Pipeline project may affect Raystown tourism season

Army Corps previously planned to halt work during summer at Raystown Lake

Despite previous plans to halt construction during the popular recreation season, the Army Corps of Engineers might allow pipeline work this summer near Huntingdon County's Raystown Lake.

Sunoco Pipeline LP -- a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Partners -- is working to build a 300-plus-mile pipeline, the Mariner East 2, which will pass through Blair, Cambria and Huntingdon counties.

When completed, the pipeline will carry natural gas liquids from beyond Pennsylvania's western border to a processing facility in Delaware County's Marcus Hook area.

The pipeline must pass beneath Raystown Lake. Work began in the area early this year.

The lake and its surrounding land is controlled by the Army Corps of Engineers. In April, Corps Public Affairs Specialist Cynthia Mitchell said construction near the lake would be halted in mid-May until late summer or early fall.

The pause, Mitchell said, was requested because the lake is a popular tourist destination during the summer months, and Corps of Engineers officials worried construction could disturb visitors.

"We wanted to have as little impact on the recreating public as possible," she said at that time.

However, a Thursday announcement from the Army Corps of Engineers explained an existing environmental assessment may be amended to allow Sunoco workers to access the Raystown area even during the previously agreed-upon hiatus.

"An amendment … is necessary due to unforeseen changes in the project's construction schedule," the announcement said. "A change in the allowed seasonal construction timeframe is being considered that would extend the period of time and allow certain limited construction activities to continue … between Memorial Day and Labor Day at the Seven Points Recreation Area of Raystown Lake."

On Thursday afternoon, Mitchell said a change to the previous agreement would require workers to abide by certain regulations to minimize the work's impact on guests.

The change was requested due to a setback in the pipeline project's timeline, she said.

"(Sunoco) fell behind schedule is what I've have been told," Mitchell said.

Requests submitted to Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields, seeking information about changes to pipeline work, were not answered by late Thursday afternoon.

To pass beneath Raystown Lake, workers must bore a path, using a horizontal directional drill lubricated by a combination of water and bentonite clay to prepare a passage for the pipeline.

Earlier this month, about a dozen Chester County households faced "cloudy water or loss of supply from their private wells" in an area where similar drilling is taking place, StateImpact reported. StateImpact is a project of NPR member stations dedicated to examining how state policy and issues affect people and communities.

In both Huntingdon and Blair counties, the pipeline has faced opposition from protesters, who claim it is a destructive risk to the local environment.

Others have supported the pipeline for its suspected economic benefits.

The Army Corps of Engineers is seeking comments on the proposal to extend the construction timeframe, according to the Thursday announcement.

Comments can be submitted to the Baltimore District Corporate Communication Office by email to cenab-cc@usace.army.mil. Comments must be submitted by July 27.