Critics vow to keep up fight vs. pipeline
WEST GOSHEN » Following Thursday’s move by the state Department of Environmental Protection to lift their Jan. 3 suspension of most work on the 350-mile Mariner East 2 pipeline project, residents and members of grass roots groups said they would not give up the fight to either outright prevent completion of the project, or at least make the pipeline safer. And a state senator who has been critical of the state’s handling of the project indicated he learned from state officials Friday that they would not perform a risk assessment study that pipeline foes had been seeking.
State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19 of West Whiteland, said he received a letter Friday from the Public Utility Commission stating they would not perform a risk assessment. Dinniman countered it is the state’s duty to protect the safety and health of residents.
“Everybody in the community has the right to know what the risks are,” Dinniman said. “Doesn’t the community have the right to know what the risks are? “When government won’t take the responsibility then the citizens will.”
Dinniman noted that in most states pipelines are not allowed in high-density areas or located within areas with certain geological features.
Under the deal, Sunoco Pipeline agreed to pay a $12.6 million civil penalty.
Plans call for the Sunoco Mariner East 2 Pipeline to deliver hundreds of thousands of barrels of ethane, propane and butane across the full width of Pennsylvania from Marcellus Shale sites, through large, highdensity swaths of Delaware and Chester counties, to the former Sunoco Refinery in Marcus Hook.
The DEP referred to the penalty as a historic civil penalty and a stringent compliance review, while lifting the order suspending DEP-permitted operations.
David Mano, of West Whiteland Residents for Pipeline Safety, had his well water compromised during pipeline construction. He turned down a Sunoco offer to connect his home to a public water system and passed on the pipeline builder’s writing him a check for $60,000.
“I know the pipeline is going in – it’s a done deal,” Mano said. “(Sunoco) wants to make it perfect, but nothing in his world is perfect when it comes to construction. They have to make it safer.”
Several groups of residents are calling for a risk assessment study of the project that could determine the projected safety when a pipeline becomes operational. While groups have called on the state and even Delaware County Council to perform a study, fundraising is ongoing pay for a private study the project.
“It’s pretty clear that none of the government agencies are looking out for our best interests,” said Melissa DiBernardino, of Goshen United for Public Safety. “I have not lost one bit of hope that we’re going to make sure we’re safe. Getting a risk assessment is more important than it was two days ago.”
Tom Casey, a West Goshen resident who also has been a critic of the project, said the ruling from the DEP only reinforces his belief that a risk assessment is needed.
“The DEP’s decision yesterday to allow Sunoco to continue has not swayed to of our opinion that a detailed risk analysis needs to be completed,,” Casey said. “Sunoco has refused to release this information to us. We knew that we had to take matters into our own hands, nothing has changed. They have demonstrated countless times that they will simply buy their way out of a situation. We are asking that the southeastern regional leadership support our goals for the sake of their residents. The need for a quantitative risk assessment has never been greater!”
West Goshen Township sued and squabbled with Sunoco over where to place a safety valve. After construction in the township
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