Chester County’s action on Mariner East pipeline decision draws both praise, scorn.
WEST CHESTER >> The decision by Chester County commissioners to request intervention status in a lawsuit seeking to halt work on the Mariner East pipeline projects drew general praise from those involved in the case, with one antipipeline activist saying it marked an example of local government bodies taking “serious action against the rogue company” that operates the pipeline.
But the decision also drew derision for how long it took the county to take action from one of the many players in the anti-pipeline fight, state Sen. Andy Dinniman.
On Feb. 28, following the commissioners’ announcement that they had hired a Philadelphia law firm to represent the county in an attempt to gain status in the case before the state Public Utilities Commission, Dinniman, D-19 of West Whiteland, issued a statement through his press secretary criticizing the county’s timing.
“The question is: Why did it take so long for the Chester County commissioners to intervene on the PUC safety complaint and take some substantive action regarding (Sunoco’s) pipeline easements?” Dinniman said in the statement. “It’s disappointing that the county is only acting after the citizens themselves filed complaints and a developer, the Hankin Group, acted to terminate (Sunoco’s) temporary easements.
“However, it’s better late than never,” said Dinniman, a former county commissioner who has positioned himself at the forefront of anti-pipeline action.
The senator’s comments, which came unsolicited, drew a response from the commissioners themselves March 1.
“We have been looking into all of our legal options regarding pipeline actions for a number of months, and agreed to take legal action when it would be substantive and effective,” said commissioners Chairwoman Michelle Kichline. “Our announcement to intervene in the (PUC) complaint comes just one week after Delaware County’s action and a few days after West Chester School District’s announcement to intervene.”
The school district made its announcement in a press release on Feb. 25; the Delaware County Council voted the seek intervention on Feb. 22. It is unclear whether Dinniman made any comments on the timing of those decisions.
“Chester County has taken significant action against (Sunoco’s) poor communication and lack of transparency, prior to our announcement yesterday,” Kichline said. “We have been working with pipeline safety groups, municipalities, the PUC and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for many years, and have formally registered our frustrations and concerns regarding (Sunoco) on many occasions.”
Said commissioners Vice Chairwoman Kathi Cozzone, like Dinniman a Democrat: “We have been researching our legal options for quite a while and made that known in a public meeting earlier this month where several community members were in attendance.
“I want to be very clear about my concern regarding this project,” said Cozzone, who lives in Uwchlan. “As a commissioner, I have a responsibility for the safety of our community. I live in the blast zone and my son goes to school in the blast zone. This issue has always been of significant concern to me, not only as a commissioner but as a mother.”
Kichline also noted that her parents live in East Goshen, not far from the pipeline project.
Finally, Commissioner Terence Farrell said the timing of the county’s announcement came as the commissioners notified Sunoco that they would be terminating the company’s construction and work easements across property at the Chester County Library in Exton.
“The county’s substantive action regarding Sunoco’s pipeline easements occurred Thursday because that’s when the temporary construction easements at the Chester County Library expired, and we notified Sunoco of the termination of the easements,” he wrote in an email March 1.
“Unlike the announcement that the county is seeking to join the (PUC) action, the termination of the easements has an immediate impact on Sunoco’s ability to proceed with pipeline construction and hopefully will prompt a forwardlooking change in Sunoco’s corporate attitude concerning responsiveness to questions raised by our Department of Emergency Services and a change in Sunoco’s documented disregard for the safety of our residents,” Farrell said.
The senator’s comments came in contrast to the remarks made by the legal counsel for the plaintiffs in the PUC case, who include three Chester County and four Delaware County residents, and spokesmen for advocacy groups.
“We are delighted that they have joined the other intervenors,” said Michael Bomstein, the attorney with the Philadelphia firm of Pinnola & Bomstein, which filed the challenge against Sunoco and its corporate parent, Energy Transfer Partners of Texas on behalf of the seven residents. “We are hopeful that the judge will grant them status, and we are looking forward to working with all counsel.”
Sam Rubin, an organizer with the national organization Food & Water Watch, which has worked locally with anti-pipeline activists, also praised the move.
“This is one more sign that county and local leaders are the ones taking serious action to rein in this rogue company,” Rubin said in an email after the announcement was reported. “The commissioners are acting in response to the powerful community movement that is committed to stopping the Mariner East pipelines. (Now) Gov. Wolf must follow the will of Pennsylvanians across the state by stopping Sunoco’s pipelines for good.”
A spokesman for the group Delaware-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety, said that although the commissioners might be “following the leaders” timewise in the PUC case, their decision to cancel the company’s easements in Exton “is a very important thing.
“That’s a big step, to take action to evict Sunoco from those easements,” said Eric Friedman, a resident of Thornbury, Delaware County. Such a move is a concrete step that does not rely on the decision of a PUC judge, and takes effect immediately, he noted..
And Virginia “Ginny” Kerslake, the West Whiteland resident who has been protesting against the pipeline for several months and is now running for the Democratic Party’s nomination for commissioner, said that she was “glad the commissioners are finally doing something,” although she too noted the timing came after other entities – “seven townships, four school districts, Delaware County and numerous residents” – had sought intervention.
A phone call and email requesting comment from Energy Transfer were not returned.
The three commissioners said their concern was that Sunoco had been unresponsive to requests to work with the county Department of Emergency Services in formulating plans on how to address possible accidents, spills, or other catastrophes along the Mariner East pipeline paths. Of the multiple pipeline operators in the county – Cozzone said there are more than 600 miles of pipeline under the county’s surface – the Mariner East operates had been least transparent and cooperative.
The PUC action currently underway was brought by residents to seek to halt work on all of the pipelines, citing safety concerns. A judge is currently considering whether to grant Sunoco’s preliminary objections and dismiss the challenge, of throw out those objections and allow the case to proceed. If the latter occurs, the judge then would decide which of the proposed intervenors would be allowed to testify in the case as parties.
The Mariner East pipelines will transport hundreds of thousands of barrels of highly volatile liquid gases such as butane, ethane and propane from the state’s Marcellus Shale regions to a facility in Marcus Hook.
The pipelines will span 350 miles across the full width of Pennsylvania, including through the heart of Chester County and 11 miles of western and lower Delaware County.
Mariner East 1 is currently shut down after a sinkhole formed last month in a neighborhood in West Whiteland where sinkholes formed last year. Mariner East 2 has been online since the last week of December, albeit not in the shape that Energy Transfer originally envisioned. Because of the various delays caused by runoffs, spills and state-ordered work stoppages, Sunoco is using a series of different, smaller pipes to fill in the gaps where the 20inch pipe has yet to be installed. The full 20-inch pipe now is not expected to be installed until 2020. A third pipeline, Mariner East 2x, remains under construction.
Last month the state Department of Environmental Protection halted all work permits for the Mariner East project, citing a lack of progress by the company in addressing situations that led to a landslide and explosion on another pipeline in western Pennsylvania.
That shutdown did not halt the flow of liquid gases on Mariner East 2, but likely will further delay completion of the project.
In his comments, Farrell urged all involved to work together in finding a solution to Sunoco’s problems. “I would hope that all parties who have, like the county, been involved in this pipeline struggle for a number of years would welcome the county’s continued partnership in securing answers and transparency from Sunoco, and ultimately in securing the safety of our residents,” he said.