Chester Creek habitats upstream and downstream of a fluid spill in May 2017 have good

water quality, according to a study conducted by Dr. Mac Given, a biology professor at Neumann University.

Larval insect communities in Chester Creek have not been affected by the spill, the study concludes.

Students in Given’s Ecology Lab have been monitoring the water quality of Chester Creek for more than a year to assist with future evaluations of the environmental impact of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project.

“We are making monthly collections to establish a control data set,” Given explains. “In the event of any environmental damage to the watershed, we will have baseline data, under ‘normal’ conditions, with which

comparisons can be made.”

The first paper reporting on this research, entitled “Macroinvertebrate Analysis Upstream and Downstream of the 2017 Sunoco Logistics Drilling Fluid Spill in Chester Creek, Delaware County, Pennsylvania,” was published in the Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science in December 2018.

In this study, Given explains that the Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East 2 project consists of two welded steel pipelines that will transport ethane and butane across Pennsylvania, transecting Delaware County, to marine terminals located in Marcus Hook.

“This project has generated much concern regarding environmental impacts related to construction and the consequences of failures, such as leaks, once completed,” he writes.

“In Delaware County, these concerns were heightened in May 2017 when drilling fluid, consisting of bentonite mud, was accidentally released into Chester Creek.

Five-hundred gallons were spilled on May 3, 30 gallons on May 4, and 75 gallons on May 10. While bentonite is non-toxic, it causes sedimentation which can negatively affect aquatic organisms and water quality.”

In the aftermath of the accidental release of fluid into Chester Creek in May of 2017, Given’s findings indicate that “there were no obvious differences between the upstream and downstream sites.”

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