Sunoco Proposes to Expand Natural Gas Liquids Exports as Trump Cuts EPA’s Budget and Proposes to Roll Back Methane Pollution Standards from the Natural Gas Industry
Marcus Hook, PA (March 26, 2020) – Sunoco Partners Marketing and Terminals L.P. is proposing a new major source of air pollution associated with an expansion of natural gas liquids (NGL) exports within the existing Marcus Hook Industrial Complex in Delaware County. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is reviewing the proposed application and recently cancelled an April 2nd public hearing on this application due to the COVID-19 pandemic. DEP is treating this application as a major source of air pollution that must undergo New Source Review, a Clean Air Act review that could lead to Sunoco having to install additional pollution controls. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), New Source Review is intended “to ensure that air quality does not worsen where the air is already unhealthy to breathe….”
Delaware County already has some of the worst air quality in Pennsylvania. It is one of only 9 counties in the entire United States that does not attain the 2012 federal limit on Particulate Matter 2.5 pollution (soot). Delaware County is also in nonattainment of the 2015 8-hour Ozone standard. Sunoco’s Marcus Hook facility has also been in “significant violation” of the Clean Air Act since July 2018, leading to over $800,000 in state and federal fines in the last five years. The Marcus Hook Industrial Facility has also failed its last two DEP inspections in February and March of 2020. With Sunoco’s current application still under review, the March violation was for “Failure to obtain a plan approval for the construction, modification, reactivation of source(s) and/or cleaning device.”
Sunoco considers its current proposal a new single pollution source, rather than part of the existing infrastructure at the site. Clean Air Council appealed the original air pollution permit issued by DEP in April 2016 and in January 2019, the Environmental Hearing Board (EHB) ruled that DEP mistakenly permitted several connected operations as separate facilities, which allowed Sunoco to avoid more stringent air pollution standards. The EHB required DEP to issue a new consolidated proposed permit. EHB Judge Bernard Labuskes ruled that Sunoco was “deliberately evasive” in its original permit proposal.
“Residents of Marcus Hook and surrounding communities are already experiencing the public health impacts of natural gas liquid exports given the already poor air quality in Delaware County. The Public Health Management Corporation found Southern Delaware County, the area surrounding Marcus Hook, to have some of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s highest asthma incidences in adults as well as children. Residents’ health must be prioritized over private profits for this expanding export terminal.”
-Eve Miari, Advocacy Coordinator at Clean Air Council
In addition to the already significant air pollution currently emitted from the Marcus Hook natural gas liquids (NGL) export facility, the current expansion proposal would create an additional 67.73 tons per year of nitrogen oxides and 177.02 tons per year of volatile organic compounds. The threshold for both of these pollutants to be considered as major sources of air pollution is 25 tons per year in Delaware County because of the county’s significant ground-level-ozone (smog) pollution. Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react with heat in the atmosphere to form dangerous ground-level-ozone.
“As a long-time resident of Delaware County, an educator, and a parent, I remain concerned about Delco’s poor air quality and whether our officials are taking responsible action to protect public health. The citizens of Marcus Hook and surrounding communities can’t handle any more air particulates than we already are breathing, so I’m worried about Sunoco Partners’ plan for the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex. Already Delco doesn’t meet federal air quality standards for Particulate Matter or Ozone. Already, Sunoco’s Marcus Hook facilities have been in violation of the Clean Air Act and DEP standards. I know far too many people with asthma and other respiratory illnesses. Now in 2020, it’s beyond time for us to be investing in jobs that do not create harm for workers or local residents. I’m tired of breathing stinky air and wondering when it will improve. Having it get worse is simply not acceptable. Now that we know about the linkages between air pollution and asthma and heart attacks, it’s time to do better—much better—for public health.”
-Chara Armon, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Villanova University, Wallingford, PA
According to DEP, the existing “aggregated project causes a significant emissions increase of CO, CO2e, and NO2.” CO2e stands for Carbon Dioxide equivalents, which in this case is mostly the potent greenhouse gas methane. This permit proposal includes an additional 183,500 tons per year of greenhouse gases, counted in the permit as carbon dioxide equivalents. However, that number is based on a very conservative estimate of methane’s global warming potential. DEP uses the metric that methane is 25 times more potent a heat-trapping gas than CO2 over a 100-year time period, while methane is 87 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over 20 years. The U.S. Department of Energy categorizes the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of Methane as 36 times that of Carbon Dioxide over a 100 year time period.
Sunoco’s proposed expansion will accept fracked natural gas liquids from Southwestern Pennsylvania while President Trump’s U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) attempts to roll back standards that would reduce methane leakage in Pennsylvania and the country. Penn State researchers recently found that hydraulic fracturing gas wells in SW PA leaked methane at a rate 2 to 8 times higher than EPA estimates. EPA’s proposed removal of methane from the 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for oil and gas facilities would allow increased methane leakage at oil and gas infrastructure.
“Wind coming from the Southeast brings bad air directly to my house in Middletown Township, Delaware County. I have never had so many sinus headaches as I have now, especially in the past few years. This must be stopped. We used to have good air.’
-JoAnn Williams, Media, PA
“Please do everything possible to stop the addition of another polluting facility at Marcus Hook. The air in Delaware County is already so bad that we are instructed to call 911 when the strange gas-like smells happen. Oddly, they can never find the source of these odors. I wonder about that. This county is densely populated and includes a mix of young and old, rich and poor – all kinds of people suffer from this pollution!”
-Debbie Dawson, Folsom, PA
Sunoco’s expansion of the Marcus Hook NGL export facility won’t just mean a new major source of air pollution in already-polluted Delaware County. The currently functioning Mariner East 1 pipeline, the under construction but still functioning Mariner East 2 pipeline, and the in-construction Mariner East 2X pipeline are all proposed to bring ethane, methane and propane to the Marcus Hook NGL export facility. Methane leaks from every facet of natural gas infrastructure, including from well pads, and infrastructure used to process and transport the gas and liquids through pipelines.
The peer reviewed journal Nature recently published a study that methane emissions are collectively underestimated by 25-40%. Penn State scientists recently concluded that methane emissions from oil and gas facilities in the Southern U.S. could be more than double EPA estimates. Climate scientists continue to learn more about the effects of the climate crisis, including the natural gas industry’s contribution to climate change, while President Trump is proposing to significantly cut the EPA’s budget. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) recorded 2019 as the second hottest year ever globally – only 0.07 of a degree Fahrenheit behind 2016. According to NOAA, the five hottest years ever recorded have all occurred since 2015.
President Trump is proposing to cut the EPA’s budget by 26% ($2.4 billion) in his proposed 2021 federal budget, including a 71% cut to the EPA’s Environmental Justice program. Trump is also proposing to cut $219 million from EPA’s research budget at a time when environmental advocates say it is critical to have the latest science on greenhouse gas pollution. In EPA’s fully funded 2020 budget, PA DEP was granted $319,674 to more accurately monitor local methane concentrations in Pennsylvania.
Clean Air Council is now collecting official comments on Sunoco’s proposed expansion at the Marcus Hook Industrial Facility and President Trump’s proposed EPA budget cuts amid the methane rule rollback.
###
The Clean Air Council is a member- supported, non-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting everyone’s right to breathe clean air. The Council is headquartered in Philadelphia and works through public education, community organizing, advocacy, and government oversight to ensure enforcement of environmental laws. For more information, please visit www.cleanair.org.
