Last month, an administrative law judge ruled to stop operations on Mariner East 1 pipeline and halt construction of the Mariner East 2 and 2x pipelines in West Whiteland Township, Chester County. The decision came just a month after the PUC unanimously voted to allow Mariner East 1 pipeline to resume operations following a thorough review by the commission’s Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement.
Just last week, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a challenge to a Sunoco Inc.’s use of eminent domain to demand a right of way for the construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline in Pennsylvania. The very next day the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County upheld a decision by zoning officials to reject an appeal against a permit allowing a pump station to be built along the Mariner East 1 pipeline.
The projects’ safety is continuously called into question, and time and time again judges rule on the side of Mariner East.
If you are writing about the appeal and continuing legal issues, please find a statement from the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance. You can quote me, Kurt Knaus, as PEIA spokesman:
Statement:
“Mariner East has withstood countless court challenges since it was first proposed more than four years ago. Just last month, the PUC restarted Mariner East 1 following a thorough investigation into the safety of the project. The administrative law judge’s recent ruling is highly questionable and not based on sound legal foundation. We look forward to tomorrow’s PUC hearing on this matter and ask them to restart Mariner East 1 pipeline and allow for construction to resume on Mariner East 2 and Mariner East 2X pipelines.”