Shell Pipeline Co. pleads no contest for discharges during Falcon pipeline construction
Company agrees to pay $275,000 donation to protect Raccoon Creek watershed
The Shell Pipeline Co. pleaded no contest Monday to violating rules and regulations of protected waterways during construction of its Falcon pipeline five years ago in Washington County, and agreed to pay a modest fine while also making a large donation to a local watershed protection group.
As part of the deal with the state Attorney General’s office to plead no contest to the three misdemeanor counts, the company will pay $25,000 to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Clean Water Fund and make a $275,000 contribution to the Independence Conservancy in Industry, Beaver County.
The donation will be earmarked for the conservancy’s Raccoon Creek Headwaters Recovery Project, which is described as a “road map” for improvements to the waterway in northern Washington County and southern Beaver County. Ten other misdemeanor charges against Shell Pipeline were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
The case stems from multiple issues during construction of Shell’s Falcon pipeline from April to September 2019 in which there were “inadvertent returns” of drilling fluid discharging into streams on multiple occasions. In addition, the company did not notify the DEP of the issues in a timely manner, as required by state law.
While only a few details were included on the record during Monday’s plea hearing before Judge Valarie Costanzo in Washington County Court of Common Pleas, the agreement closely mirrors a settlement with DEP in October 2022 over the same issues with the Falcon pipeline construction.
In that settlement, Shell Pipeline of Houston, Texas, and its prime contractor, Minnesota Limited of Big Lake, Minn., agreed to a $697,270 civil penalty with the DEP for drilling fluid leaking into waterways and erosion problems along the 45-mile section of pipeline that travels from Chartiers Township in Washington County through western Allegheny County and into Beaver County. On five occasions, drilling discharge made its way into Raccoon Creek, Mill Creek, an unidentified wetland and two unnamed tributaries that flow into Potato Garden Run, according to the civil penalty settlement.
Costanzo offered several members of the public who attended the plea hearing to speak about the issue before she accepted the plea, but they declined the opportunity. Matthew Lyle, an engineer for Shell Pipeline who acted as a representative for the company but is not personally accused of wrong-doing, also declined an opportunity to speak. Philadelphia-based attorney Joseph Poluka represented Shell Pipeline during the plea negotiations and Monday’s hearing, while Rebecca Franz prosecuted the case on behalf of the state Attorney General’s office.
The Falcon pipeline is 98 miles long and travels in separate sections through Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The local section travels from the MarkWest plant near Houston to Shell’s petrochemical cracker plant in Beaver County near Monaca. Construction on the pipeline began in December 2018, and it was put into operation once the cracker plant started production in late 2022.