This is life with a pipeline running through your community.
And it's exactly what many residents fear.
Monday night a loud bang rattled homes and frayed a lot of nerves at a valve station on Boot Road in West Goshen.
Both sides agree that something happened.
But that's about all Energy Transfer Partners, which operates the pipeline, and residents agree about.
The company issued a statement downplaying the incident, referring to it as a "backfire" that occurred in a flare as the line was being brought back online. They referenced the resulting bang as something akin to a car backfiring, and apologized for "any inconvenience this may have caused our neighbors."
Of course, they don't live in the neighborhood.
Residents didn't quite see it that way. They described what happened as a loud explosion that shook their homes and knocked things off shelves and walls.
Even worse was the fact that they were not sure exactly what had happened, if there was any danger, and what they should do at this point.
And perhaps most troubling about this entire incident is that it appears to underscore something residents have pointed out now for years.
Those living along the pipeline route don't know what exactly they are supposed to do in the event of an emergency. Worse still, they didn't see to get a lot of information from emergency services.
Remember, the Mariner East series of pipelines is carrying hundreds of thousands of barrels of liquid gases such as ethane, butane and propane at high pressure.
Risk assessment studies have downplayed the potential for a leak or explosion, while at the same time saying that if there was an incident, it has the potential to be catastrophic. Not exactly something that leads to a good night's sleep, especially after your house is jolted by a loud bang coming from the pipeline.
Luckily, in this instance, there was no real danger, no injuries, and no serious property damage reported.
That won't ease the concerns of those living with Mariner East in their back yards.
Get all the details here.
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