PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said Sunoco and parent company Energy Transfer are meeting the required deadlines in the process to remedy a jet fuel pipeline leak in Bucks County.
Officials shared the status of the project during a virtual public meeting Tuesday night, about seven months after the jet fuel pipeline leak was first detected in the Mount Eyre neighborhood of Upper Makefield Township.
The leak into the groundwater was detected on Jan. 31, though many residents had complained of an odor since September 2023.
Sunoco sampled 363 private wells and found six had exceeded the DEP’s drinking water standard for levels of volatile organic compounds, like those found in jet fuel. Many other wells were around or above the reportable level.
“We would obviously be concerned if there was an expansion of the plume — if we saw it moving toward the river, if it was affecting more homes. It appears that the plume is stable; maybe it’s backing off a little bit,” said C. David Brown, DEP environmental cleanup program manager.
Officials said Sunoco installed 10 pairs of new monitoring wells in July and August, and more are on the way. Samples collected in soil beneath homes did not show exceedances of chemicals attributable to the jet fuel release.
The DEP said Sunoco has recovered 1,027 gallons of petroleum — around two-thirds from soil remediation and the rest from private and recovery wells. Sunoco also has not updated its initial estimate that the pipeline leaked about 6,500 gallons of fuel.
Neighbors still had concerns. Some at the meeting said they have had low water pressure. Others said Sunoco is not being transparent enough, taking issue with the company planning not to record its in-person meeting next Monday. The DEP said it can’t force the company to record. Questions and comments can be sent to ra-epumpipeline@pa.gov.
Another Sunoco progress report is due to the DEP on Sept. 18.