Pennsylvania DEP Suspends Construction of Mariner East 2 Pipeline
Sunoco Pipeline says it received an order from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that “instructed us to suspend construction activities in Pennsylvania with respect to Mariner East 2 until reauthorized by the Pennsylvania DEP. The order requires us to submit various reports related to current and future construction activities. We intend to expeditiously submit these reports and we are confident that we will be reauthorized to commence work on this project promptly. We also reiterate our commitment to the highest levels of construction expertise and our dedication to preserving and protecting the environment in which we conduct our work.”
Sunoco Pipeline is part of Energy Transfer Partners, L.P., a master limited partnership that owns and operates a diversified portfolio of energy assets in the United States. On April 28, 2017, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) and Sunoco Logistics Partners (SXL) closed on their previously announced merger.
The company says it received the order from the Pennsylvania DEP on Jan. 3. The Mariner East project transports NGLs from the Marcellus and Utica Shales areas in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Eastern Ohio to destinations in Pennsylvania, including ETP’s Marcus Hook Industrial Complex on the Delaware River, where they are processed, stored and distributed to local, domestic and waterborne markets, the company says. The first phase of the project, referred to as Mariner East 1, consisted of interstate and intrastate propane and ethane service and commenced operations in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2016, respectively. The second phase of the project, referred to as Mariner East 2, is intended to expand the total takeaway capacity to 345,000 barrels per day for interstate and intrastate propane, ethane and butane service, the company says. Sunoco Pipeline has begun construction of Mariner East 2 across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. The 20-inch pipeline is scheduled to be in service in the second quarter of 2018. The 16-inch pipeline is scheduled to be finished in 2018.
The Mariner East projects are designed to provide pipeline infrastructure to transport ethane, propane, and other petroleum products from the Marcellus Shale to markets in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Additionally, the Mariner projects will play a major contributing role in repurposing of the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex as the Northeast hub for distribution of natural gas liquids to commercial markets domestically and globally, the company says.