Couple unswayed on pipeline as explosion anniversary nears
The hotly debated Mariner East 2 pipeline project received the final permits necessary for construction in February from state regulators after five public meetings and 29,000 public comments.
The 20- and 16-inch pipelines will be able to carry 275,000 barrels of liquid natural gas a day and cross 270 properties over 36 miles in Westmoreland County as the Mariner East 2 cuts 350 miles from Ohio and West Virginia to refineries near Philadelphia.
With the one-year anniversary of the Spectra pipeline explosion approaching this week, some township residents fear catastrophe is inevitable.
Spectra Energy's 30-inch natural gas pipeline near the intersection of Routes 22 and 819 ruptured and sparked a massive explosion on April 29.
The blast left one man severely burned, incinerated a home and damaged others, charred 40 acres of farmland, melted portions of a highway and negatively impacted the energy futures market.
The explosion launched an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration that spanned 700 locations throughout Pennsylvania and cost between $75 million and $100 million, the Tribune-Review previously reported.
Mike Perfetta, chief of the Slickville Volunteer Fire Department, said he stays in contact with a Sunoco pipeline explosion response trainer.
The company underwrote a training program with the fire department's 15-member crew about a year ago, he said, and expects to have another program next month.
The training involves how to efficiently evacuate residents who might be impacted by an explosion or leak and how to properly contain a fire caused by a pipeline explosion.
A lack of zoning laws within the nearly 48-square-mile township has allowed for the development of eight fracking wells, many shallow oil wells and a "spider web of underground pipelines," Supervisor Bob Zundel said.
"The majority of the people wanted it that way,"