Opponents of Mariner East 2 in Chester and Delaware counties have been using an unrelated incident on a separate and different pipeline in southwestern Pennsylvania to call for a halt in ME2 construction, even though the project is about 98 percent complete. In response to opponents’ recent calls to halt pipeline construction on Mariner East, please find a statement from the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance. Feel free to quote me, Kurt Knaus, as PEIA spokesman:
“The call to shut down construction is a premature, knee-jerk reaction, because what happened in southwestern Pennsylvania was not a construction issue. Initial assessments point to historic rainfalls that caused a number of landslides, including one that affected the Revolution pipeline. It’s also important to note that 80 percent of Mariner East 2 is co-located within the same right-of-way as Mariner East 1, which has been operating safely for decades. Arbitrarily shutting down construction of Mariner East 2 — which has undergone rigorous review and faced regulatory scrutiny at every step — could have serious consequences for Pennsylvania workers who are building the line and for the state’s long-term energy market.”