COMING THROUGH!
PIPELINE CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES IN DELCO, EVEN AS FOES CONTINUE PUSH TO STOP IT
Signs along Chester Creek in Brookhaven deter pedestrians from a construction area on Chester Creek Road in preparation of the Mariner East 2 pipeline.
At an otherwise ordinary SEPTA board meeting Thursday, a resident in opposition to the Mariner East 2 pipeline let fly two F-bombs before she was called out of order.
“F---!” exclaimed Ann Dixon after laying out the contributing factors to global warming, in particular the overdependence on fossil fuels. Her use of the word stood as proof of the vociferous opposition to the planned easements that SEPTA would grant to Sunoco Pipeline LP for the laying of pipelines along the Regional rail line properties in Aston and Chester Township.
“We’re all adults here, sir!” shouted a supporter from the audience, around 30 people filling the SEPTA board room at 1234 Market St. in Philadelphia.
“Fossil fuels are dirtier words than f---,” spoke up another.
Walking the thin line between passionate dissonance and civil disobedience, Thursday’s rally of support was yet another instance of protest to the construction of Mariner East 2 through Delaware and Chester counties.
Groups like 350 Philadelphia, an environmentally-minded organization committed to lowering the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to pre-industrial levels, anti-fracking group E.D.G.E. and the Middletown Coalition for Community Safety are among the groups looking to halt the progress by any means necessary.
Heather Boyd, the chief of staff for state Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-161 of Swarthmore,
When fully up and running, Mariner East 2 will deliver as much as 350,000 barrels of ethane, propane and butane from the state’s Marcellus Shale regions to the former Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook.
spoke on her behalf as well as Brookhaven Mayor Mike Hess, urging the SEPTA Board of Directors to delay the vote to any easement Sunoco Pipeline LP requested along Chester Creek until after “Sunoco remediates recent spills of drilling fluid in that creek.”
“These leaks by Sunoco violated the Clean Streams Act and the Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of violation on May 9th,” the statement from Krueger-Braneky and Hess reads. “The creek has not yet been fully remediated and this issue is of grave concern to local residents.”
One of those residents is Christina Johnson, who was among the first Brookhaven residents to reach out to Hess concerning three separate incidents where approximately 580 gallons of drilling lubricant called bentonite leaked into Chester Creek.
“This snuck up on us,” Johnson said. “The work was not supposed to be in Brookhaven.”
Permits for approximately 11.4 miles of the nearly 350-mile system were granted for Thornbury, Edgmont, Middletown, Aston and Chester Township, yet Brookhaven residents now experience fallout along Chester Creek.
When fully up and running, Mariner East 2 will deliver as much as 350,000 barrels of ethane, propane and butane from the state’s Marcellus Shale regions to the former Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook.
Some have turned to litigation, as the action taken Friday by six Middletown residents who filed suit against Sunoco — West Goshen residents had a lawsuit dismissed in Chester County earlier this month — while others have turned to local townships, school boards and also SEPTA as potential means to stop the pipeline.
A judge will issue a verdict on whether the case will go to trial Monday or Tuesday.
Coryn Wolk, of 350 Philadelphia, urged the SEPTA board in a losing effort to delay the decision on three easements in Delaware County. SEPTA similarly granted four other easements last year.
“SEPTA should not be making its money profiting off the terror and destruction of property of its own people,” Wolk said.
For the three easements accepted on Thursday, Sunoco will pay SEPTA $1.67 million over 29 years and five months. Three easements were sought to cross SEPTA’s right of way in Aston Township, Chester Township and Brookhaven Borough. Two are located at different points along Chester Creek and another in Chester Township; the one on Bridgewater Road is across the creek from the current cleanup in Brookhaven.
As a public utility, Sunoco can enact eminent domain on properties along the pipeline trajectory. However, the company would not be able to condemn properties owned by SEPTA, a quasi-public state agency.
Bob Lund, the assistant general manager for engineering, manufacturing and construction for SEPTA, said that the Regional Rail lines will not be disrupted during construction. For each easement, Sunoco draws up an environmental action plan, which details the construction plans and its impact on the area, and then submits to SEPTA.
“They have to provide safety proposals for how they install it and all their inspection records for installation of the pipe where it crosses on our property,” Lund said.
Visible signs of work and cleanup efforts with the presence of heavy machinery along the 5000 block of Chester Creek Road in Brookhaven currently obstruct the shoulder and sidewalk along the road. Signs deter residents from going down to the creek bed, where Hess said young people used to go fishing. “It’s a mess down there. I feel sorry for the homeowners,” Hess said. “We are greatly concerned and trying to take action.”
Hess said in recent months he sat down with residents, Sunoco spokesman Jeff Shields, and representatives of the state Department of Environmental Protection to discuss the drilling techniques and resultant spillage on the road and in the creek. Hess said the waterway is property of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, not necessarily in Brookhaven.
“We are concerned, I am concerned, concerned about their safety and what’s going on,” Hess said. “I don’t want this mess in my town, and I want to make sure whatever spilled is not a danger to residents or wildlife.”
In horizontal drilling — the technique used to embed the pipelines at deeper than 150 feet below the ground — the drilling mud, consisting of water and naturally occurring bentonite clay, is deemed environmentally safe.
Sunoco representatives acknowledged the bentonite leak, saying that it remains a top priority to return Chester Creek to its original form once the pipeline construction is complete.
The DEP filed a notice of violation against Sunoco in May, citing an “inadvertent release” of drilling solution. Because the solution is classified as industrial waste, the discharge was a violation of the state clean streams law and the company was given five days to complete the clean-up.
“We continue to work with the DEP to complete our work while ensuring the protection of Chester Creek,” said Senior Director of Public Affairs for Sunoco Pipeline LP Joseph McGinn. “Sandbag containment and screening remain in place on Chester Creek Road and within the creek.”
“The entire Chester Creek Road work area will be fully restored upon completion of construction,” he said.
Sunoco maintains it’s been meeting and exceeding the safety regulations set by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, as well as other government agencies that strictly regulate the manufacturing, construction and operation of Sunoco Pipeline projects.
“Skilled local tradesmen, such as Philadelphiabased Steamfitters Local 420, are equipped with the most advanced training, safety measures and operation standards to ensure safe and environmentally responsible construction,” McGinn said.
For now, residents and Hess aren’t happy about the mess it’s created.
“Some people might say Brookhaven council and mayor doesn’t care, but it’s our problem too because we have concerned citizens,” Hess said. “We have concerns and we’re always looking out for the safety of residents.”
“We’re going down to the site almost daily to make sure there are no violations.”
Sunoco has invited residents to call a 24-hour information hotline at 855430-4491 to voice concerns and find additional info on the Mariner East 2 project.