Pipeline risk study faces legal limbo

Pipeline opponents don’t believe the state gave the plans nearly as critical a looks as warranted.

Opponents of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project have a legal problem.

For months, opponents of Sunoco’s plan to ship hundreds of thousands of barrels of volatile gases such as ethane, butane and propane every day the full width of Pennsylvania, from the Marcellus Shale region to Marcus Hook have been pressing for a risk assessment study.

They are outraged that such a project was given the green light and allowed to traverse densely populated neighborhoods, including in close proximity to schools and senior centers. The pipeline will travel 350 miles across the Keystone State, including the final stretch through Chester and Delaware counties.

Opponents don’t believe the state gave the plans nearly as critical a looks as warranted. Their fears have been fortified by a series of mishaps involving construction of the pipeline, everything from persistent runoff to sinkholes popping up in a Chester County neighborhood.

The state shut down construction on the pipeline at one point, and demanded that Sunoco halt the flow of materials in the existing, much smaller Mariner East 1 pipeline, after construction of Mariner East 2 exposed the pipeline, leading the PUC to take action to avert a possible “catastrophe.”

Sunoco paid a $12 million fine and got the green light to restart construction. Same for Mariner East 1; gases are once again flowing through the old original Sunoco oil pipeline that has been retrofitted to move the gas products from the state’s Marcellus Shale regions.

None of which has made opponents of the project happy.

From its inception the pipeline has pitted the concerns of residents, including safety, property values and other quality of life issues, against the economic benefits constantly touted by pipeline supporters, Sunoco, labor unions and some elected officials.

For its part, Sunoco Pipeline continues to stick to its main talking point. They look forward to completing the project, which they maintain is being constructed to the highest safety standards in the industry, and vow to operate it in similar fashion. They still hope to wrap up construction, most of which has already been finished, and bring the pipeline online this summer.

It appeared as if pipeline opponents had gained a sympathetic ear when they first took their request for a risk assessment study to Delaware County Council. A move to seek bids to perform the study gained preliminary approval.

But this week the plan hit a pothole, one that threatens to knock the study out of the “pipeline,” in a manner of speaking.

The two Republicans on council, Colleen Morrone and Michael Culp, did not like the final version of the proposal submitted by Quest Consultants. The Republicans voted against. The two new Democrats on council, Brian Zidek and Kevin Madden, voted in favor. That dumped the matter squarely in the lap of Council Chairman John McBlain.

McBlain abstained, saying he did not want to give any appearance of a conflict of interest. McBlain’s law firm, Swartz Campbell, has represented Sunoco in the past.

The 2-2 deadlock means the push for a risk assessment study is dead for now.

The question now is Mariner East 2. And the clock is ticking. Sunoco is nearing completion on the project and is preparing to bring it online.

We understand the massive economic upside of this project, this despite the persistent voices who question just how much benefit local residents stand to see.

We also do not discount the deep concerns of residents who fear for their safety, let alone their property values and quality of life.

Residents have put up with this unwanted new neighbor, which in some cases literally has been plopped into their back yards. They’ve seen some beautiful, rolling landscapes converted to an ugly, muddy mess. Building a pipeline is not a pretty business. And that’s nothing compared to their very real fears about safety.

Officials, be it Delaware County Council or another entity, need to put those fears to rest. They need to approve a risk assessment study.

And no legal conflicts of interest should stand in their way.