War of words over pipeline takes ugly turn
It turns out building a pipeline is not the only ugly element in this long-playing, bitter saga.
It’s a pretty safe bet that nobody asked to have a pipeline carrying highly volatile natural gases placed in their neighborhoods, let alone in some instances in their backyards.
In fact, many residents across Delaware and Chester counties have been fighting tooth and nail to stop Mariner East 2, the massive project of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Pipeline to push hundreds of thousands of barrels of ethane, butane and propane across the entire width of Pennsylvania from the Marcellus Shale regions to Marcus Hook.
It is a multi-billion project that has rubbed emotions raw on both sides of the issue. Proponents cite the economic benefits and the fact that pipelines are clearly the safest way to transport these materials. Opponents say it borders on the insane to route these materials through densely populated neighborhoods in close proximity to schools and senior centers.
They have fought the project in court, before state agencies, and with endless pleas to state officials, including Gov. Tom Wolf.
For two years, they dealt with the ugly scars that accompany a pipeline. Trees were felled, runoffs were a constant problem, and one neighborhood in Chester County even developed sinkholes believed connected to pipeline drilling. Work on the project was shut down by the state in the wake of that incident.
They have heard two different risk assessments tell them of the possible dangers of the pipeline, including one that warned of a potential catastrophe and blast zone of more than a mile.
Despite any number of delays, Sunoco announced that they in fact had put Mariner East 2 – or at least a new version of it – online the last weekend of December. To do so, they had to fudge a bit on their initial plan for a 20-inch pipeline. The many delays in construction meant the 20inch pipe would not be completed until 2020. Instead Sunoco is using something of a hybrid of smaller, older pipelines to plug in the gaps and get material moving.
As you might guess, this was not especially well-received by pipeline opponents, who promptly filed a petition with the state Public Utility Commission seeking to halt the project, citing the new plan as inherently unsafe.
Nothing has worked. The pipeline is up and running, as is the never-ending war of words.
What they did not need at this point is having insult added to injury.
But that’s what at least one protester got.
Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan this week castigated ETP and Sunoco after a pipeline worker got involved in an “obscene” spat online with a woman who opposes the project.
Hogan already has launched a criminal probe of the construction of Mariner East 2. In doing so he indicated he would defend county residents. This incident certainly throws some gas on that fire.
The incident took place on an Instagram account back in December. The critic was questioning welds used in pipeline construction.
The worker fired back, noting that the welds were “fine.” But not before using demeaning language toward the woman, including a sexist slur. He wasn’t done. The man then posted another response, saying, “but if my weld was bad, I hope it’s in your backyard so I can watch your house burn down on the news.”
Hogan was not amused. He contacted both the company and the union, properly dressing down the comments as “inappropriate and unprofessional.”
“We will not allow our citizens to be bullied,” Hogan vowed.
Union officials, with Local 798 out of Oklahoma, said the worker had been admonished, and also maintained that such “trash talk” would not happen again.
“We’re trying to educate people about what we do, and bashing them doesn’t help anyone,” said union Business Manager Danny Hendrix.
A war of words is one thing. But residents should not be bullied, demeaned and cursed at online – or anywhere else for that matter.
It turns out building a pipeline is not the only ugly element in this long-playing, bitter saga.