First it was citizens, outrage that their elected officials had given the green light, allowing their new neighbor to run roughshod over their once tranquil, suburban lives.
They were about to discover what happens when a pipeline moves into your backyard.
The Mariner East pipeline will travel 350 miles across the full width of Pennsylvania, delivering hundreds of thousands of barrels of volatile liquid gases such as ethane, butane and propane from the Marcellus Shale regions to a facility in Marcus Hook.
But it is the 11 miles in western and lower Delaware County, as well as 22 miles through the heart of Chester County, that has been the flashpoint in this discussion.
Residents scratched their heads as they looked at the routing of the pipeline, which allows it to snake through densely populated developments, in close proximity to schools and senior centers.
They wondered about safety. And property values. They watched as the Energy Transfer and Sunoco crews building Mariner East despoiled their landscapes.
They questioned their local officials as to the question no one really has a good answer for: What if? They're still waiting for someone to explain to them what they are supposed to do in the case of a leak, or an even bigger problem along the pipeline.
Most of all, they wondered who allowed this thing to run roughshod over their neighborhoods.
They pushed state officials to shut the project down until their questions could be answered.
Turns out they weren't the only ones with questions.
County district attorneys in both Chester and Delaware counties are investigating the pipeline. Chester County D.A. Tom Hogan has even empaneled a grand jury to examine evidence and take testimony in the case.
Delaware County D.A. Kat Copeland joined forces with state Attorney General Josh Shapiro to investigate the project.
Now the FBI is getting involved.
Yesterday the Associated Press reported that the FBI has opened an investigation into how state officials handled the permitting process that opened the doors to Mariner East invade neighborhoods.
Buckle your seat belts. This is starting to get interesting.
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