transfer reported it Jan. 31.

Jerry Zacharatos, who lives a few hundred feet from the site of the leak, said his water is not contaminated, but he still worries about potential impacts for his three children ages 8 and younger.

“It’s not like the East Palestine spill, which I know is horrible, like once that happened, you knew to stop consuming the water,” he said. “We had the wool pulled over our eyes and told that we could continue drinking the water for over a year and a half. And my kids, you know, they fill up their Stanley Cups, they drink it. My newborn, we bathed her in it. So that’s my main thing, is their health.”

Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn has referred the incident to the state Attorney General’s Office, which is exploring prosecuting the leak as an environmental crime. Energy Transfer was held criminally responsible for damages related to the Mariner East pipeline construction.

On March 6, the state Department of Environmental Protection issued an order against Energy Transfer, stating that the leak is a violation of the Clean Streams Law. The order requires the company to provide water to impacted residents and install carbon filtration systems for impacted properties.

“This gives us the ability to memorialize those demands under the Clean Streams Law and take an enforcement action that holds Energy Transfer’s feet to the fire on doing the things that need to be done and doing them in a way that’s transparent and on a set schedule so that we’re not letting valuable time go by when we need to be having this cleaned up here,” said Patrick Patterson, DEP regional director.

The company has entered into DEP’s Act 2 remedial process for long-term cleanup.

Representatives from Energy Transfer, which operates the more-than-100-mile Sunoco pipeline, declined to respond to public questions at the fifth public meeting in Washington Crossing on Tuesday night, citing the fact that some residents have hired an attorney to take legal action against the company.

Instead, company representatives said they would provide presentations at public meetings and meet one-on-one with residents while also releasing communications updates on the incident website.

“While we can’t get into a Q and A here, our commitment to communicate will continue,” said Joe McGinn, vice president of public affairs at Energy Transfer. “It just will have to change slightly.”

State Sen. Steve Santarsiero and state Rep. Perry Warren both spoke out against the company’s decision to not respond to questions at public meetings.

“If they’re being asked factual questions, they can answer factually, and it should not put the company in any legal jeopardy whatsoever,” Santarsiero said. “But if they’re worried that actually sharing the facts publicly is a potential litigation risk or liability risk for them, well, then they should just come right out and say that, because I suspect that’s really what the situation is here.”

Representatives from the offices of Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and Sen. John Fetterman also spoke at the meeting, and said they are working at the federal level to seek answers and transparency from the company.

Gov. Josh Shapiro wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy on Feb. 28 requesting “expedited action” on the part of PHMSA to ensure the safety of the pipeline.

“Pennsylvanians are rightfully concerned about the integrity of the pipeline and Sunoco has not demonstrated adequate ability to detect leaks and take appropriate actions, given what appears to have been a significant delay between the initial indications of a leak and the response,” the letter reads. “We need the federal government, and your agency, to partner with us and work quickly to alleviate those concerns.”

Energy Transfer said they are continuing to test water in the impacted area. As of Monday, the company had tested 317 properties, with six testing for volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, above statewide drinking water standards. Another eight have tested positive for VOCs within drinking water standards.

The company plans to start drilling two recovery wells in the coming weeks after it is given access to the site.

A tele-town hall is scheduled for March 27.