Accountability is a good, solid word.
It's a sturdy word that means exactly what you might think.
I get reminded of it every day, when readers call to hold me accountable for what appears in the pages of our print edition and on our website.
They're right. I'm accountable.
And accountable is now what foes of Sunoco Logistics' grandiose plans for the Mariner East 2 pipeline vow to hold both the company and the state's environmental overlords to in the wake of the state Department of Environmental Protection giving the company the green light to move ahead with the project.
Yes, several environmental groups, headed by the Clean Air Council, immediately moved to appeal the ruling on the $2.5 billion project that will ferry hundreds of thousands of barrels of butane, ethane and propane all the way across the state from the Marcellus Shale regions to Marcus Hook.
They believe the DEP acted too quickly, without enough input from the community, and without a serious look at the potential problems and risks associated with the project.
Don't kid yourself.
Mariner East 2 is going to happen.
It's a huge economic shot in the arm for Delaware County, and the region. It holds the potential of turning Marcus Hook into an 'energy hub' for the entire Northeast.
It also has a downside, the risk of a potential leak or worse.
That's where that word accountable comes in again.
Don't expect it to go away anytime soon.
Sunoco Logistics and the state DEP are now responsible for what happens during and - probably more importantly - after construction of the pipeline that will traverse 11.5 miles through several towns in the western end of the county as it meanders toward Marcus Hook.
But don't expect that word accountable to go away anytime soon.
You can read our editorial on it here.
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