East Goshen pushes for pipeline changes

Supervisors adopt resolutions encouraging better regulation of pipelines

EAST GOSHEN » Township supervisors recently adopted a pair of resolutions requesting that representatives elected statewide take bipartisan action to better regulate pipelines.

Letters were also sent to Gov. Tom Wolf and other representatives seeking “bipartisan action to advance, approve, and enact pending legislation for the regulation of interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission infrastructure in the interests of health, safety and welfare of all the citizens in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” reads a Dec. 7 letter sent to Wolf.

Supervisor Marty Shane wonders if municipal ordinances should trump state and national regulations.

“You can’t sit and take it like a boxer where you get beat up,” Shane said. “Legislators need to deal with this from our perspective. What needs to be done at the Harrisburg level? What should supervisors control and not control?”

The non-binding Oct. 3 resolution calls for a siting policy to determine where pipelines go for the “common good” of all Pennsylvania residents.

It also suggests re-evaluation of the legal framework to allow municipalities to directly participate in siting.

Easement saturation standards would be examined, with possible limitation of the number, size and character of products carried in a given easement. When the Mariner project is completed, 11 pipelines will crisscross the township.

Supervisors also want to see that impacted local residents and municipalities are properly reimbursed through fees and taxes.

Township noise violation charges against Sunoco Pipeline, which is building the Mariner East 2 pipeline, are scheduled to be heard Jan. 10 in district court.

Shane said that the court will be asked to determine what level of noise is “lawful and reasonable” as part of a test case and what could become a landmark decision for the entire state.

Sunoco Pipeline had no comment, according to Jeff Shields, communications manager.

Plans call for the nowunder-construction Mariner East 2 pipeline to snake 350 miles from Marcellus Shale deposits in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to the former Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook, Delaware County.

Shane supports statewide ordinances that would establish the same standards everywhere.

Whether it’s collecting a fee from pipeline owners or municipalities deciding where pipelines can go, Shane said that any decisions need to be acceptable to the majority of the counties in the state.

Shane said that many see Marcellus Shale production and pipelines as a windfall.

“They can’t understand why we in Chester County are opposed to this,” he said.

The most recent resolution was adopted Nov. 21.

This resolution supports investment by legislators, commencing with committee work, to effectively and in a timely fashion review any proposed pipeline bills.

The supervisors also encouraged the Senate and House to fully discuss, debate and approve new laws, and in due course, that Wolf should sign legislation regulating the “public health, safety and welfare to the benefit of all the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

In other related news, the township was recently notified that Sunoco will be pulling pipe after dark near the Bow Tree Subdivision as late as 10 p.m. starting this week.

Also, as reported on the township website: “It has been brought to our attention that Adelphia Gateway LLC plans to convert the Interstate Energy Pipeline, which currently runs through East Goshen Township, to carry shale gas.

“The Interstate Energy Company Pipeline runs through the township’s open space in the Wentworth development, which is located by the CVS Drugstore. At their meeting on Dec. 5 the board of supervisors acknowledged receipt of a letter from Adelphia Gateway regarding possible changes to their right-of-way. The township also has been advised recently that other property owners have received similar letters.

“What does all of this mean? Based on what we know, Interstate Energy is a Public Utility that has a tariff from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to transport natural gas and oil in the eastern part of the state.”