Peco contractor strikes jet fuel pipeline, causing 60,000-gallon spill in Upper Merion
Energy Transfer said the rupture of the 14-inch underground line occurred about 2:45 p.m. Thursday in Upper Merion Township’s Bridgeport section.
Cleanup is underway after a contractor struck an Energy Transfer pipeline Thursday, causing 60,000 gallons of jet fuel to leak in Upper Merion.
Energy Transfer said in a statement Friday that the rupture of the 14-inch underground line occurred about 2:45 p.m. Thursday by a Peco contractor in the township’s Bridgeport section just off the Schuylkill.
“The area was secured and the impacted section of the pipeline was quickly isolated to stop the release of product,” the company said.
Energy Transfer said it has “mobilized the appropriate personnel and equipment for the cleanup and restoration of the area, which is underway.”
No one was injured, and no one was evacuated. The company has installed air monitors.
A joint statement by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Energy Transfer said some oil at the site was removed Thursday, and full cleanup began Friday.
The breech happened as a utility crew was working near River Road and Coates Street, according to the joint statement. The fuel moved underground and entered a nearby quarry.
“Our top priorities are protecting public health and safety and minimizing environmental impacts,” the statement said. “At this time, there is no immediate threat to the public, and the spill is not expected to pose a threat to public drinking water.”
Pennsylvania State Rep. Tim Briggs, who represents the area, posted on social media that he remained in touch with state and federal officials, as well as Energy Transfer.
The pipeline has been shut down, he reported, and an initial shelter-in-place order from Thursday is lifted. All roads are open.
Most of the fuel flowed into the adjacent Glasgow Quarry, away from the Schuylkill, he said, noting that there has been no reported impact to the river.
Ginny Kerslake, Eastern Pennsylvania organizing manager for the nonprofit advocacy group Food and Water Watch, identified the pipeline as the Twin Oaks-Newark pipeline in a social media post.
The Twin Oaks Pipeline stretches 106 miles. Built in 1958, its 14-inch diameter pipe carries jet fuel, diesel, or gasoline, depending on need, from Sunoco’s Twin Oaks Terminal in Aston, Delaware County, to a terminal in Newark, N.J.
Along its route, the pipeline burrows beneath suburbs, tunnels under waterways — including the Delaware River — and runs below a school’s grounds and state and local parks. It carves directly through Mount Eyre in the Washington Crossing section of Upper Makefield Township.
Kerslake noted that the Twin Oaks-Newark pipeline is the same line that leaked jet fuel for months in Upper Makefield, Bucks County, until being detected and stopped in January 2025.
» READ MORE: How a pipeline leak disrupted a quiet Bucks neighborhood: ‘Never drink the water’
The leak disrupted life for many in the Mount Eyre neighborhood.
Energy Transfer, which owns Sunoco, did not immediately confirm whether it’s the same pipeline.
The DEP is holding a public information session on the Upper Makefield leak on Dec. 8 at the Sol Feinstone Elementary School in Newtown.
There, the DEP plans to update residents on current site conditions, a cleanup plan submitted by the company in June, and next steps.
