Judge temporarily halts Mariner East 2 work in Chesco

There has been a huge development in the Battle of Mariner East 2 - and it went against Sunoco.

An administrative law judge ruled in favor of West Goshen in their dispute with Sunoco Pipeline over the location of a valve station along the pipeline. The township claimed a switch in the location by Sunoco constituted a violation of their deal.
Sunoco said the move was made for safety.

The ruling means all work on the pipeline in West Goshen must be halted until the state Public Utility Commission can rule on the project.

Sunoco says it is ready to make its case before the PUC.

"We look forward to demonstrating to the Public Utility Commission how we have complied at all times with our agreement with West Goshen Township," said Jeff Shields, spokesman for Sunoco Pipeline LP.

There also were a couple of other developments yesterday in the increasingly controversial Mariner East 2 project, which will construct a 350-mile span, including two pipelines, that will ferry more than 350,000 barrels a day of Marcellus Shale products such as butane, ethane and propane the entire width of Pennsylvania to the former Sunoco refinery in Marcus Hook.

Chester County Commissioner Kathi Cozzone yesterday joined the call of elected officials asking for a halt to construction of hte pipeline.

And last night a big crowed showed up at the Middletown Council meeting to offer their concerns about the pipeline after an incident last week in which 1,500 gallons of bentonite, a non-toxic, clay-like substance used in the drilling process, leaked into a tributary of Chester Creek.

Look for a full report on that meeting later today.

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