Car rally puts the focus on pipeline work during coronavirus pandemic
WEST WHITELAND » Amid the coronavirus pandemic, more than two dozen vehicles full of pipeline demonstrators got creative on Saturday.
The car rally was cohosted by the grass roots groups Mama Bear Brigade and Food and Water Watch. It started and ended at the Chester County Library and caught the attention of other motorists and shoppers in Exton.
Homemade signs were attached to cars with duct tape and drivers returned friendly honks from other drivers.
The action was a protest to call on Gov. Tom Wolf to reject pipeline builder Mariner East pipeline builder Sunoco/Energy Transfer to halt all pipeline construction.
After Wolf ordered that all non-life sustaining work across the state was to be halted, the pipeline builder was given permission to continue digging at several locations through waivers granted by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
Mariner East 2 will move hundreds of thousands of barrels of volatile liquid gases from the state’s Marcellus Shale regions to a facility in Marcus Hook, where they will be stored and eventually shipped mostly to overseas markets. The pipeline cuts 23 miles through the heart of Chester County and another 11 miles through western Delaware County. The multi-billion dollar project has sparked intense opposition from the community.
Carrie Gross is an Uwchlan Township resident and has fought pipeline construction for years.
“Mariner East is the exact opposite of life-sustaining and Gov. Wolf needs to rescind the waivers,” Gross said.
Luke Bauerlein, of Downingtown, shared those sentiments.
“For years the Mariner East pipeline has been a safety threat,” he said. “Now, during a pandemic it’s also a public health threat that puts both workers and our community at risk.”
Mama Bear Ann Dixon came from Philadelphia to be heard. She agreed that the project during the pandemic is “dangerous” for workers.
Mama Bear Jean Macfarlane said that “Sunoco hasn’t listened to, or considered, the impact of the pipeline on the community.”
Fellow Mama Bear Abbie Wysor of Media said allowing work to continue is “outrageous.”
“We have to all stand together,” Wysor said.
Ginny Kerslake is a Democratic candidate for state representative in District 167. She stood clapping in her front yard when the rally passed her home.
“Yesterday my husband and I stood at a social distance with our neighbors on the hillside across from the Shoen Road drill site, in solidarity with the residents in the caravan as they passed,” Kerslake said. “It was an uplifting display of community speaking out against these waivers that never should have been granted for Mariner East construction at a time when residents stay home and local businesses are shuttered to help stop the spread of Coronavirus.
“In the interest of public safety, the waivers must be rescinded now, and Mariner East altogether halted until we have a way to warn and protect the public when it leaks.”
Sam Rubin is with Food and Water Watch and helped organize the event.
“It’s a slap in the face to essential workers, who are putting themselves at risk in order to provide us with the resources and care we need, for Gov. Wolf to grant waivers to a dangerous, reckless project like ME2 during this time—no matter how politically connected they are,” Rubin said.
Mariner East 2 will move hundreds of thousands of barrels of volatile liquid gases from the state’s Marcellus Shale regions to a facility in Marcus Hook, where they will be stored and eventually shipped mostly to overseas markets. The pipeline cuts
23 miles through the heart of Chester County and another
11 miles through western Delaware County. The multibillion dollar project has sparked intense opposition from the community.