At town hall, pipeline concerns trump all others

Right now, pipeline safety is more important than any other issue to residents in state Rep. Carolyn Comitta’s 156th legislative district than any other.

At a telephone town hall Wednesday night, 57 percent of those polled cited the most pressing safety concern in the district to be Sunoco’s Mariner East II pipeline, with gun violence coming in at 27 percent, and crime at 12 percent.

“We have the Mariner East pipeline traversing our district, going through West Goshen, East Goshen and Westtown, and these are volatile liquid pipelines,” Comitta said. “They are in the most densely populated area than any liquid pipeline which traverses the county.”

Comitta told those who attended the meeting by phone that the pipeline is closely located to three schools in the district, along with the highly populated Wellington Nursing Home.

“I am not surprised that 57 percent said pipeline is the greatest concern for safety,” Comitta said. “I am working on doing everything I can to pub public safety over corporate profits.”

Comitta said she has communicated her pipeline safety concerns with the Public Utility Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection and other appropriate agencies.

“Sunoco has a bad record for accidents and violations,” Comitta said. “This creates an even greater concern.”

Sunoco officials claim the potential economic impact from all Mariner East construction in Pennsylvania is estimated to be $9.1 billion, supporting approximately 9,500 jobs each year over six years of construction, with wages of $2.7 billion.

In another survey at the town hall, most residents said they feel funding for education is inadequate.

“We must pay for education and have adequate funding for education so that all students in Pennsylvania have excellent education, and it’s the number one job of the legislature,” Comitta said. “We are working to increase education funding. Gov. (Tom) Wolf has increased education spending since he took office four years ago. This year’s budget continues that trend. This year, we added an additional $60 million in funding for school safety.

And residents told Comitta at the telephone town hall that measures must be taken to prevent gun violence.

“I have been working for literally decades to reduce gun violence,” Comitta said. “This is an issue many, many people call and write to me about. For me, this is not a Second Amendment right issue. The issue to to find ways to prevent gun violence, through common sense laws, whether it’s banning bump stocks or background checks, or taking guns away from those convicted of domestic abuse. Many gun owners support this as well. This is the number one topic that comes up in conversations I have with people in West Chester.”