DEP accepting comments on Sunoco’s plan to clean up Marsh Creek Lake

Rachel McDevitt

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I report on energy and the environment for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.

My work focuses on responses and solutions to climate change in the state legislature and communities around the state. I trace my interest in these issues back to my time as a Girl Scout and this episode of Rocko’s Modern Life.

I look forward to winter just for the chance to ski a few times each season. I try to keep myself from doom-scrolling on my phone by keeping my hands busy knitting and learning to play the piano.

I grew up in Cambria County, Pa. and graduated from Temple University. I started at WITF just after Christmas in 2014.

Kimberly Paynter / WHYY

The cleanup site on Marsh Creek where 10,000 gallons of drilling mud was spilled.

February 18, 2022 | 5:20 AM

The state is asking for public input on a pipeline builder’s plan to clean up a Chester County lake it fouled with a drilling mud spill.

Construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline was paused after Sunoco spilled thousands of gallons of drilling mud into Marsh Creek Lake in the summer of 2020.

The lake and surrounding state park get about one million visitors each year.

The restoration plan is required under a consent decree the company reached with the Department of Environmental Protection in December.

Sunoco is asking to dredge and temporarily store soil from part of the lake, and work in an area four acres larger than originally planned. It says all areas will be restored when the project is done.

A virtual public hearing will be held on March 8, starting at 6 p.m.

People who wish to speak must register at least 24 hours ahead of time by contacting DEP community relations coordinator Virginia Nurk at vnurk@pa.gov or 484-250-5808

Written comments can be submitted until March 11. People can email RA-EPWW-SERO@pa.gov or mail a physical copy to the Southeast Regional Office, Waterways and Wetlands Program, 2 E. Main St. Norristown, PA 19401.

More information can be found here.