When Christina and Nick Johnson called the Sunoco Logistics’ hotline trying to get answers to their questions about apparent pipeline activity going on near their home, they never expected the voice on the other end of the line to be that of someone working for the company’s public relations firm. A representative of the Bravo Group fielded their questions every time they called, though not at all satisfactorily.

The Johnsons recounted the tall stories they were told in the latest in a series of short videos by Hugh Brownstone that tells the stories of affected landowners and environmental advocates involved in the fight to stop the Mariner East II natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline. The PR specialist told Christina she was mistaking a pump leaking drilling mud into Chester Creek for equipment being used for “lawn service activities”. When Nick asked about the drill he’d seen, the Bravo Group representative responding said, “It’s not in Brookhaven. It wouldn’t be in Brookhaven. We’re not drilling in Brookhaven.” The model number visible in the photo Nick had taken of the Ingersoll Rand drill proved otherwise. Of course, they were drilling in Brookhaven. And, of course, the pump was leaking mud from the drilling.

The Bravo Group’s contract with Sunoco Logistics apparently includes more than responding to calls to the hotline. Ivana Wolfe who has an energytransfer.com email address (Sunoco Logistics merged with the notorious company behind the Dakota Access pipeline in April) sent a last minute notice to Brookhaven’s Borough secretary to alert her to work the company would be doing the next day to try to “control and contain” the drilling mud once they admitted it existed and had been released. Wolfe’s signature identifies her as an employee of the Bravo Group in Philadelphia.

Surely, calling the drilling mud non-toxic was the number one talking point that Wolfe and her colleagues prepared for Sunoco Logistics. It’s used in everything the company has issued about a trio of releases of the mud, a bentonite and water mixture, in the creek that occurred between May 3rd and May 10th. Two of the incidents were spills that dumped 530 gallons of the drilling fluid in the creek, but, according to an email from the DEP inspector at the scene, “They lost 20,000 gallons of fluid over the past few days so who knows where that went.”

Residents of Upper Uwchlan Township, about 24 miles northwest of Brookhaven, learned about about a more recent non-toxic release from municipal officials. On June 17, five gallons of mud were released in an unnamed tributary of Marsh Creek, the township learned three days later.

A pair of releases of drilling mud on April 13th and 14th, 2 million gallons and 50,000 gallons, respectively, on the Rover Pipeline project caused Ohio’s environmental regulators to fine Energy Transfer Partners (yep, same company) $430,000. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had hastily approved the pipeline the last day it had a quorum before Norman Bay’s departure in February. The releases, among 17 incidents that occurred in the first 7 weeks of construction, caused the Commission to halt work on the pipeline. Ohio regulators note that “non-toxic” bentonite clay, familiar to anyone who has used clumping cat litter, can do plenty to impair water quality and endanger aquatic and plant life without being toxic.

I’ve thought of Adam Pope often as I’ve learned about the Bravo Group’s handling of the Mariner East II releases. Pope is Senior Director of the Bravo Group’s Pittsburgh office. Although he’s not mentioned in the 658-page final report of the Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force commissioned by Governor Tom Wolf, he was critical in helping the task force achieve its stated goal of building public acceptance of the pipeline industry. At the task force’s September 23, 2015 meeting, Pope co-presented “Pipelines – Exemplary Management Practices” with Jeffrey Logan, the lead attorney for the firm’s Environmental and Regulatory Practice. Logan opened with a few embarrassingly simple-minded Pipeline 101 slides, considering he was presenting to largely regulators and industry types, but Pope really dug into the topic of Best Management Practices when it was his turn.

“Maintain open lines of communication to encourage elected officials to have a productive dialogue if a project does encounter any issues,” his Powerpoint presentation advised under the Communicate Early and Often heading. Municipal officials in Brookhaven were not notified of the incident in the Chester Creek for several days, the Johnsons discovered.

“Develop a Crisis Response Plan,” Pope urged. It appears that Sunoco Logistics’ crisis response plan involved hiring the Bravo Group to have one of their Senior Account Executives manage everything.

“Conduct qualitative research to identify specific communities’ concerns and determine key language and messages that will resonate with constituents to achieve their goals.” Well, you’ve got to give Pope that one. Clearly, their research led them to “It’s not in Brookhaven. It wouldn’t be in Brookhaven. We’re not drilling in Brookhaven.” Messages like those have most definitely resonated with constituents and they are more determined than ever to achieve their goals.

As Christina Johnson put it, “Where do you go in a state that’s not making it safe for you, when the government is not protecting you? Where do you go?” That’s why residents of communities across 17 counties aren’t going anywhere, but are fighting the pipeline instead. That’s why affected residents and environmental attorneys have filed lawsuits. That’s why people committed to resisting construction of the pipeline are at this moment sitting in trees in Camp White Pine, an encampment in the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania. Thanks, Bravo Group!