The latest incident from Energy Transfer’s pipeline construction in West Whiteland occurred at the Shoen Road drill site - this time, an inadvertent return (IR) of drilling mud that appeared in a seep by the road. As a result of the IR, construction at the drill site is shut down. The IR followed a significant discharge of groundwater beginning right after Tropical Storm Isaias drenched this area. Inspectors from the PA Department of Environmental Protection and the Chester County Conservation District have been at the site almost every day since then.
Last month, sinkholes opened up near the Chester Valley Trail and Lincoln Hwy due to pipeline construction. Now that the pipelines are installed there and construction is complete, Energy Transfer conducted another round of geophysical testing in mid-August to determine whether there is evidence of any more voids in that area.