An update on natural gas pipeline problems in Pa.

• Emily Previti/PA Post
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  Emily is a reporter for WITF who’s been covering voting and elections since July 2019 as part of her former role with statehouse accountability news organization PA Post. She was the senior reporter for statewide public media collaboration Keystone Crossroads. Previously, she covered city hall for PennLive/The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.), was a watchdog and city hall reporter at The Press of Atlantic City and reported for the Northwest Herald. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.
  
  See other articles by Emily Previti for WITF.

 Jon Hurdle / StateImpact Pennsylvania

Crews worked on Monday Jan. 21 to stabilize a new sinkhole that opened up at Lisa Drive, a suburban development in West Whiteland Township, Chester County where Sunoco operates its Mariner East pipelines.

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Pipeline report

Jon Hurdle / StateImpact Pennsylvania

Crews worked on Monday Jan. 21 to stabilize a new sinkhole that opened up at Lisa Drive, a suburban development in West Whiteland Township, Chester County where Sunoco operates its Mariner East pipelines.

• Previously panned legislation on pipeline safety looks like it might have a shot at getting passed this session. This story from StateImpact Pennsylvania’s Jon Hurdle explains what’s changed in the Legislature (it goes beyond Democrats winning more seats) and has details on what the current proposals entail (they include requiring operators to disclose details of pipelines within a thousand feet of a school and to coordinate with local emergency officials).

• Meanwhile, multiple pipelines remain out of service in Pa. because Sunoco’s parent company hasn’t met DEP’s requirements issued after a landslide and explosion outside Pittsburgh last fall. Susan Phillips provides the background, the operator’s answer to criticisms and other details in this StateImpact Pennsylvania story.

• Dozens of Pennsylvania businesses are out a collective $7.7 million for work related to the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline cutting through 10 counties in the commonwealth. Project contractor Welded Construction owes them the money, but recently declared bankruptcy because pipeline owner Williams won’t pay Welded amid breach of contract and other allegations against the builder in a separate lawsuit. LancasterOnline has the full story on local impacts.

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Paul Sakuma / The Associated Press

FILE PHOTO: Jack Schooner, 16, looks at Grand Theft Auto video game at GameStop in Palo Alto, Calif.

• Some state lawmakers want to put a 10 percent tax on violent video games to help fund security at public schools. But limiting the tax to certain types of content could make it easier for the gaming industry to successfully challenge the move, which supporters estimate would generate “around $3.5 million a year for metal detectors, bulletproof glass and additional security cameras,” Bobby Allyn reports for Keystone Crossroads.

• Officials have decided to keep pollution standards for the Ohio River, voting against a motion to get rid of rules created by the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission. Pennsylvania and the seven other states in the Ohio River Basin each have representation on the commission. The Allegheny Front covered the vote and advanced it with this backgrounder.

• The first person has been criminally charged in Lancaster County under the new state law against recording in county courtrooms in Pennsylvania. More here.