Appeals Board Finds Pennsylvania State Agency Unlawfully Issued Air Permit to Sunoco for its Mariner East Processing Facility in Marcus Hook

 

(PHILADELPHIA, PA – January 10, 2019) On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board (the Board) ruled that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) unlawfully issued an air quality permit for natural gas liquids processing equipment at the Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, L.P. facility in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania.  The processing equipment is designed to handle liquids from the Mariner East pipelines, which run across Pennsylvania. The decision came in response to Clean Air Council’s appeal of Plan Approval 23-0119E in April 2016, leading to a trial in May 2018.

The Board held that the project in question was really part of an overarching project to transform the former Marcus Hook refinery into a natural gas liquids processing facility.  The larger project was unlawfully broken up into smaller projects for the sake of permitting. Where separate construction activities are really all part of the same project, the emissions from all of those projects must be aggregated to determine if more stringent requirements are triggered. Ultimately, the Board sent the air permit back to DEP so that DEP can re-evaluate how the project should be permitted.  

The Board’s decision enhances existing law by providing detailed guidance on when multiple related projects should be considered one project in a review of an air permit application.

“The Environmental Hearing Board’s decision is not only a victory for Clean Air Council, it is a victory for public health and the neighboring communities,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel for Clean Air Council.  “Too often, big industry players have avoided pollution controls by creating loopholes that jeopardize air quality protections. Sunoco/ETP has been one of the worst offenders in this regard, time and again circumventing the rules and putting the public at risk. The Board decision has finally closed this loophole.”

The Board’s opinion is available in full at: http://ehb.courtapps.com/efile/documentViewer.php?documentID=44482