A pattern of criminal behavior

In a recent blog post (“Unlawful conduct”) I described some of the regulatory violations that led to the sinkhole in a residential backyard near Exton. In an earlier one (“Sunoco drills where it is not permitted”) I provided some details about a case where Sunoco used horizontal directional drilling (HDD) in a location where it violated the environmental permit it had obtained. Last summer, I wrote a post (“West Goshen cries ‘foul’”) about the way Sunoco started to clear land to build a valve station in a location for which it had signed a legal agreement not to do construction.

Today (November 21), the Department of Environmental Protection issued another “Notice of Violation” (number 25 by my count) for another location where Sunoco has been drilling in violation of its permit.

Today’s violation involves drilling under a small creek in Berks County. It was discovered on November 17. Drilling was not permitted in the “site plan”, and neither was work between October 1 and April 1. These restrictions are shown in the red oval in the image from the site plan, below. Drilling was probably a shortcut Sunoco tried to take to avoid the more involved process that the site plan calls for.

These violations, and many others, make it crystal clear that Sunoco is willfully and repeatedly ignoring the law. Isn’t that the definition of “a pattern of criminal behavior”?

The governor and the PUC are not acting. The DEP is documenting the crimes, but not stopping them. I think it is time for Attorney General Josh Shapiro to act. On his website, he claims that one of his top priorities is “implementing a comprehensive integrity agenda to ensure people from across the Commonwealth are heard and have faith in the justice system.”

Well, here’s your opportunity, Josh. Put an end to this criminal activity and give Pennsylvanians back their faith that justice will prevail.

Click here to submit a complaint to the Attorney General. Let him know that Sunoco is getting away with repeated violations of the law, and this must be stopped immediately.