WEST GOSHEN, Chester County (Jan. 12) >>> Daniel Maietta of Boilermakers Local 13 was the second person to the microphone at the West Goshen Township supervisors meeting Wednesday night. The municipality’s independent expert from the nationally-recognized firm Accufacts Inc. was presenting his findings on pipeline safety related to the Mariner East 2 project.
Mariner East 2 is a proposed pipeline that will move energy resources from western Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex in Delaware County. Without the pipeline, vast amounts of energy resources would need to be moved by truck or train, an inefficient and costlier process.
Maietta, who has been a Boilermaker for five years, had one important question: “In your professional opinion, what’s the safest way to transport these energy resources?” he asked. He already knew the answer. But Richard Kuprewicz, a pipeline safety expert with Accufacts, made it clear: “Pipelines,” he said.
Maietta’s question set the tone for the evening, where the Boilermakers were joined by members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 654 and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 542, all of whom turned out for a presentation that reinforced the safety mechanism built into Mariner East 2.
According to Accufacts, which the township hired for an independent review, Sunoco, the developer of Mariner East 2, goes far beyond federal safety requirements to ensure the safe operation and integrity management of the pipeline.
Beyond being the healthier and more responsible choice for energy transit, Maietta, along with IBEW and IUOE members, also noted the economic benefits, including jobs for local workers, work for local vendors and contractors during construction and operation, tax revenue for local and state governments, and the availability of low-cost, clean-burning energy for consumers.
The full Accufacts report is available HERE.