Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment Groundwater topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Township staff say Senokco pipeline release may date back to mid‑2024; more monitoring wells and surveys planned
Summary
Project manager Dave Fenomore told the board that pipeline operator SPL now says the earliest release could be May–June 2024, earlier than previously believed; SPL agreed to additional geophysical surveys, three new monitoring wells and to provide a forensic 'fingerprint' analysis in a revised report, the township said.
Project manager Dave Fenomore updated the Upper Makefield Township Board of Supervisors on the Senokco pipeline (SPL) interim site characterization on Jan. 20, saying the operator told township reviewers the earliest possible release could have occurred in May or June 2024 — substantially earlier than previously suspected. Fenomore said Department of Public (DP) reviewers issued a deficiency letter in November 2025 and SPL has agreed to resubmit a revised report in about 60 days.
Fenomore told the board that DP generally concurred with the township that the existing monitoring well network is insufficient to define the horizontal and vertical extent of contamination. In response, SPL has agreed to additional non‑intrusive geophysical surveys in neighborhood areas and to install three monitoring wells this spring: one nearer the suspected release area and two near existing extraction wells. Fenomore said additional hydraulic testing of existing wells will be needed to determine groundwater flow direction.
The township also asked SPL for a forensic fingerprint chemical analysis of the released product — described by Fenomore as a laboratory test to determine the chemical constituents and an estimate of how weathered the material is to better date its time in the subsurface — and Fenomore said SPL indicated that data exists and will be included in the revised submission. The township plans to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain SPL’s failure analysis documents for review.
Resident Christine Wanovich asked whether SPL had shown the township the data behind the earlier release date; Fenomore replied that SPL has not provided that supporting information to the township yet and that the township is asking SPL to provide it directly, not only in the revised submission to DP, so staff can answer residents’ questions.
Next steps the board was told include completion of the geophysical surveys, installation and sampling of the three monitoring wells, additional hydraulic testing, and receipt of SPL’s revised report and supporting forensic data for township review.
