More excavations planned to repair Sunoco’s Twin Oaks Pipeline – Bucks Round-Up – August 15, 2025
More excavations planned to repair Sunoco’s Twin Oaks Pipeline
New excavations and repairs will be undertaken to repair Sunoco’s Twin Oaks Pipeline in Upper Makefield Township in response to problems newly discovered along the 105-mile pipe which extends into New Jersey. In 2023, the pipeline cracked, causing thousands of gallons of jet fuel to contaminate Upper Makefield residents’ water wells. The problem was only ascertained and fixed this winter. Energy Transfer, which owns the conduit, wrote to township Solicitor William D. Oetinger informing him of the new repair-related digs, but assuring him that “there were no immediate repair conditions identified.” The repairs are scheduled for October.
Bucks Democrats press State Senate on SEPTA funding impasse
Bucks County’s Democratic lawmakers gathered at the Yardley SEPTA station Thursday to voice frustration over stalled negotiations in Harrisburg on how to close the transit agency’s $213 million budget deficit. Officials say SEPTA faces major service cuts across its five-county service area beginning August 24 unless lawmakers reach a long-term funding deal. While proposals have emerged from both parties in the state House and Senate, partisan divisions have blocked progress. Bucks County Commissioners Chair Bob Harvie (D), who also serves on the SEPTA board, said the agency has taken steps to improve operations, including reducing crime and addressing fare evasion. He accused Republican leaders in the Senate of failing to act, likening the gridlock to Washington politics and calling it “an assault on working families.” State Representative Perry Warren (D) urged Senate passage of House Bill 1788, a measure that cleared the House with bipartisan support. The bill would direct a portion of the state’s sales and use tax toward public transit, generating an estimated $167 million annually for SEPTA, $40 million for Pittsburgh’s transit system, and up to $70 million for other agencies statewide. Democrats also criticized a Senate GOP plan to tap $2.4 billion from the state’s transit trust fund, calling it unsustainable. “It’s nothing more than a shell game,” according to Democratic Bucks County State Senator Steve Santarsiero, arguing the move would merely shift existing dollars without creating new revenue. I know the senate was trying to push a bill on taxing skill games, crafted by Republican State Senator Frank Farry, but they can’t even agree on that measure.” Thursday’s news conference included Democratic State Representatives Tina Davis and Brian Monroe. All warned that without a deal, reduced SEPTA service will hurt Bucks County commuters, businesses, and working families who rely on reliable transit. The fight over transit funding comes as both chambers face a packed legislative calendar and heightened political tensions ahead of the fall session. For now, SEPTA says it will move forward with service reductions unless Harrisburg delivers a solution in the coming weeks.
Bucks D.A. officially charges road rage suspect shot by officer
Bucks County District Attorney, Jennifer Schorn, announced the filing of charges against a Bristol Township man Thursday afternoon in connection with two road rage incidents. 39-year-old John Mathis allegedly engaged in two road rages incidents, one that involved the use of a baseball bat on July 27th in Bristol Township, and another incident on August 2, where he allegedly pointed a gun at a couple, who according to Schorn, were just going to Wawa on nice Saturday evening when they encountered Mathis. “We know that this individual terrorized a clerk at a cell phone store in northeast Philadelphia, robbing an estimated 1,000 dollars from the store just before terrorizing this couple in Bensalem with a gun and then pointing it at an officer, putting the officer’s life in danger. The Bensalem Township police officer shot Mathis twice after Mathis pointed his weapon at the officer and tried to flee after getting off his motorcycle, which was not registered.” Schorn says Mathis clearly should never have been released after a dui arrest, which caused a crash, where it was determined he was high on methamphetamine. Schorn would not elaborate on the jurisdiction of that charge. Bensalem Township’s Director of Public Safety, Bill McVey, thanked Schorn for her pursuit of dangerous criminals, like Mathis. “We’re glad, thanks to D.A. Schorn, that in Bucks County these criminals are being properly charged, prosecuted and held to account for their actions that impact citizens and police officers. Mathis was charged with one count each of robbery and theft by unlawful taking, two counts each of prohibited possession of a firearm, firearms not to be carried without a license, receiving stolen property, terroristic threats, possession of a weapon, possession of an instrument of crime, simple assault, and three counts of recklessly endangering another person. Mathis is being held in the Bucks County Correctional facility on 10% of $1 million bail.
Montgomery County man sentenced in chilling stalking case
A King of Prussia man will serve a prison term and extended probation for a planned stalking that terrorized a Bensalem woman and forced her to leave her home. On Thursday, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Wallace Bateman Jr. sentenced 34-year-old Matthew John Bustin to nine to 23 months in county jail, followed by seven years of probation. Prosecutors said Bustin’s harassment started soon after meeting the victim on a dating site and grew stronger even as he was up against a similar stalking charge in Lehigh County. According to Deputy District Attorney Brittney Kern, Bustin carried out online research on the woman before ever contacting her. In just a week, his actions turned menacing. In April 2024, the victim returned from vacation to find her apartment’s power and internet cut, her security camera turned to the wall. The scared woman spent the night armed with a kitchen knife, later moving out in fear. The situation became worse when she found a note hidden in her bed, a discovery she described as a “sick psychological game” that confirmed her worst suspicions. Police discovered Bustin had put a GPS tracker under her car, captured on video as he planted it in her workplace parking lot. Phone data linked him to her home and job at least nine times after their contact came to an end, including the exact time her electricity was cut. The victim said the stalking traumatized her and her family, leading to financial strain and lasting fear. She reported that Bustin’s repeated offenses showed “no remorse.” Under his sentence, Bustin must complete the county’s H.O.P.E. substance abuse program before parole eligibility, have no contact with the victim, avoid all social media, and comply with mental health and drug treatment. He was also ordered to pay $1,334.60 in restitution.
Joe LeCompte hosts LeCompte in the Morning on WBCB 1490. Bradley Vasoli is the senior editor of The Independence.
