Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Sunoco: Federal pipeline rules ensure public’s safety
The recent presentation to council regarding the possible choice of a firm to conduct a quantitative risk assessment regarding the proposed Mariner 2 pipeline does not take into account that federal pipeline safety regulations already reflect those type of risk analyses, according to Sunoco Logistics Communications Manager Jeff Shields.
Township council has chosen to allocate $100,000 of the $1.8 million the township received for the necessary easements and rightsof-way for an assessment and specific emergency response plans. Shields suggested many of the answers being sought have already been asked and addressed.
“The presentation ignores the fact that federal regulations re- flect the same concerns for safety that are voiced by local residents,” he said. “Those concerns are written into the strict regulations that govern pipeline manufacturing, construction and operation.”
The more than 67,000 miles of natural gas liquids pipeline in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Many layers of safety are in place to prevent a major incident, including additional safety standards in populated areas to make sure a significant incident does not occur.
“If you look at the statistics, the kind of scenario painted by pipeline opponents in Middletown doesn’t happen,” said Shields. “In the last 20 years, for all operators of liquids pipelines in Pennsylvania (like Mariner East 1 & 2), there have been no deaths resulting from pipeline releases and two injuries.”
He added of all the releases Sunoco Pipeline has reported in the last ten years, 70 percent were on company facilities, not on the public pipeline right-of-way, with little or no public impact.
Sunoco Pipeline has transported various kinds of petroleum products safely through Delaware County, including near developed areas and schools, for more than 80 years, with the Mariner East 1 pipeline moving ethane and propane safely since 2014, said Shields. Three natural gas pipelines measuring at least 20-inches transport natural gas through the county at operating pressures similar to Mariner East.
Members of the Middletown Coalition for Community Safety have approached numerous mu-
nicipalities to pass resolutions of concern, which Shields noted contain a list of issues subject to regulation by other agencies. Documents have been approved in the township, Swarthmore, Thornbury, Westtown and by the Rose Tree Media School District and Media Borough Council drafted letter of support for the township proclamation.
West Goshen took the further step of hiring the nationally-recognized firm Accufacts to analyze the Mariner East 1 project. The company found Sunoco goes far beyond fed- eral safety requirements to ensure safe operation of the pipeline, said Shields.
“It is Accufacts’ opinion for the section of 8-inch pipeline that crosses the township, that Sunoco far exceeds a number of requirements of the federal pipeline safety regulations, that it embraces the intent of integrity management, or IM, regulations that are meant to prevent pipe mainline rupture failure and that their IM approach is currently prudent,” according to the report.
Shields noted Sunoco Logistics has “ramped up” its long tradition of educating first responders about the pipelines in their towns by implementing the Mariner Emergency Response Out- reach program, which to date has provided training for more than 1,200 first responders throughout Pennsylvania. The company coordinates with County Emergency Management officials across the state, including Delaware County, in providing first responder training to specifically interact with its Mariner East Lines.
“Our approach has not changed for Mariner East 2,” he added. “Sunoco Pipeline understands our responsibility to protect the public and our practices and protocols, as stated in the Accufacts report, ‘reflect the level of respect that transporting HVL [highly volatile liquids] should require in a prudent pipeline operation.’”