Pinckney-area residents reported the smell of gasoline coming from a site where the construction route of a natural-gas pipeline crosses wetlands.
State environmental officials cited a pipeline company Friday for releasing gasoline into a wetland near Pinckney.
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality received reports from residents Tuesday about the smell of gasoline coming from a site where Energy Transfer’s Rover 42-inch natural-gas pipeline crosses wetlands east of Silver Lake near the 11000 block of Cedar Drive in Dexter Township.
The multi-state natural-gas pipeline, which is not in operation, will pass through 15 miles of Livingston County, coming from the south through Washtenaw and Lenawee counties.
MDEQ analysts visited the site, noticed the smell of gasoline and collected water samples, Rebecca Taylor of the MDEQ Remediation and Redevelopment Division said Friday.
Results are pending and MDEQ officials have not reached any official conclusions on the source or environmental impact.
“It is my opinion that there was an old gas release that no one knew about from an old gasoline station up the hill that hasn’t been used for many years,” Taylor said. “When (pipeline workers) go into a wetland, they install a row of dewatering wells and pump. … If there was an old plume, it is very likely it would have been captured.”
State officials are requiring the company to cease any unauthorized discharges of the water contaminated with gasoline, and “water should be treated prior to discharge,” according to a violation notice dated Friday.
Energy Transfer has until Wednesday to submit a written response to MDEQ.
“Regardless of the potential source, the presence of odor and sheen indicates a discharge of petroleum-contaminated water from the dewatering activities being conducted on site,” Matthew Konieczki of the MDEQ Water Resources Division said in the violation letter.
A grassroots group of residents opposed to the pipeline expressed concern in a statement Thursday that dewatering pumping continued after residents alerted the MDEQ.
“Residents are concerned about the danger that gasoline poses to the wetland’s wildlife in the meantime, while the MDEQ awaits the chemical test result,” said the statement released by Michigan Residents Against the ET Rover Pipeline.
Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Eberbach at 517-548-7148 or at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenEberbach.
