Group raises $50K for pipeline risk assessment

Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety wants to determine the possible consequences of shipping volatile liquids in area

WEST GOSHEN » A group of private citizens is about halfway toward a $50,000 fundraising goal in a bid to fund a risk assessment study concerning pipeline safety.

The Risk Assessment Committee of Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety wants to determine the possible consequences and probabilities of shipping highly volatile liquids through Chester and Delaware county pipelines.

Plans call for the now-underconstruction Sunoco Mariner East 2 pipeline to ship ethane, butane and propane 350 miles from Marcellus Shale deposits in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania to the former Marcus Hook refinery in Delaware County for export. The existing 1930s-era Mariner East 1 pipeline was recently temporarily shut down due to safety concerns.

“We’ve had no public information from Sunoco or our public officials regarding the specifics of what’s flowing through our pipes … to allow our emergency management officials to plan the way they need to,” East Goshen Township resident Caroline Hughes said.

West Goshen resident Tom Casey has been fighting the Mariner East 2 pipeline project for more than four years. The pipeline right of way runs near his residence.

“The purpose of the assessment is to understand as much of the risk that we’re being forced to live with so that the public can make educated decisions with regard to the risk,” Casey said.

State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, has fought pipelines and has introduced pipeline safety bills in Harrisburg.

“All we’re seeking is a full, independent, and informed understanding of the risks associated with this pipeline project – a project that has been plagued by so many problems and potentially catastrophic issues that you can’t blame residents for expressing very real and very valid concerns,” Dinniman said. “It’s sad that residents need to turn to private donations to get the information they need to protect themselves, their homes, and their families, but we’re not backing down.

“Where government falls short, we’re going to find a way.”

Casey said that a yet-tobe-named nationally recognized consulting firm, with experience working in the industry, and is a leader in risk assessment, was hired to do as much work as time and money allows.

Thornbury, Delaware County resident Eric Friedman said the assessment will be “100-percent transparent” and all the findings will be made public.

“The goal is to provide this risk information to the affected public, so that the public can have an informed understanding of the risk Sunoco seeks to impose on it,” Friedman said. “This is particularly important given the lack of any credible notification system or self-evacuation plan.

“Risk is typically measured in terms of consequences and probability.”

Seth Kovnat moved from Middletown to escape the pipeline and is a seasoned structural engineer in the aerospace industry and regularly works with available industry resources to solve problems.

“The unbiased and independent results will allow anyone to understand their personal risk from these pipelines with all information required for peer review,” he said.

Del-Chesco United’s mission is “to unite people through education and to encourage our elected officials to make informed policy

decisions for the safety and well-being of our communities.”

Chester County resident Rebecca Britton said 300 Sunoco pipeline leaks have occurred since 2006, and in January alone, Sunoco received three new notices of probable violations of federal safety regulations.

The 25-page Del-Chesco request for proposals states that the grassroots organization is concerned with loss of life, falling property values, for both home and business owners, preserving the environment and risk versus benefit.

“The industry only tells the communities what they want them to know,” reads the Del-Chesco statement. “The community has determined that it wants to know more, to have true understanding of the risks involved.”

Melissa DiBernardino’s children attend school less than 100 feet from the proposed Mariner East 2 pipeline.

”Without assessing the risk and the variables that determine it, it is impossible to plan,” DiBernardino said. “To operate an unprecedented project of this magnitude within feet of schools, nursing care facilities and homes in general is a violation of our rights and the Pennsylvania Health & Safety Statute.

“Emergency personnel, who should not be put in this position, have only seen a part of something that goes into crucial planning. In other words, between the content and the method of installation, we are part

of an experiment. We need plans to ensure our safety.”

Failure mode considerations include, undocumented digging in backyards or farmland, trenching failure during construction, corrosion, weld failure and breaking valves. Other considerations include, valve gasket failure, equipment port failure, shifting ground and shutdown issues during emergencies.

Britton noted that 8,000 Uwchlan Township residents live in an “evacuation zone,” according to Chester County Emergency Services. That number does not include those attending school or business patrons and employees. She said there are 31,000 Chester County residents living within a halfmile radius of the Mariner East 2 pipeline.

“We can fund a hazard assessment ourselves that goes the extra step,” Britton said. “The risk assessment will be the beginnings of meaningful information that our township officials and county first responders can use to understand where the highest level of danger is.

“This is how we can truly develop procedures that mitigate loss of life.”

The group is fundraising, while giving presentations to municipal leaders who might support the cause.

For more information go to https://www.gofundme. com/citizens039-risk-assessment-of-me2.

In other related news, Dinniman also said that he is filing a formal complaint with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission regarding

Sunoco drilling in a karst geologic formation.

“Other states do not allow drilling in karst formations, but here in Pennsylvania it seems like our state agencies rubber-stamped the Mariner pipeline project and now my constituents in Chester County are living with the fallout,” Dinniman said. “I’m filing a complaint with the PUC that will deal directly with the question of why drilling was permitted in an area that is well known to be geologically problematic.”

Karst is a geologic term for an area underlain by limestone that has been eroded by flowing water, producing sinkholes, caves, and fissures. This makes drilling risky due to gaps, ridges, and channels in the limestone.

Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipeline project has resulted in the contamination of almost two-dozen wells, damage to aquifers, and the development of multiple sinkholes in West Whiteland Township. One of the sinkholes forced a local Lisa Road family to evacuate their home, another exposed an existing natural gas pipeline prompting the PUC to order its suspension, and yet another potentially threatens an existing rail line.

Dinniman said the state Senate would provide legal counsel for the complaint through Mark Freed of Curtin and Heefner, an attorney specializing in environmental law.

A Sunoco spokesperson failed to respond to several requests for comment.