The major work on a pipeline improvement project in Upper Makefield has concluded and the operator is ready to start transporting fuel through the structure again.
Joseph Massaro, a representative for Energy Transfer, a midstream energy company that has conducted construction on the Sunoco Pipeline Project, told the Upper Makefield Board of Supervisors at a public meeting on Feb. 21 that the line has been tested and is in good shape.
“We’re ready to bring it back into service,” Massaro said.
At the Feb. 21 meeting, Massaro said the construction site was in the process of being demobilized, with equipment being removed and sound walls coming down.
He emphasized that, in accordance with an agreement, Energy Transfer will see to road restoration and reforesting in the affected work zone. That work is weather-dependent.
“We can’t put down new road when it’s 20 degrees outside,” Massaro said.
Responding to a supervisor’s question, Massaro said he’d received a few questions/complaints from residents during construction, noting some related to noise and others to road restoration. He said the concerns were addressed.
The project has been focused on replacing part of an existing pipeline that’s capable of carrying 4,200 gallons of fuel per hour. The line runs through part of Upper Makefield and beneath the Delaware River into New Jersey.
Project officials have said that the pipeline in place before construction dates to the 1950s and was in need of replacing, as temporary repairs that have been made are insufficient for the long-term integrity of the line.
The new pipe is about 14 inches in diameter. Fuel running through it could include gas, jet fuel, diesel, and home heating oil. The testimony at public hearings on the project last year was that the line, which terminates in Newark, N.J., would often carry jet fuel. Newark is home to a large airport.
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