Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pipeline foes stage protest at Glen Riddle
MIDDLETOWN » Towing a 60-feet line comprised of plastic bags, a group of 16 people walked throughout the Glen Riddle Station Saturday to oppose the disruption of life created by the Mariner East pipeline construction jammed right in the middle of the 224-family apartment complex.
The demonstration was organized by the Mama Bear Brigade in conjunction with Glen Riddle Station residents on the heels of a federal lawsuit filed by the apartments’ owner seeking fire code compliance with the construction. Concerns voiced included noise reaching 90 dB, dust entering nearby apartments, children having to stand on Glen Riddle Road to get the school bus and safety issues, including adequate access for fire trucks.
“We’re expressing our concern about the health and safety being jeopardized by the pipeline construction,” Linda Emory, a co-organizer of the event, said. “We would like Middletown Township to make sure that they are enforcing the fire code of the township.”
The Mama Bears are a group who fiercely oppose the Mariner East pipeline and have held protests and lobbied to that end. In August 2018, three Mama Bears, Abbie Wysor and Barbara Montabana, both of Delaware County and Ann Dixon of Philadelphia were arrested after they were protesting at the Glenwood Elementary School. Surrounded by teddy bears, they were with about a dozen others handing out homemade cookies while having a “picnic” on the pipeline right-of-way. After refusing to leave, the three were charged with the summary offense of defiant trespass and released after two hours.
Energy Transfer Part
ners, and their predecessor, Sunoco, built the Mariner East 1, 2 and 2X pipelines to carry natural gas liquids, such as propane, butane and ethane, approximately 350 miles from western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to its Marcus Hook Industrial Complex where the materials are stored, processed and then distributed to customers regionally, nationally and abroad. Both the Mariner East 1 and 2 lines are fully operational, the 2X line is anticipated to be so by the second quarter of this year.
Energy Transfer Partners released a statement Saturday about the project at Glen Riddle Station.
“Our top priority is to safely complete construction at Glen Riddle Station apartments and to minimize the duration of any disturbance,” it read. “We have worked closely with apartment management through this process and have responded to concerns by installing heavy-duty sound walls and coordinating additional crossing guards for schoolchildren. We will continue to communicate directly with residents while we safely complete installation and fully restore the area.”
Earlier this month, Glen Riddle Station, L.P., owner of the Glen Riddle Station apartments, filed a federal lawsuit against Middletown Township, asking a judge to halt the pipeline work at the complex until it complies with the fire code.
On Saturday, the group of Mama Bears and Glen Riddle Station residents walked from the J Building in the complex out to Glen Riddle Road in front of the construction site, shielded by large dark green fencing. There, they sang songs like “Woke Up This Morning” in front of banners posted on the apartment complex property reading, “Middletown Township Protect Us” and “This Is Our Home! Shame on Sunoco ETP.”
Resident Johanna Rincon participated because of how the construction was impacting children like her 9-year-old son, Tristan, who was holding a handmade sign that said, “Give Us Our Playground Back!”
“I am here actually to support the children, who, on top of COVID, have lost their playground, have lost their bus stop,” she said. “We just hope to be heard as parents and as voices for the kids.”
Speaking into the bullhorn, Tristan himself shared his words, “I feel like they should not be here. I feel like they should get out of here and be like, ‘Peace, we’re out.’”
Rincon shared how this has impacted her family.
“We specifically moved here for the neighborhood, for the kids, for the school zone specifically,” she said. “And to just have that taken away, it’s just heartbreaking.”
It was seeing how it was affecting her son that made her become more active.
“My son has had a hard time with just being home schooled,” she said. “The school just gave them screen breaks so they can step out of the house and actually have some time ... so the kids actually don’t have a place where to have their screen breaks.
In addition, she said, “We haven’t been able to open up our windows and our curtains since Thanksgiving.”
The mother said the bus stop used to be right in the apartment complex but now, it’s on the shoulder of Glen Riddle Road.
“When it snowed and rained, the kids were actually sliding off,” she said.
Resident Paul Dourlet said the truck movement was a concern for him.
“It’s inconvenient as hell,” he said. “You have to watch out for trucks coming out down this way. They’re coming, you have to either pull to the side or back up.”
Susan Sawicki lives on a ground floor apartment at Glen Riddle Station with her daughter, Samantha.
On Thursday around 8 p.m., she thought her apartment was going to collapse.
“There was a sound and I felt like, ‘Oh make it stop,’” she said. “It was a very uncomfortable feeling like the ground was literally going to cave in.”
Sawicki said no notice was given to the residents about the construction that appeared in November.
“These people just came in here like gangbusters,” she said. “There was no warning, no notification given to the residents ... There was no time for us to plan around it or express our concerns in advance so we could all work together.”
It’s also a challenging scenario for Stephen Iacobucci, whose grandfather built the facility years ago.
“It’s devastating to see the impact that this has on our residents,” he said. “It’s a shame to see it and it’s a shame that our residents have to go through and there’s nothing that we can do. We try as much as we can to get them support ... Our concerns fall on deaf ears. We really appreciate everyone being here today to just bring awareness to the problem that exists here today.”
Iacobucci said he’s hired two security guards because of the situation.
“If they’re working, we have two security guards here just to try to help keep things as safe as possible,” he said.
Iacobucci continued, “We’re sad that residents have to go through this and we appreciate them working with us as much as possible to collectively help make this more safe.”
Among his concerns was the noise level.
“Our residents are concerned about noise,” Iacobucci said. “It’s loud, it’s unsafe, it’s disruptive ... We have a staff member with a noise reader so we can keep track of how loud things get up to 90 dB at times, which is just terrible.”
Advocate Rosemary Fuller spoke of a front-line nurse who lives at the complex who was in tears after only getting two hours of sleep.
She said other residents were experiencing respiratory issues as she added that the dust contains human carcinogens.
“This should be illegal to do this,” Fuller said. “This should be illegal.”
Holding a sign in the shape of a sun saying, “Sunflowers Not Sunoco,” Connor Young said, “They’re putting our lives and future at risk for single use plastics, which we have no demand for.”
The pipeline project has experienced numerous safety issues throughout its construction, including discharges of materials, sinkholes and aquifer breaches. Just last year, about 10,000 gallons of horizontal directional drilling fluid leaked into Marsh Creek Lake in Chester County. In 2019, a 12 by 12 sinkhole occurred off a busy stretch of Route 1, next to the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Middletown.
In May 2019, an Aqua America bucket scratched a non-operational Mariner East 2 pipeline in the township after the water company was instructed the line was lower than it actually was. Aqua officials said Sunoco told them the pipe’s depth was 9 feet but it was actually 6 feet.