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U.S. NEWS Thursday 14 November 2019

AP Exclusive: FBI eyes how Pennsylvania approved pipeline

By MARC LEVY gations. When construction
Associated Press permits were approved in
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — 2017, environmental ad-
The FBI has begun a corrup- vocacy groups accused
tion investigation into how Wolf's administration of
Gov. Tom Wolf's administra- pushing through incom-
tion came to issue permits plete permits that violated
for construction on a mul- the law.
tibillion-dollar pipeline proj- Wolf's administration de-
ect to carry highly volatile clined comment on the
natural gas liquids across investigation Tuesday. In
Pennsylvania, The Associ- the past, Wolf and his ad-
ated Press has learned. ministration have said the
FBI agents have inter- permits contained strong
viewed current or former environmental protections
state employees in recent and that the Department
weeks about the Mariner of Environmental Protec-
East project and the con- tion wasn't forced to issue
struction permits, accord- the permits.
ing to three people who An Energy Transfer spokes-
have direct knowledge of woman said the company
the agents' line of question- had not been contacted
ing. by the FBI about the Mari- In this Oct. 22, 2019 file photo, pipes lay along a construction site on the Mariner East pipeline in a
All three spoke on condi- ner East. residential neighborhood in Exton, Pa.
tion of anonymity because The chief federal prosecu- Associated Press
they said they could not tor in Harrisburg, U.S. Attor-
speak publicly about the ney David Freed, declined ing ethane exporter. in southeastern Pennsylva- nated streams and private
investigation. comment. The roughly 300-mile (480-ki- nia, and have been met water wells.
The focus of the agents' The Mariner East project, lometer) Mariner East 1 was with protests by alarmed Meanwhile, county and
questions involves the per- along with the overhaul of originally built in the 1930s neighbors worried that one state prosecutors are inves-
mitting of the pipeline, the Marcus Hook refinery to transport gasoline west- leak could ignite a deadly tigating the pipeline.
whether Wolf and his ad- and export terminal near ward from Marcus Hook. explosion. Sinkholes along Chester County's district
ministration forced environ- Philadelphia, have had the It was renovated and, in the pipelines' route have attorney, Tom Hogan,
mental protection staff to support of leading public 2014, began carrying natu- opened on lawns and opened an investigation
approve construction per- officials and business trade ral gas liquids eastward to construction has contami- last December. q
mits and whether Wolf or groups. the refinery from southwest-
his administration received Wolf himself has said that ern Pennsylvania's drilling
anything in return, those the pipeline's economic fields.
people say. benefits would outweigh Construction permit ap-
The Mariner East pipelines the potential environmen- plications were submitted
are owned by Texas-based tal harm, and that the Mari- in 2015 for two wider pipe-
Energy Transfer LP, a multi- ner East would be part of a lines, the 350-mile-long
billion-dollar firm that owns distribution system that the (563-kilometer) Mariner East
sprawling interests in oil and industry needed. 2 and 2x, designed for the
gas pipelines and storage The state's building trades same purpose, but stretch-
and processing facilities. At unions have seen a huge ing farther, through West
a price tag of nearly $3 bil- influx of work on the Mari- Virginia's northern panhan-
lion, it is one of the largest ner East pipelines and dle and into Ohio.
construction projects, if not Marcus Hook. Exploration Both were projected to be
the largest, in Pennsylvania firms drilling in the booming open in 2017. But Mariner
history. Marcellus Shale and Utica East 2 began operating in
However, the construction Shale fields shipping natural late December, and Mari-
has spurred millions of dol- gas liquids through Mariner ner East 2X could be com-
lars in fines, several tempo- East pipelines and Marcus plete in 2020.
rary shutdown orders, law- Hook have helped the U.S. The pipelines run past
suits, protests and investi- become the world's lead- houses, parks and schools