Middletown Coalition
for Community Safety
March 2018
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MCCS in the News
Chester County residents grill pipeline regulators at meeting on Mariner East
Stae Impact March 20, 2018
Sunoco’s record of multiple violations and shutdowns during construction of the cross-state Mariner East project has eroded public trust...
The meeting "confirmed a lot of our suspicions, that the agencies of Pennsylvania say that they are powerless. There are so many reasons why they can’t do things, that it frustrates the public. We don’t feel that we’re being supported.” - Resident Jerry McMullen
Pipeline protesters rally at scene of Chester County sinkholes
The Mercury, March 11, 2018
... At the site of the sinkholes, a small group of protesters donned hardhats with CPSI stenciled on the brim – Citizen Pipeline Safety Inspectors. ... Speaker Eve Miari, of the group Middletown Coalition for Community Safety, said the pipeline was “egregious” and the demonstrators had “done everything” that ... ...
ME2 in the News
Pipeline construction could impact water quality
Lehigh Valley Live, March 21, 2018
... Based on the recent history of natural gas infrastructure in our region, the quality of drinking water for Lehigh Valley residents will most certainly be compromised by this project.
...
Absent Sunoco is blasted for 'wanton disregard' at Pa. pipeline safety hearing
Philadelphia Inquirer, March 20, 2018
... Speaking at a hearing in Harrisburg, legislators of both parties along with pipeline opponents took turns vilifying Sunoco.
“Sunoco Pipeline’s seemingly wanton disregard for the safety of our constituents living in these communities demonstrates their inability to appropriately manage the laws, regulations, permits and logistics associated with this pipeline project.” -State Sen. John Rafferty
Mariner East pipeline problems take center stage at state Senate hearing
State Impact, March 20, 2018
... A joint state senate hearing Tuesday was ostensibly about the broad topic of “pipeline safety,” but ended up focusing almost entirely on Sunoco’s embattled Mariner East project – a series of natural gas liquids pipelines spanning the southern portion of Pennsylvania.
As StateImpact Pennsylvania has reported, the project has faced numerous problems, including construction delays, legal challenges, and environmental violations.
The hearing, which lasted more than two hours, was held by the state senate Environmental Resources and Energy and the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure committees...
Absent Sunoco is thrashed at Pa. pipeline safety hearing
The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 20, 2018
... Sunoco Pipeline LP, which is building the contentious Mariner East project across Pennsylvania, was characterized at a legislative hearing on pipeline safety Tuesday as a “bad apple” and “rogue company,” whose transgressions have made it hard for all pipeline operators in the state.
Residents take pipeline concerns to governor
WGAL News 8, March 20, 2018
... Residents and activists took a notice of violation about Mariner East 2 to Gov. Tom Wolf's office Tuesday, but they were blocked by Capitol police. Residents say the governor and state agencies haven't done enough to ensure their safety.
Sunoco, regulators get a withering review at Pa. Senate hearing on Mariner East pipeline problems
Pittsburg Post-Gazette, March 20, 2018
... Pennsylvania environmental regulators were aware for days that collapsed soil along the path of the Mariner East pipeline construction project had exposed a parallel pipeline in Chester County this month before they informed safety regulators at another agency, according to testimony at a state Senate hearing on Tuesday.
Instead, safety inspectors with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission first learned about the sinkholes from local residents on March 3.
Sunoco Reports Spills, Racks Up More ME2 Violations
NGI's Shale Daily, March 19, 2018
... The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) last week issued three more violation notices to Sunoco Pipeline LP related to spills during horizontal directional drilling (HDD) for the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline project at separate locations in Blair and Lebanon counties.
Sunoco Pipeline violated noise law in East Goshen
Daily Local News, March 19, 2018
... Sunoco Pipeline was found guilty March 13 in district court of exceeding allowable noise levels during pipeline construction.
Yet another pipeline incident at Snitz Creek leaves officials “frustrated”
Lebanon Daily News, March 17, 2018
... “We’re a little bit frustrated,” township supervisor David Lloyd said about what he called the “latest debacle” of pipeline construction.
“Our understanding is that they were to come back to DEP with a plan that this wouldn’t happen,” Lloyd said. “It sounds like business as always.'
ETP Mariner East liquids pipe spills fluid in Pennsylvania again
Reuters, March 16, 2018
... Pennsylvania environmental regulators on Friday issued another notice of violation to Energy Transfer Partners LP’s Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline for releasing drilling fluids into a stream. ... It was ETP’s third inadvertent release into the Snitz Creek, following spills in August and September 2017. It was also the project’s 40th Notice of Violations and 107th inadvertent release since May, according to data from the DEP.
Sunoco Faces Class Action Over Pa. Pipeline Work Damage
Law360, March 16, 2018
... “The owners of two suburban Philadelphia homes launched a class action against Sunoco Inc. on Thursday alleging that construction of the company’s controversial Mariner East 2 pipeline caused significant property damage and left them at risk of possible catastrophic explosion.
The complaint said that negligent drilling by the company, which has been the subject of recent attention by state environmental and utility regulators, had destabilized underlying geology in the area and jeopardized the integrity of an existing gas pipeline.
“This destabilization has created an imminent risk...
Sunoco spills drilling fluid into Lebanon County creek for third time
Reuters, March 16, 2018
... “I am completely dismayed and outraged that they started again and they got the same inadvertent return that they did two or three times before at the same site.” -Pam Bishop of Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County...
PUC ratifies Sunoco pipeline shutdown until sinkholes can be resolved
Philly Inquirer, March 15, 2018
... The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission on Thursday ratified an emergency order authorized on March 7 halting operations on Sunoco Pipeline’s Mariner East 1 pipeline after sinkholes developed along the pipeline route in Chester County. ...
Dozens Gather In Exton To Protest Further Pipeline Development
CBS Philly, March 11, 2018
... Dozens of concerned citizens gathered in Exton Saturday afternoon to protest further use and development of the Mariner East pipelines. They met near Lisa Drive where construction crews are doing inspections after a series of sink holes recently formed along the pipelines. ...
Pipeline protesters rally at scene of Chesco sinkholes
Daily Local News, March 11, 2018
... Anette Murray of West Whiteland and Libby Madarasz of Meadowbrook Manor were two of the dozens of local residents protesting Saturday afternoon against the Mariner East pipeline project in the West Whiteland neighborhood where sinkholes have developed ...
DEP seeks updated plan from Sunoco for Mariner East 2
Daily Local News, March 11, 2018
... Sunoco and DEP are facing a lawsuit filed Feb. 28 by three environmental groups: the Clean Air Council, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Mountain Watershed Association ...
‘It’s crazy, man’: Sinkholes, Sunoco’s pipeline inspection stir safety fears in Chester County
State Impact, March 9, 2018
Yellow backhoes dug holes in several places among homes along Lisa Drive and Lynetree Drive in West Whiteland Township after the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission ordered Sunoco to temporarily halt operations of the Mariner East 1 pipeline. The PUC cited the risk of what it called ...
The Heron’s Nest: Dinniman wants to pull plug on Mariner East 2
Daily Local News, March 9, 2018
The day after the state Public Utility Commission ordered Mariner East 1 shut down in the wake of several sinkholes that popped up in the yards of homes out in West Whiteland, exposing the old pipeline and creating what some described as the potential for a 'catastrophic' incident, the state senator ...
Pa. shuts down pipeline over sinkhole
Fox News 29, March 8, 2018
Tiny yellow flags running in a line through the backyards of homes in West Whiteland Township mark the path of the Mariner 1 East pipeline—an 80-year-old, 8-inch pipe carrying natural gas liquids—now shutdown...
The order came Wednesday from a Pennsylvania regulator who wrote allowing the hazardous liquids to continue to flow: “...could have a catastrophic result impacting the public...”
Sunoco Pipeline Shut Down Amid Risk of “Catastrophic” Leak
Philadelphia Magazine, March 8, 2018
The emergency order comes after multiple sinkholes – one as deep as 20 feet – opened near construction sites adjacent to SEPTA and Amtrak rail lines in Chester County...
Sinkholes in Chester County prompt PUC panel to ask for Mariner East 1 shutdown
State Impact, March 7, 2018
Investigators at Pennsylvania’s Public Utility Commission have called for a shutdown of the Mariner East 1 natural gas liquids pipeline because of public safety concerns prompted by sinkholes that appeared near a Chester County construction site for two parallel Mariner East 2 pipelines....
#StateImpact, @GovernorTomWolf, @StateImpactPA
Mariner 2 Restart Deal Called Breach of Contract
Public News Service, March 5, 2018
“Pipeline construction permits were suspended in January, labeled "willful and egregious" violations. Five weeks later, Sunoco and the DEP reached a Consent Order and Agreement allowing construction to resume under what the DEP described as a "stringent compliance review." Alex Bomstein, senior litigation attorney with the Clean Air Council, said that Consent Order weakened protocols in place. "That settlement agreement is a binding contract. DEP didn't give any notice to us that this had happened, and we discovered it on our own."
Stronger protocols are necessary to protect public health if drilling fluids used in pipeline construction are spilled. "Dozens of people throughout the state have had their water wells contaminated." He added that drilling fluids also contaminate fish and wildlife habitat...
#govwolf, #marinereast2, #noME2, #sunoco, @GovernorTomWolf
Federal officials inspect sinkhole site tied to pipeline construction
Delco Times, March 5, 2018
“We expect a decision in the next 24 to 48 hours from state and federal officials,” he said. “That could include a suspension on drilling Mariner East 2 and/or a temporary halt on the transmission of natural gas liquids in the Mariner East 1.” - State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19
#govwolf, #marinereast2, #noME2, #sunoco, @SenatorDinniman, @GovernorTomWolf
Dinniman: More Sinkholes May Mean Another Halt to Mariner II Pipeline
March 5, 2018
Three sinkholes have opened up on a residential block apparently due to the construction of Sunoco’s Mariner East II pipeline. “Officials from PHMSA, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) were on site to inspect the situation and determine a course of action,” Dinniman, who has been a vocal critic of the project’s environmental and public safety dangers, said. “They are taking the situation very seriously and considering their options.”
#govwolf, #marinereast2, #noME2, #sunoco, @SenatorDinniman, @GovernorTomWolf
Sinking Feeling: West Whiteland battles sinkholes tied to pipeline construction
Delco Times, March 4, 2018
“How dangerous is it to have sinkholes opening up at an active pipeline?”
“This is surreal. How ridiculous is this situation?
“This is not what they told me it was."
"I’m totally concerned with property values.” - John Matia, affected homeowner
#govwolf, #marinereast2, #noME2, #sunoco, @SenatorDinniman, @GovernorTomWolf
100 groups around globe join push urging Wolf to shut down Mariner East 2 pipeline
Delco Times, March 1, 2018
“The dangers posed by this project are serious, and require immediate action from Gov. Wolf, who is the only the person with the power to protect all of these communities.”-Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter.
Groups include Food & Water Watch, Food & Water Watch Europe and Berks Gas Truth, Oil Change International, Progressive Democrats of America, Friends of the Earth, the Center for International Environmental Law and the Center for Biological Diversity. They are joined by organizations in Europe like Frack Free United (U.K.), Friends of the Earth EWNI (England, Wales and Northern Ireland), Talk Fracking (U.K.), Friends of the Earth Scotland, Frackwatch and Our Forth Against Unconventional Gas (Scotland), Not Here Not Anywhere (Ireland) and Ecologistas en Acción (Spain).