October 16, 2026 − State Senator Steve Santarsiero released the following statement on PHMSA’s corrective action order to Sunoco/Energy Transfer:
“The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) order requiring Sunoco/Energy Transfer to investigate the safety of sleeves across its 20,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines, following a sleeve failure in Michigan similar to the one discovered in Upper Makefield in January 2025, is long overdue. Investigating alone is not enough, and the federal government must do more to protect our citizens. If PHMSA had taken a more aggressive approach to enforcing compliance with Sunoco/Energy Transfer after last year’s leak in Upper Makefield, perhaps our neighbors in Michigan could have been spared this same ordeal. No one should have to wake up to jet fuel in their tap water. PHMSA still has not shared the root cause of the Upper Makefield leak with us, and this latest incident raises serious questions about whether existing sleeve repairs and leak detection measures are sufficient to protect our communities. These two incidents reinforce the urgent need to replace the Twin Oaks pipeline, which runs through the 10th Senate District from Newark, New Jersey, rather than continue to rely on infrastructure that is putting our water supply at risk.”
PHMSA’s corrective action order can be found here: Corrective Action Order against Energy Transfer, LP for CPF 4-2026-025-CAO on September 21, 2026
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