PA Gov Suspends Permit For Energy Transfer Partners On NGL Pipeline Network
Plans for a pipeline network to export petrochemical ingredients from fracked gas wells in Pennsylvania hit a major roadblock, as state environmental regulators announced Friday that they were suspending all permit reviews for pipeline builder Energy Transfer until further notice.
“There has been a failure by Energy Transfer and its subsidiaries to respect our laws and our communities,” Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, who has supported fracking in the state, said in a statement when the suspension was announced. “This is not how we strive to do business in Pennsylvania, and it will not be tolerated.”
Energy Transfer has been building a network of pipelines in Pennsylvania that are designed to carry not only natural gas (primarily methane) from fracked Marcellus shale wells, but also the natural gas liquids (NGLs) that many shale wells produce as by-products. Those NGLs, which include ethane, butane, and propane, are prized by petrochemical companies and can be turned into plastics and a wide array of synthetic products.
But the company — also at the center of Dakota Access, Bayou Bridge, and Rover pipeline controversies — racked up a troubling track record of law-breaking in Pennsylvania, causing sinkholes, water contamination, and an early-morning pipeline explosion. It separately remains under a criminal investigation by the Chester County district attorney.
EDIT
https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/02/11/pennsylvania-suspends-permit-energy-transfer-mariner-east-rover-revolution-pipelines-violations
