Lawmakers To Pipeline Operators In PA: Keep Us Safe, You Pay

PENNSYLVANIA — The message in the proposed legislation is clear: Monitor this pipeline for leaks and other dangers and make the companies pay to keep Chester County safe.

Two Pennsylvania lawmakers representing Chester and nearby counties are aiming to address the risks brought by pipelines that traverse the region with legislation in both the PA House and Senate that would make the pipeline operators pay for risk mitigation measures.

Pennsylvania Rep. Danielle Friel Otten (D-155th) has re-introduced a bill (HB 1735) from 2019-2020. Friel Otten reintroduced the legislation as House Bill 1364 in May, and this week Pennsylvania Sen. Katie Muth (D-44th) announced she will soon introduce companion legislation in the PA Senate.

The two noted in their memoranda to fellow legislators that "Title 35 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes requires 'every school district and custodial child care facility, in cooperation with the local Emergency Management Agency and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency,' to 'develop and implement a comprehensive disaster response and emergency preparedness plan consistent with the guidelines developed by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and other pertinent State requirements.'"

Both Muth and Friel Otten continued in their memos, "But as Mariner East and other pipelines have brought new and unmitigated risks to our communities across the state, they have left our municipalities, school districts, and emergency responders without any reliable means of monitoring pipelines for leaks or alerting communities of pipeline incidents, leaving these local government entities unable to fulfill these statutory emergency preparedness requirements."

The legislation aims both at safety for residents who live along the trajectory of the pipelines — some of which carry volatile liquid gas — but also at the cost of creating the detection and warning systems to accompany pipeline risk.

The memos pointed out, "The cost of mitigating pipeline risks currently falls on taxpayers, local municipalities, and county governments."

The legislation would establish a Pipeline Early Detection and Warning Board and empower that board to collect fees from pipeline operators. Those fees would be used to establish the Pipeline Early Detection and Warning Fund. The legislation would require distribution of money from the fund in the form of grants to municipalities, school districts, or county governments for the development of Early Detection and Warning Systems, which will alert communities and emergency responders and mitigate risks of a pipeline incident." Read HB 1364 here.

The lawmakers noted that in an April 2021 ruling for the PA Public Utility Commission, administrative law judge Elizabeth Barnes cited HB 1735 as a potential remedy for school districts in the path of one or more pipelines, noting that "HB 1735…would provide standards and a fee-generated funding mechanism to cover the cost of real-time leak detection systems that communicate directly with the appropriate first responders."

Friel Otten represents more than 63,000 residents in the 155th District from six Chester County townships, the North Ward of Phoenixville Borough, and Spring City. She serves on the PA House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee and on two others.

Muth's 44th PA Senate District includes 20 Chester County townships and municipalities, eight in Montco and three Berks County townships. Muth chairs both the Veteran Affairs & Emergency Preparedness committees and the PA Senate Policy Committee and she serves on the Environmental Resources & Energy committees and on three committees.

Chester County Addressing Risks

On the county government level, the Chester County Department of Emergency Services has prepared a Request for Proposal (RFP) to specialist contractors, for the development of a natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline hazard-specific addition to the Chester County Emergency Operations Plan, at the request of the Chester County Commissioners.

The RFP also calls for the development of tools to better prepare the public for a potential emergency arising from either the Energy Transfer Mariner East Pipeline or the Enterprise Products TEPPCO Pipeline, the Chester County Commissioners' Office said on Monday.

Read the full Aug. 16 story on Chester County's action taken to put a pipeline emergency response plan in place.

Muth, Friel Otten Tell Governor, PUC To Do Their Jobs

Other action to address safety in the face of ongoing pipeline construction through swaths of residential areas, on Aug. 11 Friel Otten and Muth sent a letter to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf and DEP Secretary Patrick McConnell, demanding action to hold Sunoco accountable. The letter came at the one-year anniversary of Sunoco's spill of more than 8,000 gallons of drilling fluid into wetlands and a tributary creek adjacent to Marsh Creek State Park while installing the Mariner East 2 pipeline for Energy Transfer.

The legislators pointed out that three days after the August 10, 2020, spill, they and several other legislators called on DEP and the administration to pull Energy Transfer's permits in Chester County.

"In the 12 months since, we and our constituents have repeatedly asked for updates on the spill remediation and called on DEP to hold Energy Transfer accountable for its actions. But instead of requiring Energy Transfer to clean up its existing mess at Marsh Creek, DEP is considering the operator's plans for a reroute that would bring pipeline construction closer to the lake, through additional wetland areas and waterways," the letter said.

The letter reminded Wolf and McConnell that the mission of the DEP is "to protect Pennsylvania's air, land, and water from pollution and to provide for the health and safety of its citizens," not to ease the way for a multibillion-dollar, out-of-state corporation that has continually demonstrated disregard for anything and anyone in its path."

"It is time to do your jobs as public servants to the citizens of this commonwealth. Hold Sunoco
accountable for breaking the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law and make them clean up their mess at Marsh Creek Lake now."

Make sure you know what's happening in your town. Sign up to get Patch emails and don't miss any local news: https://patch.com/subscribe.