The roads you travel on, the bridges you cross, the tunnels you drive through, or the dams, pipelines, oil refineries, and petro-chemical plants you rely on for water and energy, it’s a good bet they were built by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). We operate the bulldozers, the motor graders, the backhoes, and the cranes helping to form and shape infrastructure.
Operating Engineers Local 66 has provided competent and qualified workers for construction projects for over 100 years. Covering 33 counties in western Pennsylvania, we are over 7,000 members strong who benefit from infrastructure projects like the Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids pipeline. This is why Operating Engineers Local 66 is proud to be an anchor member of the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance, encouraging energy infrastructure projects throughout Pennsylvania.
Sitting on the world’s largest natural gas reserve, energy development has been contributing to Pennsylvania’s economic growth in recent years. With such great opportunity, we must ensure that we take advantage of it. In fact, last year alone, the energy sector created 1,762 jobs in Washington County in southwestern Pennsylvania. While manufacturing has been in decline across the United States, the prevalence of energy resources in Pennsylvania have produced a resurging manufacturing sector.
Beyond the development of energy resources, its safe movement from the fields to market is critical. Using local trades on pipeline infrastructure, like the Mariner East projects, ensures that the most qualified, best trained professionals are hired to safely build the pipeline. It also ensures that the pipeline will meet and exceed federal regulation safety requirements.
Energy development has fueled employment in Pennsylvania these last few years. Construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline, which will transport natural gas liquids from the oil fields of western Pennsylvania to the Marcus Hook oil refinery on the Delaware River, will create 30,000 Pennsylvania jobs. In total, this project is projected to provide a $4.2 billion economic investment in the state.
Creating jobs, providing an economic boost to the state’s economy, and contributing to our country’s goal of becoming energy independent, it is difficult to see any downsides to proposed energy infrastructure projects like Mariner East 2. Because of the positive impact projects like this will provide our members, the Operating Engineers Local 66 is a proud member of the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance to encourage the development of needed pipeline infrastructure.