Recently, WHYY News covered a Philadelphia suburb embroiled in a fight brought on by Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) activists, regarding a court order to release communications between municipal officials and the developer of a natural gas pipeline.
Although the pipeline developer has exceeded requirements and worked with the owners of Glen Riddle Station Apartments, the complex owner’s want records deemed sensitive by Pennsylvania law, released publicly. The apartment owners have put their own self-interest ahead of community safety with this lawsuit.
The township appealed the judge’s ruling to Commonwealth Court, aiming to not disclose the sensitive information within the reports. Energy Transfer, the owner of the multi-billion-dollar Mariner East pipeline system, also opposed the release of private records several days earlier. Both, in alignment with the current law.
The Mariner East pipeline is a multi-billion economic investment into the local economy. Pennsylvania is the second largest natural gas producing state in the country, but without pipelines like Mariner East, these products cannot get to market in the safest means possible. Some ideologues have been vocally opposed to the pipeline in Southeast Pennsylvania in order to pursue fringe aspirations.
Pipelines promote community safety while also generating millions in economic development annually.