State pipeline project draws more scrutiny

The din is getting louder. It has not been a good week for the Mariner East 2 project. Hell, the truth is it hasn’t been a good month.

Sunoco Logistics, which these days is actually an offshoot of Energy Transfer Partners after a merger, is constructing the 350-mile Mariner East 2 pipelines, which will eventually traverse nearly the full 350-mile width of Pennsylvania.

When completed, two pipelines, which will run alongside an old Sunoco pipeline, will deliver 350,000 barrels of liquid natural gas products such as butane, ethane and propane to the former Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook, Delaware County, where they will be stored and eventually shipped to foreign and domestic customers. The materials actually are already flowing through the old Sunoco pipeline.

But it’s the new construction that is causing all kinds of headaches, both for the company and for residents who find their homes and properties in its path.

This week there were two more incidents involving pipeline construction — one on Monday and another related to it Tuesday.

First, about 1,500 gallons of bentonite, a non-toxic, clay-like muddy substance used in the drilling process, leaked into a tributary of Chester Creek in Delaware County.

Then on Tuesday, runoff from groundwater at the site overflowed a retention pond, flowing onto hay bales set up in the area. A video of the runoff was widely circulated on social media.

Drilling for Mariner East 2 already has been halted in Chester County after problems popped up with several residents’ wells.

Is there any danger in these spills?

Sunoco insists that’s not the case, stressing that bentonite is commonly used during drilling operations, and that it is nontoxic. Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields said the company has had no reports of any impact on private wells or the public water supply.

That has not stopped state Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, from sending a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection asking that all horizontal directional drilling be halted in Chester County after the problems with residents’ private wells popped up.

In that instance, Sunoco offered free bottled water to those whose wells were affected. They also now are picking up the tab to hook up residents to public water.

We have been vocal in our belief that Mariner East 2 is one of – if not THE – biggest economic stories in the region. The project brings with it new life for a town, Marcus Hook, that found itself on hard times when Sunoco made the decision to get out the refinery business and shutter its iconic facility started a century ago by the Pew family. Its proponents say the project could make Marcus Hook a crucial energy hub for the entire Northeast Pa.

But don’t think for a minute that this project does not come without a downside, and a certain amount of risk.

First there was the loss of property for the pipeline itself. But that pales in comparison to the safety and other concerns, both during construction and perhaps even more so once Mariner East 2 is fully up and running.

Its critics have been vocal in decrying the decision to move such volatile natural gases, at high pressure, through such densely populated areas, including within a stone’s throw of several schools. They offer harrowing accounts of what could happen in the event of a leak or explosion.

Sunoco Logistics has consistently sought to knock down such concerns.

The problems that have been popping up during construction are not helping.

Now it’s up to Sunoco to ease residents’ concerns that they can build this pipeline without incident, and run it in the same way.

If they can’t, maybe elected representatives should hold their feet to the fire.

Don’t think for a minute that this project does not come without a downside, and a certain amount of risk.