Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection has fined Revolution pipeline owners $30.6 million following the 2018 explosion in Center Township. It’s one of the largest civil penalties DEP has collected in a single settlement.

Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection on Friday fined Revolution pipeline owners $30.6 million in civil penalties for violations related to 2018’s Center Township explosion, allowing the company to resume construction on natural gas pipelines throughout the state.

It’s among the largest one-time civil penalties the state has collected and comes more than a year after a landslide caused part of the Revolution pipeline to burst into flames in a quiet Beaver County neighborhood.

On Sept. 10, 2018, just one week after it became active in Beaver County, the 24-inch round pipeline exploded in a valley near Ivy Lane in Center Township. The fire torched multiple acres of forested areas, destroyed a single-family home, forced the evacuation of nearby residents and caused six high-voltage electric transmission towers to collapse.

A subsequent investigation found ETC Northeast Pipeline, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, had not stabilized a number of areas along the pipeline, resulting in additional landslides. Energy Transfer also failed to properly address storm water runoff and illegally damaged a number of streams and wetlands along the length of the pipeline, which spans 40 miles across Butler, Beaver and Washington counties.

In February 2019, DEP put a hold on all Energy Transfer permit applications after the company failed to properly stabilize the explosion site. As part of Friday’s agreement, DEP will lift the nearly year-long permit bar.

The department has approved a plan to evaluate landslide hazards and erosion at the site, and requires Energy Transfer to restore wetlands affected during pipeline construction.

The company has agreed to inform inspectors when workers are on site to ensure field presence going forward. If Energy Transfer fails to comply with any part of the agreement, DEP could reinstate the permit hold and issue fines as high as $20,000 per day per violation.

"ETC’s lack of oversight during construction of the Revolution pipeline and their failure to comply with DEP’s October 2018 compliance order demanded serious accountability," said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. "Their inaction led directly to this unprecedented civil penalty."

More than $28 million of the settlement funds received will go to the state’s Oil and Gas Program and Clean Water Fund to support DEP’s oversight of oil and gas development and provide financial assistance to statewide water remediation projects.

An additional $2 million will go to a DEP-approved community environmental project benefiting Pennsylvania.

In addition to this penalty, Energy Transfer Partners has been hit with more than $13 million in DEP fines related to the controversial Mariner East pipeline, which stretches hundreds of miles across southern Pennsylvania. Construction violations include multiple spills, polluted waterways and other setbacks leading to project delays. Two criminal investigations involving Mariner East are ongoing, prompting a number of state legislators to push for stronger permitting laws and increased oversight.

"Energy Transfer Partners has shown, time and again, that it prioritizes profits above the safety and well-being of Pennsylvania’s residents and the environment," said PennFuture President and CEO Jacquelyn Bonomo. "... This company has shown no respect for Pennsylvania’s laws or its people, and PennFuture applauds the DEP for holding this bad actor accountable for its environmental degradation and repeated violations."

Energy Transfer representatives did not respond to request for comment by press time.