Regulators Issue Split Ruling on Gas Pipelines Near Philadelphia

Pennsylvania utility regulators voted to let a pipeline resume transporting liquid fuels, reversing an administrative law judge’s order, but they also upheld a halt to construction of two other pipelines in the Philadelphia suburbs.

The Public Utility Commission voted 3-2 to allow Sunoco Pipeline LLC to resume use of the Mariner East 1 pipeline, with the chairman saying there was no new credible evidence to think it can’t be operated safely. The regulators ruled that more information is required before work can continue on building a 3.5-mile portion of Mariner East 2 and a companion line through Chester County. Those details include inspection and testing protocols as well as safety training.

Public Utility Commission Judge Elizabeth Barnes said Sunoco has previously failed to take reasonable steps to warn people and protect them from danger. She said there was evidence drilling practices have put water supplies at risk, and she cited a history of leaks and failures to report spills when they’ve occurred, sinkholes and the possibility of a public catastrophe.

Commission member John E. Coleman Jr., who wanted to allow construction to resume, said before the vote there is no immediate threat that would warrant the halt work on the two pipelines.

State Sen. Andy Dinniman, who brought the challenge to Sunoco’s permits before the commission, called the decision a mixed bag. He said Mariner East 1 represents the greater potential danger.

“We continue to have very real and significant concerns regarding the stability of Mariner East 1,” Dinniman said in a statement, describing it as “an 87-year-old pipeline carrying highly volatile natural gas liquids within close proximity of schools, playgrounds, senior care facilities, neighborhoods, a library, shopping mall and rail line, to name just a few.”

Messages left for the company were not immediately returned, but it has previously defended the safety of the three lines.

Sunoco Pipeline LP, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, has nearly completed work on the 350-mile-long, 20-inch diameter Mariner East 2 pipeline to carry propane, butane and ethane from western Pennsylvania across the southern portion of the state to a terminal near Philadelphia. A second, 16-inch diameter line, Mariner East 2x, is following the same route.

Mariner East 1, which dates to the 1930s, has been sending natural gas liquids eastward for about a year.