Despite the protests, pipeline work moves on

Can anything stop the controversial Sunoco Mariner East 2 pipeline project? It’s expected to be online by June.

They have been complaining now for more than a year.

They have held rallies and protests.

They have confronted their elected officials.

They have put pressure on state agencies and the governor.

But nothing the opponents of Sunoco Pipeline’s massive Mariner East 2 project have done has stopped this behemoth.

Yes, work was halted last summer in Chester County when the company’s controversial Horizontal Directional Drilling technique disturbed several private wells. It was just one of several problems that have plagued construction of the pipeline, which is destined to ferry volatile liquids such as ethane, butane and propane the full width of Pennsylvania, from the Marcellus Shale region to Sunoco’s former refinery at Marcus Hook. From there it will be stored and then shipped, the majority of it heading to foreign customers.

Then in January the state Department of Environmental Protection shut down all construction on the $2.5 billion project, citing the ongoing “egregious” violations, including discovery that the company was using the Horizontal Drilling method in an area near Harrisburg where it was not properly approved to do so.

Eventually, Sunoco Pipeline and the state reached an agreement. The company would pay $12 million, while promising to adhere to all state rules and regulations. In return they got the green light to resume construction. They also won a court fight with West Goshen, allowing them to resume construction in the township.

This week, a group of environmental groups, including the Clean Air Council, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and others filed suit against DEP and Sunoco Pipeline, calling the deal a breach of the public trust, and that the two walked back environmental agreements. The groups also went into Commonwealth Court seeking an injunction against the agreement.

State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, of West Whiteland, clearly the elected official who has been most critical of Gov. Tom Wolf and the way the Commonwealth has handled – or not handled, depending on your point of view – the pipeline project, continues to pressure state government to do as risk assessment study.

Just this week Dinniman has raised new concerns about the stability of the ground being traversed by the pipeline projects.

He noted that much of the ground where the pipeline is being installed, in particular in Chester County, is in Karst formations, basically areas where the ground sits on limestone formations that have been eroded by flowing water. The Karst makes these areas susceptible to sinkholes and fissures.

At least one activist group, Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety, lays the blame directly at the feet of Gov. Wolf and state officials for lax oversight on the project.

But none of their objections has stopped Mariner East 2.

And now it appears it might not.

Sunoco Pipeline has announced that – despite the halt to construction that shut down work on the project for a month – they still hope to have materials flowing through the pipeline by the end of the second quarter. That’s in four months.

The company, unions and chamber of commerce folks are quick to point out what they believe to be a huge economic upside to this project.

It is one the opponents don’t share. They counter that local residents – the ones who will now have this pipeline in some cases literally in their back yards – will see very little in the way of benefits from Mariner East 2. And they counter why we value these so-called economic benefits more than the lives of our children. They also will have to live with the nagging question that has hung over this project from Day One: What if?

It’s a question no one can answer. It’s one that the company likes to downplay. They insist that construction and, eventually, operation of the pipeline are being done to the highest industry standards.

That does little to ease the fears and concerns of those opposed to Mariner East 2.

But it hasn’t stopped Mariner East 2. It’s not known what the results of any risk assessment might produce. But they better not waste any time.

Mariner East 2 just keeps rolling along.