By Joseph Otis Minott, Clean Air Council
This op-ed was posted on PennLive.com on September 9. The deadline for comments to the PUC is September 11.
Just last week, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) fined Energy Transfer/Sunoco Logistics more than $300,000 for yet again violating state regulations involving construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline.
The controversial, dangerous and lawbreaking pipeline project has racked up more than $13 million in fines since construction began in 2017.
These record penalties, along with countless lawsuits and regulatory challenges, are clearly not enough to force conglomerates with multi-billion-dollar profits like Energy Transfer to end practices that put communities and the environment at risk.
The rules themselves need to be strengthened to better protect Pennsylvania residents.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) recently created an opportunity for a forward-looking approach to reducing the environmental and safety hazards that these pipeline projects create.
The PUC is calling for public comment on proposed rule-making concerning Hazardous Liquid Public Utility Safety Standards. This proposed rule-making offers a landmark chance to establish better oversight for these projects beginning before they break ground.
Pennsylvanians have a chance to submit public comments and demand a process that puts their communities before fossil fuel companies.
At Clean Air Council, we’ve been on the front lines pushing back against projects like Mariner East and companies attempting to use political influence, eminent domain, and strategic lawbreaking to override the legitimate concerns of local residents and environmental advocates.
We’ve submitted a detailed comment to PUC asking it to strengthen protections for our communities.
First and foremost, any changes involving regulating pipelines and hazardous liquid transportation must focus on a permitting process for projects to change, expand, or build new pipelines.
Any permit application should contain upfront certification of compliance with all pipeline safety rules and detailed project plans. The PUC should allow the public to weigh in on the proposal.
The PUC should look at the proposed project’s impact on the surrounding community, including public and private facilities like highways, parks, schools, churches, and homes. It should also give a voice to all local governments affected by the planning, construction and operation of the pipeline.
This process must be supported by stronger law enforcement with strict penalties, including jail time for lying or fabricating claims in the permit applications. If an arsonist can be sentenced to jail for 20 years in Pennsylvania for destroying someone’s home, a Texas oil company should not get away with a slap on the wrist for doing the same.
These enforcement efforts must also make these companies liable for the fraud of their land agents. Our comments call for a set process for how company representatives interact with land owners and residents, including scheduling visits and putting offers in writing.
Every company says it’s going to do the right thing. A commonsense permitting process would force fossil fuel companies to clearly set out exactly how they plan to do the right thing and give communities and other stakeholders a greater chance to participate in the process.
The PUC has the legal authority to establish such a process -- it’s a proven approach that works with other agencies and commissions.
Public officials know there is a need to change how pipeline projects like Mariner East and many others are planned and built. This is a rare opportunity for affected communities and all residents of the Commonwealth to spell out what those improvements should be.
People can show their support for these basic oversights by submitting a comment through Sept.11. Then, it falls to elected officials and policymakers to recognize the importance of these comments and establish a pipeline approval process that protects communities and the environment.
[Note: All comments submitted to the PUC can be found by searching PUC Docket No. L-2019-3010267.]
Joseph Otis Minott, Esq. is executive director and chief counsel of Clean Air Council.
(Photo: Revolution Pipeline explosion in Beaver County (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on September 10, 2018 the PUC is still investigating.)
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