Latest news with #KristineWojnovich
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania residents say jet fuel leak poisoned their drinking water
When Kristine Wojnovich and her husband bought their home 20 years ago in Washington Crossing, Pennsylvania, it was everything they wanted — until one day in 2023, when she turned on her kitchen faucet. "It tasted weird and smelled like oil," Wojnovich said. "It was very disconcerting." Wojnovich called Sunoco Pipeline, operator of the Twin Oaks pipeline that runs just across their street. It carries jet fuel underground from a fuel terminal outside Philadelphia to Newark Terminal near the airport. Sunoco tested her water, but she says they didn't find anything. "[They said], 'We're so happy to tell you, there's no oil, no gas, no propane, nothing in your water,'" Wojnovich said. When she pressed further about the cause, Wojnovich said Sunoco Pipeline told her they didn't know, but it could be "some kind of bacteria" unrelated to the pipeline. But other neighbors made similar complaints. Finally, 16 months after Wojnovich made her first call — and only after the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection investigated — Sunoco found a leak in the pipeline. "I feel like we're being poisoned every day," Wojnovich said. People in the community don't use water piped in from a reservoir far away. Instead, they use wells that draw from underground aquifers for their cooking and drinking water. When their well was finally opened earlier this year, Wojnovich was shocked at the amount of jet fuel on top of it. "It was 15 it's been gathering there since September 2023," Wojnovich said. Sunoco removed that fuel, but Wojnovich says Sunoco still sends workers each day to skim off new fuel seeping into her well. She's not alone. The number of wells impacted has risen to at least 38, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. In 2024, Sunoco Pipeline spilled more fuel than any other pipeline in the United States, according to data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. "A pipeline company that's more aggressive in follow-up, would have identified it sooner," said Robert Hall, who spent decades regulating pipeline safety for the federal government. "They are not one of the best pipeline companies with regard to their management of their pipeline." In a statement, Sunoco's partner company Energy Transfer said it has installed "advanced water filtration systems at no cost" and is "committed to the cleanup and restoration of but did not address why it took so long to find the leak. As for Wojnovich, she is suing Sunoco Pipeline. With the pipeline back in operation, she doesn't plan to stick around the neighborhood. "Would you stay if there was 12 feet of jet fuel found on your well?" Wojnovich said. "We feel unsafe." Sneak peek: Fatal First Date Trump teases "good news" on Russia-Ukraine war Arrests by masked federal agents are "slippery slope," former DHS attorney warns
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Bucks County jet fuel leak: Energy Transfer ordered to install water treatment systems to affected homes
The Brief Energy Transfer has been ordered to install point-of-entry treatment systems to residents of a Bucks County community impacted by a jet fuel leak in the company's 14-inch pipeline. The Pennsylvania DEP made the announcement Thursday afternoon. 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. 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@ or by visiting the website at
