DEP fines Shell $670K for erosion, spills during Falcon pipeline construction
Shell’s ethane cracker is scheduled to open soon and begin processing ethane into plastic pellets.
Shell’s ethane cracker is scheduled to open soon and begin processing ethane into plastic pellets.
Pipeline Safety Trust recently commissioned a report to assess the state of CO2 pipeline safety regulation.
A grand jury said its review of construction documents and witness testimony produced an “overall theme of inadequate erosion control devices” and multiple landslides and slips.
Last year, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection issued a record $30 million fine to the company for the blast, focusing on the pipeline’s faulty slope stabilization.
The spills released a total of 412 gallons of industrial waste into wetlands and streams between February and August 2020.
As part of the fine, the company would agree to several added safety precautions, including more inspections and additional monitoring for landslides along its route.
The discharge is not toxic, but it can hurt stream life. And people who live near the work site are fed up with a project one says moves ‘full steam ahead’ no matter the consequences.
The Department of Environmental Protection said the pipeline’s owner has put in enough safety precautions to make the ground beneath pipeline route stable.