| | | | | | |

Apartment Dwellers Near Philly Sue Sunoco for ME2 Pipe “Nuisance”

More than a dozen residents living in the Turnbridge Apartments in Media (Delaware County), PA recently filed a lawsuit against Sunoco Logistics (Energy Transfer) alleging construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline project has created all sorts of problems. The lawsuit says ME2 construction has caused (1) environmental contamination; (2) a major nuisance and inconvenience, especially during 24/7 operations; and (3) intimidation, harassment, fear, and loss of access to outdoor space. This isn’t the first time residents in that area have sued over ME2.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

PA DEP Schedules 3 Hearings on Permit Changes for ME2 Pipe

NOTE: These hearings have been canceled due to coronavirus concerns. Although the public hearings are canceled, individuals are still encouraged to submit comments about the proposed permit modifications and air plan approvals, as comments submitted for the record to DEP carry equal weight to those delivered in-person. Comments must be received by May 8, 2020, at 11:59 PM. Written comments should be mailed to the Waterways and Wetlands Program, 2 E. Main Street, Norristown, PA, 19401. Comments may also be submitted via email at [email protected] with the subject designating which modification request the comment is intended for.

It’s time to come out and support the Mariner East 2 (ME2) pipeline project at a series of three public hearings scheduled by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April near Philadelphia. That is if the hearings are actually held. DEP has scheduled one hearing in Delaware County (April 14) and two hearings in Chester County (April 15 & 16) on plans to issue the project state Chapter 102 (Erosion) and Chapter 105 (Water Encroachment) permits for construction in those locations.
Continue reading

| | | | | | |

Adelphia Gateway Pipe Files to Upgrade 13 Sites in Southeast PA

It’s full speed ahead for the Adelphia Gateway Pipeline project in southeastern Pennsylvania. In December the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final approval for the project (see FERC Issues Final OK for Southeast PA Adelphia Gateway Pipeline). Last week Talen Energy sold the actual pipeline to New Jersey Resources so the project can commence (see Talen Energy Sells PA Pipeline to Adelphia Gateway for $155M). NJ Resources/Adelphia has just filed a request with PA for permits to move dirt around at 13 locations. We have the list.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | |

Talen Energy Sells PA Pipeline to Adelphia Gateway for $155M

In December the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final approval for the Adelphia Gateway pipeline project (see FERC Issues Final OK for Southeast PA Adelphia Gateway Pipeline). Adelphia is a plan to convert an old/existing oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook, into a natural gas pipeline. To flow Marcellus gas to southeast PA. The builder lacked one key ingredient–the pipeline!
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

FERC Issues Final OK for Southeast PA Adelphia Gateway Pipeline

New Jersey Resources’ Adelphia Gateway project is a plan to convert an old oil pipeline stretching from Northampton County, PA through Bucks, Montgomery, and Chester counties, terminating in Delaware County at Marcus Hook, into a natural gas pipeline. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a final approval for the project yesterday.
Continue reading

| | | | | |

ExxonMobil Considers Philadelphia Area for Ethane Cracker Plant

MDN previously reported on the rumor that ExxonMobil is sniffing around southwestern Pennsylvania looking for a site to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant (see Exxon Mobil Sniffing Around SWPA to Build Second Cracker Plant). We then told you Exxon is not only looking in Beaver County (where Shell is building its cracker) but also in nearby Washington and Greene counties too (see Exxon Widens Search to Build SWPA Cracker Plant to Other Counties). But what’s this? We now read about another rumor–that Exxon is also considering southeast PA, the Philadelphia area!
Continue reading

| | | | |

Another Small Mariner East Pipe Sinkhole Develops Near Philly

Sinkhole develops near soccer field (Credit: Del-Chesco United for Pipeline Safety)

Another sinkhole developed last Friday near Philadelphia related to underground drilling done to install the Mariner East 2 pipeline. The new sinkhole developed in Middletown Township (Delaware County), in Sleighton Park. Fortunately this latest hole was only about 18 inches in diameter, which is much better than a 15×15 foot hole that developed in September, also in Middletown Township (see Another Mariner East 2 Pipe Sinkhole Opens in Delaware County). However, the 18-inch hole fanned out to four feet wide and 30 feet deep underground. Sunoco immediately filled it with “flowable fill” (i.e. concrete)–to the tune of 48 yards of material.
Continue reading

| | | | | | | |

Another Mariner East 2 Pipe Sinkhole Opens in Delaware County

Credit: PA Environment Digest Blog (click for larger version)

Once again drilling work to install Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 Pipeline in Middlefield Township in Delaware County, PA (near Philadelphia) has resulted in a sinkhole. This one is about the size of a 15×15 swimming pool. Sunoco reports the hole exposed a 12-inch pipeline flowing NGLs (no holes, no leaks in the pipeline). The company immediately filled in the sinkhole and covered over the NGL pipeline.
Continue reading

| | | | | | |

PA DEP Changes Sides, Says Marcus Hook Should Get 1 Big Air Permit

The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP), which once supported (in court) Sunoco Logistics Partners method of requesting permits for the Marcus Hook facility (near Philadelphia), has just flip flopped and change sides, now siding against Sunoco and the permits the DEP itself issued for the Marcus Hook facility. DEP is now siding with the radical Clean Air Council demanding that all of the work at the Marcus Hook facility be done under a single emissions permit, not separate permits.
Continue reading

| | | | | | |

Yet Another Defeat for ME2 Pipeline Antis in PA Court

click for larger version

The wheels of justice sometimes grind sloooooowly–but they do grind and eventually decisions are made. In 2017, rich, snobbish homeowners in an “upscale” Philadelphia suburb development asked a Pennsylvania appeals court (Commonwealth Court) to stop Sunoco Logistics from building the Mariner East 2 pipeline through the edge of their high-priced development (see Rich Homeowners in Philly Suburb Claim ME2 Work Stirring up Arsenic).
Continue reading

| | | | | | | | |

Philly Anti Pushes to Make Pipe Info Public that Terrorists Can Use

The actions of one man seeking access to confidential risk assessments and plans for the Mariner East pipelines in the Philadelphia area will, if successful, put information into the public domain that terrorists can potentially use. Note we don’t believe it is the intent of this man to grant access to sensitive information to terrorists. But that is the consequence, the outcome, the result of his actions–if a court now reviewing the case grants his request.
Continue reading

| | | | | |

100+ Union Members Protest Dela. County Council Mtg re ME Pipes

click for larger version

More than 100 union members packed a Delaware County, PA Council meeting yesterday to send the loud and clear message they are not happy with council members who have asked PA Gov. Tom Wolf to impose a moratorium on all of the Mariner East pipelines that pass through the county. Two weeks ago the council passed a resolution asking Wolf to block all of the pipelines, those already built and those under construction. This is what third world, tinpot dictatorships do–not the U.S.A. Union members were at the meeting to remind council members they vote, in large numbers, and they’re willing to toss them out of office if they continue with this chicanery.
Continue reading

| | | | | |

Sunoco Spending $200M to Expand Marcus Hook NGL Refinery

Marcus Hook refinery complex

On Monday Energy Transfer, parent company of Sunoco Logistics Partners, announced a $200 million expansion of its Marcus Hook refinery located in Delaware County, PA, just outside Philadelphia. The upgrades include building a new warehouse and adding more propane and butane “chillers” (to keep the gases cold). The two-year project will employ some 1,200 union workers.
Continue reading

| | | | |

Huge Sinkhole Forms Near ME2 Pipe in Delaware County, PA

Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer (click for larger version)

Our lead story yesterday was the rumor there has been another sinkhole open up in Delaware County, PA near an existing (old) pipeline temporarily being used as part of the Mariner East 2 (ME2) NGL pipeline system (see PUC Investigates ME2 Bypass Pipe in Delaware Co. for New Sinkhole). Indeed there was. Officials report a 12 foot by 12 foot sinkhole in the right-of-way for several Sunoco-owned pipelines. The good news is that no bare pipe was exposed, the hole has already been filled, and ethane/propane continue to flow through ME2.
Continue reading

| | | | | |

PUC Investigates ME2 Bypass Pipe in Delaware Co. for New Sinkhole

Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer (click for larger version)

The Mariner East 1 (ME1) natural gas liquids pipeline that flows ethane and propane came back online Monday (see Mariner East 1 NGL Pipe Restarts Today After Shutdown Since Jan.). It had been out of service for more than three months because a sinkhole exposed a few feet of bare pipe near Philadelphia. Good thing ME1 is back, because yesterday the Pennsylvania Public Service Utility (PUC) announced an investigation into a potential new sinkhole near a section of pipeline used for the Mariner East 2 pipeline in Delaware County.
Continue reading

| | | | | |

Living with ME2 Pipeline Construction in Your Back Yard

We spotted a story about landowners in the Philadelphia suburbs who currently have to live with construction of the Mariner East 2 pipelines (plural, there are two of them, ME2 and ME2X), literally happening in their back yards. While we are strong supporters of the ME2 project, we are not unsympathetic to landowners and the hassles they have to endure while it’s being built.
Continue reading