The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Energy Transfer to provide clean water to residents in Upper Makefield Township who may be impacted by a jet fuel pipeline leak.
The DEP order requires Energy Transfer to install point-of-entry treatment systems in more than 100 homes in the Mt. Eyre neighborhood and to remediate the affected areas.
“Today’s order will ensure that these residents have safe drinking water, the contamination is cleaned up, and the community has a direct line of contact with Energy Transfer to express their concerns,” said DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley. “Clean, safe drinking water is one of the most important resources we have, whether that is from a public water supplier or a private water well. Pennsylvanians have a constitutional right to pure water and we will work to ensure that right is protected in Upper Makefield Township.”
The leak has been traced to a 2.5-inch crack in Energy Transfer’s 14-inch Twin Oaks pipeline that runs to Newark, New Jersey. The leak was detected Jan. 31.
The leak has contaminated at least six private wells, but residents and Upper Makefield Township officials believe the contamination is more widespread.
Under state oversight, a third-party contractor has taken 447 samples of well water for petroleum contamination.
Treatment systems have been installed at 42 residences, with six showing contamination levels above drinking water standards, state officials said.
Energy Transfer has agreed to install at least 102 more treatment systems at the request of homeowners.
State officials are conducting stream assessments and water chemistry sampling of nearby streams, and overseeing hydrology testing to understand groundwater flow and inform a long-term remediation plan.
The DEP order also requires Energy Transfer to submit an enforceable schedule for completing its environmental investigations and submitting cleanup plans.
The pipeline is currently running at 80 percent capacity.
Upper Makefield Township officials have criticized Energy Transfer’s response and demanded an immediate shutdown of the 105-mile-long pipeline.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat; Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican; State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, a Democrat; State Rep. Perry Warren, a Democrat; and the Bucks County Commissioners, two Democrats and one Republican, have also called for the pipeline to be shut down during the investigation.
Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, has asked the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to hold Energy Transfer accountable.
PHMSA, which has primary jurisdiction over the pipeline, reported the leak stemmed from a faulty sleeve installed in 1995 and that other sleeves along the pipeline could be at risk.
PHMSA also reported the first fuel smell in the township was reported in September 2023, but Energy Transfer did not find a leak at the time.
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