Bucks County jet fuel leak: Energy Transfer ordered to install water treatment systems to affected homes
UPPER MAKEFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. - It’s been more than a month since residents in the Mount Eyre neighborhood were told a broken underground Sunoco pipeline was leaking jet fuel, possibly for more than a year.
In the wake of the discovery, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, or PA DEP, ordered Energy Transfer, the company who operates the pipeline, to give residents located in the area of the leak and impacted by it, to install point-of-entry treatment systems to over 100 homes in the neighborhood.
What we know:
On or around January 27, 2025, Lower Makefield Board of Supervisors say a fuel pipeline leak was reported involving a pipeline owned by Energy Transfer/Sunoco.
Energy Transfer, who operates the 106-mile Sunoco pipeline, called the leak a "slow drip" in a 14-inch steel pipe built in 1958.
On January 31st, the company announced the pipeline that starts in Aston, Delaware County and weaves through several suburban neighborhoods before ending up in Newark, New Jersey had been leaking.
Residents in Upper Makefield Township met with officials from Energy Transfer, the PA DEP and the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and expressed outrage over what they called a crisis in the community, knowing jet fuel was leaking.
Pipeline leaking jet fuel in Bucks County: Community demands answers in meeting
A Bucks County community is outraged and demanding answers after learning about a pipeline leaking jet fuel.
What they're saying:
Resident Kristine Wojnovich told FOX 29 she first noticed a taste and smell of gas in their water in September 2023, but Sunoco told her tests showed no problem. Almost a year and a half later, Sunoco finally opened her well and found more than 12 feet of jet fuel on the top.
"When they opened it, there was this smell, and I was honestly emotionally unprepared for this to happen," she said.
She says Sunoco now comes twice a day because she still has fuel coming into her well. She and hundreds of others want to know the plan.
PA DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley stated, "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."
Dig deeper:
DEP had already demanded Energy Transfer conduct water testing at the impacted homes. To date, with DEP oversight, a third-party has taken 447 samples of well water for petroleum contamination.
Additionally, PA DEP is testing three nearby streams – Dyers Creek, Houghs Creek and a tributary not named. DEP is handling the hydrology testing.
What's next:
Treatment systems have been installed at 42 homes, some of which showed petroleum products.
Energy Transfer is now ordered to install at least 102 more treatment systems.
Governor Josh Shapiro has sent a letter to PHMSA calling on leaders to hold Energy Transfer accountable.
What you can do:
Residents with questions or concerns can obtain further information by contacting the resident hotline at 1-877-397-3383, by emailing uppermakefieldresponse@energytransfer.com, or by visiting the website at https://uppermakefield.incidentupdates.com.