KIMBERLY PAYNTER / WHYY
Mariner East 2 construction site in Edgemont Township, Delaware County. The federal pipeline regulator has issued a notice of probable violation to Sunoco after discovering flawed sections of pipe on a section of the route in Ohio.
A section of the controversial Mariner East 2 pipeline showed scrapes and a gouge in its coating during construction in Ohio last year, federal regulators said, in a recent statement that has fueled activists’ concern about the safety of the line.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a “Notice of Probable Violation” to Sunoco Pipeline on Jan. 11 after an inspector discovered the flaws during a visit to the construction site near Hopedale, Ohio, near the western end of the pipeline route, in March 2017.
The inspector observed “numerous coating scrapes” on at least five sections of pipe, and several sections had “severe coating damage,” the notice said. At least one joint of pipe had a “gouge” that extended into the wall of the pipe.
The gouged joint was removed by Sunoco after it determined the damage had been caused by a bending machine on Nov. 18, 2016, some four months before the PHMSA inspection during the week of March 27-31, 2017.
StateImpact – Jon Hurdle – 01.25.18
Posted by: Nelson Bailey
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