Protests rain on Mariner East 2 pipeline project in Glen Mills
GLEN MILLS » A protest walk along a mud-caked, makeshift boardwalk Sunday was capped off with four sets of handmade prayer flags being draped on heavy construction equipment, as about two dozen protesters registered their opposition to the Mariner East 2 pipeline project.
No arrests were made, though security working for Sunoco Logistics L.P., the company constructing the pipeline, videotaped the peaceful event and local and state police arrived on the scene on busy Route 352 and interacted with the group’s designated liaison.
“Whereas the safety and security of our community is paramount and should not be undermined, and we must ensure that remains now and in the future,” one of the organizers declared over a bullhorn as other protesters placed hands on a bulldozer and backhoe.
The equipment was not damaged during the event, which featured singing and chanting, including, “Stop drilling. Stop spilling. Leave our land alone.”
Organizers billed the carefully orchestrated protest as a “community day of resistance” to the pipeline. It began in the backyard of Jen Berlinger, a Fallbrook Lane resident.
Berlinger lives in a farmhouse that dates to 1798 and is part of the Andover development. She said the homeowners association for the development owns the adjacent open space easement along the busy highway where preparation work is under way and is contesting its use in court.
However, the challenge has been unsuccessful thus far, she said, adding that several trees almost 150 years old had been removed from the rear of her property. A tall, gray fabric barrier currently separates the construction work from the homes.
“There was no offer” for the easement to the property owners, Berlinger said. “They (Sunoco) just filed a ’taking.’ If there had been an offer, twothirds of the homeowners association would have had to approve it.”
A court ruling several years ago granted Sunoco utility status in the state, allowing them to use eminent domain to acquire the easements needed for the pipeline.
Before the march began, about three dozen pipeline opponents listened to testimonials from area residents and one from central Pennsylvania about what they see as the perils presented by the project.
The purpose of the pipeline is to transport natural gas liquids derived from drilling in the Marcellus Shale region of Southwestern Pennsylvania to Marcus Hook for processing. When fully up and running, Mariner East 2 is expected to deliver hundreds of thousands of barrels of ethane, butane and propane daily to the former Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook. The fuel would subsequently be shipped to domestic and overseas markets.
Sunoco has stated that the pipeline is being safely installed to the highest industry standards and operated in accordance with all applicable requirements.
One of those on hand to gather signatures and help coordinate the event was Bibianna Dussling, of Middletown. Wearing a “Defend what you love” button, the former naval helicopter pilot said the goal of the protest was to call opposition to the project to the attention of legislators and Gov. Tom Wolf, who is up for re-election.
“Any possible reason he (Wolf) could have used to not speak out against the project has gone by the wayside,” Dussling said, citing a breakdown in state budget talks that have included negotiations on a possible severance tax on natural gas drilling.
The 39-year-old mother of a 7-year-old second-grader at Glenwood Elementary School and 3-year-old twins said more than 3,400 signatures have already been gathered on a petition against the pipeline that will be presented to Wolf’s office in Harrisburg on Oct. 17.
The path of the pipeline, which takes it within several hundred feet of the school, has been a persistent point of contention with residents.
Also present was another Middletown resident, Allyson Galloway, who has been motivated by the project to run for township council. While she believes the pipeline will be completed, she said that if elected she would advocate for increased safety measures/ emergency plans and greater transparency for the project.
Galloway said her Wildwood Lane neighborhood has been torn up for the installation of trenches for the project.
“We know they are there every single day,” she said.
She was offered $5,500 for an easement on her property but held out for a higher easement fee from Sunoco, totaling $35,000, and used that money to install a geothermal heating/cooling system that allows her to get her home off of heating oil from the company.
“In my dreams it (the project) would all go away,” Galloway said.
Before the march got under way, organizers carefully laid out “action rules” for the protest. It included details on who would interact with police and security if approached.
George Alexander was identified as the police/security liaison.
The group, with prayer flags held aloft on strings attached to poles, then proceeded down Fallbrook Lane and made its way up Route 926 to Route 352. The protesters proceeded up a long series of boards installed to facilitate the construction.
Organizer Sam Rubin said the group did not view the protest as trespassing as use of the easement is being contested in the courts.
Once they had attached the prayer flags and read the statement, the protesters exited through an opening in the fabric barrier and made their way back to Berlinger’s home.