Weigh the risks of pipeline plan

It is the ultimate good news, bad news scenario. Delaware County has the potential to be the energy hub of the entire northeastern United States.

How? By breathing new life into Sunoco’s shuttered Marcus Hook refinery, refitting it to handle byproducts from the state’s natural gas business. The plan is to bring butane, ethane and other chemicals to Marcus Hook, creating hundreds of good-paying jobs in the process. So what’s the downside? Well, that depends on how you feel about having a pipeline in your backyard.

Those materials are not going to be trucked into Delaware County. They are not piggybacking on those oil trains that are currently snaking their way through much of the county as they make their way to a terminal in Eddystone on the Delaware River.

They’re going to get here via a pipeline. In fact, some of it is already arriving, utilizing the existing pipeline that Sunoco used for years for oil.

But if their spinoff, Sunoco Logistics, gets its way, the company will build two new pipelines as part of what it has dubbed its Mariner East 2 plan.

The pipeline will traverse 350 miles of the Pennsylvania countryside, crossing through 17 counties, 2,700 properties, along with numerous streams, wetlands and pristine, wooded areas.

To get to Marcus Hook, the pipeline would sit not far away from Sunoco’s current pipeline that runs through Middletown, Aston, Thornbury and Edgmont.

But before any of that can happen, Sunoco needs to get approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection because of all those waterways and wetlands in their path. They need the OK for each of those 17 affected counties, and also need a green light from the municipalities.

That is what brought a crowd to this week’s meeting of Middletown council.

As you might have expected, not everyone is a fan of this project. Neither are they especially thrilled about the way Sunoco has gone about dealing with local residents. The company already has had a major falling out with some Chester County residents over a pumping station they were proposing for a site in West Goshen.

Sunoco needs Middletown to sign off on their plans for a 50foot easement to construct, operate and maintain two pipelines, underground facilities and above-ground markers on four township-owned parcels. It also needs a 12-foot-wide, perpetual right-of-way for easements to be used for access roads along three township-owned roads.

The township sites targeted would be for facilities on open space at Sleighton Park, the Hillcrest and Linvill tracts and Old Mill Pointe. The rights-of-way would be on a road adjacent to Glenwood Elementary School and two roads on the Turnbridge parcel.

Yes, you read that right — one of these right-of-ways for the pipeline would run right beside an elementary school.

That certainly was on the minds of some residents who attended Monday night’s council meeting, including Tom Smith, whose daughter goes to Glenwood.

“We need to look at this from a risk perspective,” Smith told council. “My daughter goes to Glenwood and it is not a risk I am willing to take.”

Other residents sounded a similar tune, expressing concerns about safety, inspections, who would be responsible in the event of an accident, access to the school, property values and a host of other issues.

Resident Leslie Campo wondered about what happens after the pipeline is up and running, and who would be responsible for its operation.

“Who is looking out for us?” she asked her elected township officials.

They’re legitimate, real concerns when a pipeline decides to move into the neighborhood.

To get a feel for how strong the opposition to the plan is already, a petition opposing the pipeline plan, posted online less than 24 hours before Monday night’s meeting, already had gathered 400 signatures.

They’ve already accomplished one thing. They asked the council to delay any vote on the project for at least 30 days to allow the community more time to consider the proposal.

Council took their advice, putting off any action until at least the Sept. 26 meeting. The measure likely will be reintroduced at the Sept. 12 council meeting. In addition to their residents’ concerns, council also heard from their solicitor that the company had not yet agreed to some changes the township has suggested.

Sunoco no doubt will take much of this in stride. It already held one large public hearing to lay out its plans for the project.

Sunoco can likely expect similar outcries in Edgmont, Middletown, Aston and Upper Chichester, the 11.4 miles the pipeline will meander from the Chester County line until it reaches paydirt in Marcus Hook.

The current pipeline is bringing 70,000 barrels of offshoots from the Marcellus Shale region.

When it’s up and running the new pipelines are expected to carry 680,000 barrels a day to the Hook.

Sunoco Logistics is vowing to adhere to the highest safety standards, both during construction and with the utmost in monitoring once the operation is up and running.

The economic gain is without question. Marcus Hook and the lower end of the county took a punch in the gut when the refinery business hit the rocks.

Sunoco Logistics is offering a lifeline – actually an entirely new life – through its Mariner East 2 plans.

But it does not come without risks, and serious concerns.

Residents need to be reassured that their new neighbor will not be a nuisance.

Now and in the future.