Delco council to seek bids for pipeline risk-assessment study
MEDIA » Delaware County Council voted Wednesday to move forward with a hazard assessment of the Mariner East 2 pipeline, after a few weeks of grappling with how such an evaluation would be completed.
Council members Kevin Madden, Colleen Morrone and Brian Zidek voted in favor of the study. Council Chairman John McBlain abstained to prevent any appearance of conflict as his law firm, Swartz Campbell, has done work for Sunoco although McBlain has not. Councilman Michael Culp opposed the measure, saying he wanted to see if Sunoco would share what data it had related to the pipeline.
“I respect my colleagues’ decision but I did not want to sacrifice the accuracy of the risk assessment for expediency’s sake,” Culp said after the meeting.
In making a motion for the study, Morrone said, “Safety is very important to me as a council member and economic development and economic impact is very important to me and I think that they both need to co-exist in our community and to be able to both thrive in our community. I think this recommendation is a balance of all of those things.”
It was an unusual show of bipartisanship as Morrone, the Republican council vice chairman, joined her newly seated Democratic colleagues, Madden and Zidel. The pipeline is a hot issue in her of Middletown.
Council initiated the idea of a pipeline study Jan. 23 after several members of the public asked them to conduct one. For weeks after, however, council grappled with what the scope of the study would be and who would do the evaluation.
On Wednesday, there was enough agreement to begin to move forward with performing such a study with a request for proposal for the analysis to be issued March 14 and responses from vendors to be received no later than April 16.
What council approved is a pipeline hazardous analysis for “awareness, emergency preparedness and response to address the concerns and educate the general public along the pipeline routes in Delaware County with particular emphasis on the Mariner East 2 pipeline currently under construction.” hometown
The motion directed the county’s Emergency Services Department to commission the analysis with the understanding that any director or officer who had done any work for Sunoco or its affiliates in the last five years recuse themselves so the report would be impartial and credible.
It also directed that the vendor to perform the study be independent of Sunoco or any county or state agency and that the analysis would identify with specificity the magnitude and probability of any hazards associated with the pipeline routes in Delaware County.
It also stated that the study should examine how first responders, and schools, should address any hazards identified in the study, as well as a way to mitigate the risks and that the study be made public upon its completion.
Madden said the motion was a good first step.
“The point here is to take what is already an uncertain situation and put some degree of certainty around it,” he said.
Zidek agreed, adding that the intent is “an examination of the likelihood that a release of the (natural gas liquids that) might occur from the Mariner East project and then a examination of the consequences from such a release.”
He added, “I, and I don’t think anybody sitting up here on council, is pro- or anti-pipeline. What I am in favor of is getting a scientific, independent analysis that can better inform all of our citizens of the risks that might be present with regard to the Mariner East pipeline.”
Jeff Shields, communications manager for Sunoco Pipeline/Energy Transfer Partners, said the company has been subject to mandated safety regulations at all levels throughout the construction.
He issued a statement after the meeting. It read, in part:
“It is important to note that safety and risk reduction are built into the strict federal regulations that pipeline operators have to follow, and we have performed the required safety analyses for our systems and shared information with our regulators and emergency services officials.
“In populated areas, pipeline operators are required to add additional safety measures to the design of the pipelines, including enhanced leak damage prevention programs, enhanced leak detection systems, more frequent internal and external inspections, improved corrosion control programs, additional emergency preparedness efforts and installation of automatic valves.
“We did all of this for Mariner East 2, and didn’t stop there. Our pipe is thicker and buried deeper than required, and during construction we inspect by X-ray 100 percent of our end-to-end welds, when regulations require 10 percent. Those enhancements have already been endorsed by an independent third party for West Goshen Township, who concluded that ‘Sunoco has incorporated additional processes in excess of minimum federal pipeline safety regulations that should assure the safety of this proposal across the township.’”
During the public comment section of the council meeting, people on both sides of the issue shared their perspectives.
Tony Lusi, a member of the Operating Engineers Local 542 and lifelong county resident, spoke of what the Mariner East jobs means to his members.
“These are stable, family-supporting jobs for our workers,” he said. “The men and the women who are working on these pipelines live here too so we’re concerned about safety as much as our neighbors.”
Brittany Fleming of Prospect Park said she’s working on the Mariner East project.
“I have worked as an operator out on the pipeline and I can say that everything that I’ve done out there has been safe and there hasn’t been any times that I’ve been put into an unsafe position, she said.
Others presented another view, such as Denise McCarthy of Glen Mills who underscored the fear she faces.
“My husband and I worked our whole lives to buy our dream home and it’s 100 feet from the pipeline itself,” she said. “I toss and turn at night now and construction is not even finished.”
George Alexander of Media congratulated council for moving ahead with the study and urged them to solicit public input throughout the process.
“I had given up hope that it would happen,” he said. “I’m glad it’s happening now. It’s a good sign for our democracy, I think.”