More than two years after the Revolution pipeline exploded in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, the line is back in service.
ETC Northeast Pipeline sent the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection a notice that the 40.5-mile natural gas pipeline would be put back into service March 1.
The pipeline exploded in the early morning hours of Sept. 10, 2018, near a small neighborhood in Center Township, Beaver County. A landslide after heavy rains caused a break in the line, allowing gas to escape and ignite.
The resulting fire destroyed a home, a barn and several vehicles, but no one was injured. About 30 homes had to be evacuated. The fire also caused the collapse of six high voltage electric transmission towers.
The line had become active a week before the explosion. The Revolution pipeline runs from Butler County through Beaver County to Washington County to carry natural gas liquids between two process facilities.
The Pennsylvania DEP issued an administrative order in November preventing ETC Northeast Pipeline from flowing gas through the pipeline until it did work to better stabilize hillsides and steep slopes.
A new consent order and agreement with the company was announced March 1, which included a $125,000 civil penalty assessment. The settlement resolved the November order.
The Pennsylvania DEP issued a $30.6 million civil penalty against ETC in January 2020 for violations relating to the explosion. The penalty was one of the largest civil penalties collected in a single settlement.
An investigation determined ETC, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, had not stabilized a number of areas along the pipeline, resulting in additional slides. It was discovered ETC had also illegally impacted numerous streams and wetlands along the length of the pipeline right of way during its construction.
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