Marsh Creek Lake – (HDD 290)

This page was last updated on April 8, 2021

Marsh Creek Lake, located in Chester County, is approximately 535 acres and located in Marsh Creek State Park. As it relates to Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 project, this location is often referred to as HDD 290.

On August 10, 2020, Sunoco spilled approximately 8,000 gallons of drilling fluid that impacted a wetland, two tributaries, and Marsh Creek Lake. On August 11, 2020, Sunoco experienced a subsidence at this same location. These two incidents resulted in the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as well as other state and local agencies who responded to the incident, taking compliance and enforcement actions, and requiring Sunoco to mitigate, remediate, and restore the area.

This webpage has been created to collect and share the associated documents, reports, and submissions regarding this site. It will continue to be updated as new documents are submitted to DEP for review.

Currently Under Review

• August 17, 2020 Restart Report, submitted in response to the August 10, 2020 IR
  • November 20, 2020 Amended Restart Report
  • November 23, 2020 Minor Permit Modification for 102/105 permits associated with HDD 290
  • January 4, 2021 DEP Letter to Sunoco re: Restart Request and Permit Amendment Requirements for HDD S3-0290
• September 30, 2020 Sunoco Emergency Permit and Minor Modification Package and Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Inventory (PNDI) for borehole grouting
  • October 2, 2020 Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission – PNDI
  • October 19, 2020 US Fish and Wildlife Service – PNDI (grouting operation)
  • January 8, 2020 US Fish and Wildlife Service – PNDI (additional clearance for grouting operations)
  • January 27, 2021 Sunoco Response to Comments on EP

DEP Issued Permits and Approvals

• February 13, 2017 Chapter 105 permit and Chapter 102 permit
• May 28, 2019 Re-Evaluation Report and January 23, 2020 Approval
• November 11, 2020 Sunoco Emergency Permit Application Package for geophysical work and December 23, 2020 Approval.

Compliance and Enforcement

• August 20, 2017 Corrected Stipulated Order
• August 20, 2020 Notice of Violation (NOV)
  • August 27, 2020 Sunoco NOV response
• September 11, 2020 Administrative Order (AO)
• On September 25, 2020, Sunoco Pipeline, LP appealed the Administrative Order issued by DEP on 9/11/20 to the Environmental Hearing Board. All documents, filings, and updates on this appeal can be found on the EHB docket for this case. – EHB Docket
  • December 16, 2020 EHB Opinion
• October 1, 2020 Sunoco Response to AO and NOV

Remediation, Assessment, and Restoration

• August 14, 2020 Incident Report
• August 11, 2020 Drilling logs
• August 12, 2020 Drilling logs
• August 14, 2020 Current Conditions Report
• August 21, 2020 Current Conditions Report
• August 21, 2020 IR Assessment, Status Report and Remediation Work Plan
• September 2, 2020 Sediment investigation report
• On December 23, 2020, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) issued a press release regarding the annual winter drawdown of Marsh Creek Lake. In coordination with DCNR, DEP requested a sampling plan from Sunoco to further assess the newly exposed lake bottom for bentonite.
  • January 7, 2021 Drawdown Sampling Plan (Sunoco submission)
  • January 22, 2021 Coordinated DEP and DCNR response
  • January 26, 2021 Amended Drawdown Sampling Plan (Sunoco Submission)
  • February 1, 2021 DEP Approval of Amended Drawdown Sampling Plan