Proclamation of the People
Whereas Sunoco Pipeline/ Energy Transfer Partners is currently constructing one or more high pressure, large diameter, hazardous highly volatile liquids pipelines - the so-called “Mariner East 2” -- through our neighborhoods, our communities, our streams, our aquifers, and in close proximity to our homes, businesses, parks, and schools;
Whereas these pipelines, if breached, have the potential to release an enormous cloud of extremely flammable and heavier than air vapor, potentially causing asphyxiation and explosion, putting thousands of Pennsylvanians: residents, families, seniors, schoolchildren, and emergency personnel at risk of serious harm or death;
Whereas the proposed route of these pipelines crosses our watersheds, our rivers and our streams, and has already caused significant water contamination issues in multiple communities including the permanent and irrevocable damage to local aquifers and private wells;
Whereas we have rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution of Pennsylvania, including Article I, Section 27: The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.
Whereas the safety and security of our community is paramount and should not be undermined, and we must ensure that remains now and into the future. Our safety and security are directly based upon our communities’ resources, including our access to clean, safe water.
Therefore We the People Proclaim: *We, the concerned citizens of Delaware and Chester Counties gather today in solidarity and in peaceful protest against Energy Transfer Partners, Sunoco Pipeline, its Mariner East project, and the egregious damage, disruption and undisputed risks to our densely populated communities and to our water sources.
*We declare our community to be a protected space where every member of our community can live in peace and freedom from the threat of eminent domain, water contamination, and physical harm from this dangerous and recklessly proposed project.
*We stand in solidarity with every community up and down the proposed pipeline route who joins in this resistance effort. From Delaware and Chester Counties to Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon, Cumberland, Huntington, and all the way to Allegheny. We stand with all those Pennsylvanians who choose public safety, private property rights, and drinkable water over corporate profits and greed.
*We acknowledge and stand in solidarity with the leadership of Indigenous Peoples, including the Lene Lenape, from whom we are reminded that Water Is Life.
* We stand in mourning with people all over the country, from Flint to Black Mesa, who have had their communities and water sacrificed.
*We call upon our local governments to do their duty by resisting bullying and threats by Sunoco/ETP. We call on our elected local officials to enforce all local laws and to choose resistance over appeasement.
*We call upon our State Senators and Representatives to join the call for a halt on drilling and construction across the entire state.
*We call on Governor Wolf to halt construction and on the Department of Environmental Protection to revoke the hastily issued permits for these dangerous pipelines.
*We invoke the Environmental Rights Amendment, Article I, section 27 of our constitution, and demand that our government uphold the protection of our land, water sources, and safety of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
*We proclaim our intention to continue our resistance efforts, including direct action in solidarity with communities along the pipeline route, joining as one powerful voice, to protect our Pennsylvania communities from harm.
