Why the Mariner East 2 pipeline is so dangerous
To the Times: The decision by Middletown, Edgmont, Thornbury, Aston and other Delaware County township governments to not oppose the Mariner East 2 pipeline is one that might soon come back to haunt them. At best, their approvals demonstrate a disregard for the environment. At worst, they’ve shown abject contempt for people’s safety, especially considering their flouting of their own township ordinances on pipeline setbacks. As public officials, they have a responsibility to protect their constituents and with all the information that has been presented to them at public meetings about the danger of ME2 and how it differs from other pipelines (like gasoline, crude oil, methane, etc.), it’s going to be very difficult to convince a jury they weren’t aware of the danger to their constituents.
So how is ME2 different from other pipelines?
If a gasoline or kerosene pipeline ruptures, the leak can be seen and smelled. There is danger of an explosion, of course, and the escaping liquids will contaminate soil, streams, and ground water. But people have a good chance of escaping to safety.
The ME2 is quite a different kettle of fish. The natural gas liquids (NGLs) flowing through it at 1,500 PSI are very dangerous materials to pump through a pipeline under pressure. For starters, when the NGLs leak, they expand massively into heavierthan-air gas clouds which hug the ground. Second, there is no “odorant” in the ethane, propane, or butane flowing through the pipeline. Consequently, there is absolutely no way for people living within the danger zone to know the pipe is releasing its highly pressurized contents. If nearby residents are not immediately incinerated in a fireball, they will probably be asphyxiated by the massive cloud of escaping gas. Once it finds an ignition source, dental records will be needed to identify the victims who would be burned beyond recognition.
Assuming you happen to be holding a gas leak detector and you’re awake, Sunoco’s evacuation recommendation is to run. That’s right: Just run away. Don’t start your car because that might ignite the gas. Don’t call 911 because that might also generate a spark. Simply run as fast and as far as you can – up wind – in the snow, rain, or dark ... and hopefully not in the direction of the pipeline. Get a windsock and check it before you dash to safety with your children in your arms. Don’t let your gym membership lapse if you want to have a remote chance of outrunning the cloud of invisible, odorless gas travelling at automobile speeds. Work on your steeplechase skills, too. You’ll need them to hurdle your neighbor’s fence, ford streams, and break through hedges.
Study the terrain in all directions. Know where the obstacles are. Negotiate in advance with your neighbors to lay out evacuation lanes through their property. In the event of “an event,” do your neighbors a solid, and scream as you run. They deserve a chance to live even if their dog treats your lawn like its own personal chamber pot. Perhaps you should even purchase DuPont’s fully encapsulated fire suits with respirators for you and your children to sleep in. Is this exaggeration? Not to the approximately 360 people who have been killed nationwide in the last 20 years from pipeline “accidents.”
Township leaders may not have known how dangerous ME2 was when Sunoco came knocking, but they should have done their due diligence. There certainly is no excuse now to not be aware of the danger. There is also no reason to not change course at this point and oppose its construction. Many townships could pool their money and file suit, but absent that and given their previous approvals, how can officials not be criminally and civilly liable when the wrongful death lawsuits are filed someday soon? They should be worried, and they should certainly increase their insurance coverage, assuming they can get it, something which homeowners’ associations in the vicinity of the pipeline are having difficulty obtaining. Sunoco, after all, has the worst safety record in the pipeline industry, which we’ve gotten a glimpse of recently in Middletown and West Goshen where streams and groundwater have been contaminated even before the pipe bomb becomes operational.