Anthony Gallagher: Pipeline study rapped as waste of time

Expanding our pipeline infrastructure will generate considerable economic benefits for Pennsylvania. Mariner East 2 and the corollary infrastructure projects have been found to inject $9.1 billion into Pennsylvania alone. This development has a tremendous amount of oversight and regulatory review. In fact, Mariner East 2 received an unprecedented amount of regulatory review before receiving the necessary permits to begin construction. Recent proposals by opponents of pipeline infrastructure however, are recklessly proposing that local government entities perform risk analysis, which are duplicative to the oversight that already regulates pipelines like Mariner East 2. Such an assessment would also cost a considerable amount of money. A cost that pipeline opponents think should be paid by local taxpayers. Anthony Gallagher, a member of Steamfitters Local 420, lays out why a risk assessment study is unnecessary, and costly, in a letter to The Delco Times. Read the full letter below:

“To the Times:

Delaware County Council’s consideration of a study (“County council OKs public call for risk assessment,” Jan. 24) about the risk posed by the Mariner East 2 pipeline will cost local taxpayers a lot of money without producing any real results.

This is not the first and only pipeline to run through our community. A number of pipelines that currently run through Delaware County carry the very same energy resources that the Mariner East pipelines will deliver. None of them required these studies.

Keep in mind that this project received unprecedented review over the past five years at hundreds of meetings and hearings with local residents, officials and regulators. Included in the strict regulations that this project must meet are risk assessments. These assessments are inherent in the process, making the county’s effort duplicative and costly.

Today’s pipelines are built with the most up-to-date technology to ensure the safety of communities and the environment. The county action has no relevance in the regulatory process at play. Our hard-earned tax dollars should be invested in infrastructure projects and not used to support opponents who want nothing more than to stop development.

Anthony Gallagher, Steamfitters Local 420