There might be still another problem linked to the Mariner East pipeline plans.
Or maybe not.
Word started filtering out early Thursday that another section of Sunoco's old, existing Mariner East 1 pipeline had been exposed out in Chester County.
It would not have been the first time. Construction on Mariner East 1 was shut down back in January by state regulators after sinkholes developed in a West Whiteland neighborhood where Mariner East 2 was under construction.
To review, the Mariner East pipelines as envisioned by Sunoco will eventually transport more than 650,000 barrels a day of volatile gases such as ethane, butane and propane from the Marcellus Shale region to Marcus Hook.
Mariner East 1 is already carrying the materials.
Mariner East 2 will great increase capacity in what is a multi-billion dollar program.
The latest problem occurred when residents noticed exposed pipeline in a creek in Uwchlan Township.
State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19 of West Whiteland, one of the pipeline plan's fiercest critics, issued a blistering press release Thursday afternoon, apparently confirming the exposed pipeline and questioning why it took several weeks for the PUC to let people know about it.
But about an hour later another release came out saying it now was not clear if the exposed pipeline in fact was part of Mariner East 1. A PUC spokesman was saying they were getting word from Sunoco that it was in fact not Mariner East 1, but instead an old, inactive pipeline.
We'll see if we can figure it out today.
In the meantime, residents opposed to the pipeline are moving full steam ahead with their own risk assessment study. They aren't waiting for government entities, such as Delaware County, to OK such a study, something they have been asking for now for more than a year.
They raised their own money for the study, and of course it is not without controversy either.
We'll fill you in on all the latest pipeline details today.
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