Score one for citizens, environment
Score one for the residents and environmental groups who for months now have been shouting to the rooftops their concerns with Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East 2 project.
On Wednesday they were hailing an agreement that they say will provide the public with greater protection from the problems that have caused controversy for the important $3 billion project that will deliver butane, ethane and propane from the state’s Marcellus Shale regions to Marcus Hook.
To accomplish that, the company is constructing two new pipelines basically along the same path as an old Sunoco oil pipeline that has been retrofitted and is already moving the natural gas liquids.
But Mariner East 2 will up the ante considerably, delivering as much as 350,000 barrels a day of the natural gas liquids to the Hook, an economic blockbuster that could make the lower end of Delaware County an energy hub for the entire northeast.
Residents, however, have taken a decidedly less rosy view. They questioned the safety of moving so much highly volatile material, at high pressures, through densely populated areas. In particular they have been bothered by plans that will take the pipeline within a couple of hundred feet of several elementary schools, including Glenwood Elementary in the Rose Tree Media School District in Middletown. But the bigger problem has involved the horizontal directional digging the company has been employing in several locations. When several aquifers and private wells were disturbed by the horizontal directional drilling technique, which the company uses as opposed to the normal trench-style digging so as to create less effect on the environment, the company shut down work. They even provided bottled water and agreed to pay to hook up several residents with concerns about their wells in West Whiteland, Chester County, to public water.
The environmental groups went to court and the state Environmental Hearing Board shut down all horizontal directional drilling until they could hold a full hearing. But the two sides reached an agreement this week, and the state board signed off on the deal, allowing Sunoco to resume digging. The company indicated they planned to do just that, and again vowed to “demonstrate their commitment to the Commonwealth and our neighbors to protect Pennsylvania’s natural resources during construction.”
It’s a policy that some of our state officials might consider as well.
Under the deal, Sunoco Pipeline will now face more scrutiny and will need to improve plans for drilling at more than 60 locations using the horizontal directional drilling technique along the 350-mile pipeline project. And they will need to do so before they start drilling in the area. The company also faces new requirements when it comes to possible effects on private water wells, and beefs up notification of those residents before any drilling takes place. The company now will notify landowners within 450 feet of horizontal drilling 10 days prior to any work taking place, and offer to test water before, during and after the drilling projects. Sunoco will immediately notify a well owner if the company or DEP determines there is a problem that could impact the water supply.
The legal action was brought by the Clean Air Council, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Mountain Watershed Association. Community groups such as the Middletown Coalition for Community Safety also made their voices heard.
Here’s our question, which echoes one made by the groups as well as state Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, who represents some of those whose wells were affected in West Whiteland: Why did this fall on outside groups? Where was the Department of Environmental Protection during all this?
Dinniman, who has called for a halt to all construction on the project until the water problems can be addressed, has accused the state agency of mismanaging the project.
“Time and again throughout this process, it seems DEP has been either unwilling or unable to meet its constitutional responsibility to preserve our environment,” Dinniman said in a letter. He was joined in his concern by state Sen. John Rafferty, R-44.
“We heard from constituents about their concerns of environmental degradation, lack of responsible oversight by DEP and Sunoco, and a disregard of property owners’ rights,” Rafferty said. “The Commonwealth desperately needs state-agency leadership that ensures a balanced, well-communicated approach to responsible pipeline development and management.”
Dinniman also believes the DEP rushed to approve permits for the project and is calling for a review.
“It seems like DEP now has a golden opportunity to re-review permits and reports and do its due diligence in protecting the environment, homeowners, and their water resources.,” Dinniman said. “Hopefully, this time, DEP does its job the right way.
Seems like a good idea to us.
Dinniman had one final thought: “Either way, know that we will be watching very closely.”
He won’t be alone. The agreement this week marks a major victory for citizens and environmental groups, ensuring things that should have been in place at the time this project started.
As we stated many times, Mariner East 2 has a huge economic upside. But that cannot be gained by trampling over the rights of citizens or damaging the environment.
Sunoco can now resume drilling. Don’t expect concerns – or citizens voices – to go away anytime soon