Middletown Coalition
for Community Safety
2019
MCCS in the News
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Eric Friedman, a member of the Middletown Coalition for Community Safety, which opposes the Mariner East pipeline, believes this is just a natural progression. "Last December, Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan opened an investigation into whether Sunoco was a corrupt organization. It's apparent that the permits issued, not only by Tom Wolf's DEP, but also across Pennsylvania, don't comply with the applicable requirements. So I welcome this investigation into who was influenced and why," Friedman said.
Saturday, July 06, 2019
"The ongoing battle over the project is taking place in the backyards of Chester and Delaware county residents, who live in fear of a catastrophe...
Eric Friedman says, they’ll continue to feel unprotected.
“I think at some level, the most important function of government is to reasonably provide for the public’s safety,” he says. “And how can you have a project like this, that could kill hundreds or thousands of people in the worst-case scenario, and hope for the best and not plan for the worst?”
Friday, June 14, 2019
UPPER UWCHLAN — Marsh Creek State Park might become the site of a major loss of life if the Mariner East pipeline fails.
As part of his wildly popular blog, “Dragon Pipe Diary,” blogger George Alexander wrote that the pipeline is projected to cross Park Road, which is the only entrance/exit for a peninsula at the park. The rest of the peninsula is surrounded by water.
“Most people at most times of the year wouldn’t get across the lake,” Alexander said during a Thursday phone interview. “The residents and park visitors would be trapped with no alternative escape route.”
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
HARRISBURG — Demonstrators filled the Capitol Rotunda with signs, chants and speeches Tuesday morning in a bid to stop the Sunoco/ET Mariner East Pipeline project.
The “Safety Over Sunoco” (SOS) demonstration came just hours after the pipeline builder had restarted drilling along several locations of the pipeline’s 350-mile length. Plans call for the pipeline to stretch from Ohio, West Virginia and the length of Pennsylvania.
About 150 protesters filled the Rotunda steps while another 100, including about a dozen elected officials, watched from the Mercer tile floor.
Caroline Hughes, of West Goshen, lives and works, while her children attend school, within what some call the “blast zone.”
“Who is responsible for our health, safety and welfare?” Hughes asked. “We will not stop.
Delco DA launches probe of Mariner East pipeline
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
State attorney general, Delaware County district attorney launch criminal investigation into Sunoco, Energy Transfer
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
“For far too long, we’ve seen elected officials putting the profit-driven interests of the Texas corporation Sunoco ahead of the safety and economic well-being of our township, and even the laws of our Commonwealth,” said Bibianna Dussling,with the Middletown Coalition for Community Safety. “We hope the launching of these multiple criminal probes will serve to protect the Pennsylvanians placed at risk of harm by Sunoco’s recklessly proposed export project.”
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ME2 in the News
Prosecutor: ‘Buy-a-badge’ pipeline security plan was illegal
"This is a pretty simple case," Hogan said in a statement. "State Constables sold their badges and official authority. Energy Transfer bought those badges and authority, then used them as a weapon to intimidate citizens. And the defendants attempted to conceal their activity through a maze of companies and payments."
Chesco DA Announces More Charges in Mariner East Investigation
This time, the charges involve an employee of Energy Transfer, the company that owns the cross-state pipeline project.
Chester County DA files charges against employees, security firms working with Mariner East pipeline
The Chester County District Attorney's Office announced charges against employees of Energy Transfer and contracted security firms in connection with the Mariner East pipeline project.
Chester County DA files charges against employees, security firms working with Mariner East pipeline
WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania -- The Chester County District Attorney's Office announced charges against state constables who they say illegally provided security for Sunoco's Mariner East Pipeline.
State Constables sold their badges and official authority. Energy Transfer bought those badges and authority, then used them as a weapon to intimidate citizens," said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan.
The charged defendants are: Frank Recknagel, Security Manager for Energy Transfer; Nikolas McKinnon, Senior Security Adviser for TigerSwan LLC; Michael Boffo, Site Security Supervisor for TigerSwan LLC; James Murphy, operator of Raven Knights LLC; and Richard Lester, registered owner of Raven Knights LLC. The men face bribery, conspiracy, and related offenses regarding the Mariner East Pipeline.
Chester County DA charges Energy Transfer security manager, others in scheme to use constables for Mariner East pipeline security
“State constables sold their badges and official authority,” Hogan said in the release. “Energy Transfer bought those badges and authority, then used them as a weapon to intimidate citizens. And the defendants attempted to conceal their activity through a maze of companies and payments.”...
It’s not the only ongoing investigation related to the Mariner East project...
ET CLASS ACTION ALERT: Bernstein Liebhard LLP Announces the Filing of a Securities Class Action Against Energy Transfer LP
The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company's business, operational and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Energy Transfer's permits to conduct the Mariner East pipeline project in Pennsylvania were secured via bribery and/or other improper conduct; (ii) the foregoing misconduct increased the risk that the Company and/or certain of its employees would be subject to government and/or regulatory action; and (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
Fourth sinkhole at Sleighton Park—it’s in the middle of the road, and it’s vast
..Sunoco brought in a series of cement trucks to fill the hole before it could be examined by officials...
Delaware County Emergency Services makes an urgent plea for help with chemical dumping and leaks
Boyce and his department are trying hard to deal with these problems, and his frustration with the difficulties was palpable. His office is ill-equipped to track down emissions sources. (Its function is primarily responding to emergencies, not investigating leaks or dumping.)
AP Exclusive: FBI eyes how Pennsylvania approved pipeline
The focus of the agents’ questions involves the permitting of the pipeline, whether Wolf and his administration forced environmental protection staff to approve construction permits and whether Wolf or his administration received anything in return, those people say.
FBI reportedly opens corruption investigation into Pennsylvania's approval of Mariner East project permits
The FBI reportedly has opened a corruption investigation into Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's administration and its approval of construction permits for the contentious Mariner East pipeline projects, according to the Associated Press.
AP: FBI eyes how Pennsylvania approved pipeline
The FBI has begun a corruption investigation into how Gov. Tom Wolf's administration came to issue permits for construction on a multibillion-dollar pipeline project to carry highly volatile natural gas liquids across Pennsylvania, The Associated Press has learned.
Strong Gas Odor Continues To Linger In Delaware County After 2 Separate Incidents
MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) — It’s the question on the minds of many Delaware County residents — what’s that smell? A gas leak near an apartment complex Monday night led to a strong odor in the air. There was also a strong odor of gas along the I-95 Corridor and Chester Pike. Emergency officials say these are two separate incidents. While always busy, the Delaware County 911 Center wasn’t bombarded on Tuesday, 24 hours after hundreds of calls rolled in for a gas-like odor across the county. “Delaware County’s trying to figure out what this odor — this smell’s been permeating the county the last couple of weeks. It’s definitely concerning but we’re no closer to figuring out what it is,” Emergency Management Director Tim Boyce said. Separate from the widespread gas odor that has now happened twice in three weeks, a valve on Monday night malfunctioned on an eight-inch gasoline transmission line. A handful of first responders were even sickened...
Several Chester, Delaware county residents urge PUC judge to shut down Mariner East pipelines, citing fears of leak or explosion
Seven residents of Chester and Delaware counties took their long-running fight against the Mariner East pipelines to a West Chester court on Wednesday, saying the Public Utility Commission should shut down the lines on the grounds that they are a danger to public safety.
Shut down Mariner East before it kills us, pipeline foes implore Pennsylvania agency
The contentious Sunoco Mariner East project once again occupied center stage in a courtroom Wednesday as 10 residents and a homeowners' ..
Chesco, Delco residents impacted by Mariner East pipelines get chance to testify before PUC
Residents from Delaware and Chester counties who are directly impacted by the Mariner East pipelines are testifying in a two-day hearing in West Chester, and county officials hope these hearings have some teeth.
Pennsylvania’s gas politics churn as Trump embraces industry
Pennsylvania voters have shown a growing opposition to the drilling and massive pipelines required to move its product across the state. Candidates in state and local races are increasingly hardening their stances on the industry. National polling shows growing skepticism of fracking, the process used in extraction.
Activists urge Wolf, again, to shut down the Mariner pipelines
They’re pointing to sinkholes and contaminated wells they’ve seen throughout the building process, and say they’re worried about explosions.
“Our community residents aren’t lying when they say this has the potential to be a bomb,” he said, adding that he doesn’t think Sunoco has given them good enough evacuation advice. “I’m not going to be able to forgive myself if I don’t stand up and there’s an accident that happens. We’ve been living on luck for way too long.”
Gas drillers, owner of pipeline that exploded in Beaver County stuck together, even as they spar
“The explosion was not an ‘act of God,’” PennEnergy’s complaint, filed in the Court of Common Please of Allegheny County, asks a judge to declare.
“The explosion occurred in an area where the pipeline was constructed on a dangerously steep slope, which was a known landslide area, when fill material that [Energy Transfer] had placed on top of its pipeline slid, causing a landslide that ruptured the pipeline — all circumstances within ETC’s reasonable control.”
The Chester County DA vs. the Mariner East pipeline
Over more than two years of construction, Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipeline — which carries natural gas liquids across Pennsylvania to an export terminal in Delaware County — has been plagued with delays and mishaps. The construction has destroyed some private water wells, opened sinkholes, and sparked a criminal investigation by Chester County’s District Attorney. StateImpact Pennsylvania reporter Susan Phillips explains why now, the DA is threatening to sue Sunoco.
Chester County amps up pressure on Sunoco, calls Mariner East pipeline a nuisance
The Chester County prosecutor, amping up pressure on Sunoco’s Mariner East pipeline, said on Tuesday his office plans to sue the $5.1 billion project as a public nuisance.
Chester County District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan notified the pipeline’s owner, Energy Transfer LP, that his office plans to file a civil nuisance action in 60 days unless the company corrects several problems, including exposed underground pipes and leaks, or “inadvertent returns,” of drilling fluid during the pipeline’s construction.
The Chester County DA vs. the Mariner East pipeline
The Chester County prosecutor, amping up pressure on Sunoco’s Mariner East pipeline, said on Tuesday his office plans to sue the $5.1 billion project as a public nuisance.
Chester County District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan notified the pipeline’s owner, Energy Transfer LP, that his office plans to file a civil nuisance action in 60 days unless the company corrects several problems, including exposed underground pipes and leaks, or “inadvertent returns,” of drilling fluid during the pipeline’s construction.
Sunoco’s Pipeline in Delaware County, it is Not Safe for Kids, Residents say
A group of parents in a community of Delaware County is asking for answers about the Sunoco’s Mariner East pipeline, which caused a sinkhole. Parents are worried about a possible...
Sinkhole develops in Middletown
A swimming pool-sized sinkhole developed along the construction route of the Mariner East pipeline in the township Friday, officials said.
Township officials confirmed that a 15x15-foot subsidence occurred south of Forge Road, along Valley Road, within the utility's right of way in the area of Sleighton Park.