Sunoco to work with municipalities
Sunoco Logistics is abandoning its plan to sidestep local zoning rules in Washington County and elsewhere in Pennsylvania on the construction of pump and valve stations to serve its Mariner East pipeline to ship Marcellus Shale natural gas products.
The Philadelphia-based company has withdrawn or filed to withdraw its petitions to ignore local zoning ordinances before the Public Utility Commission, and it vowed to work with local municipalities to obtain the permits it needs for the projects.
The townships of Union, North Strabane and Chartiers in Washington County are among those involved in the case as they are in the path of a 50-mile pipeline from Houston to Delmont that will connect to the Mariner East line to Delaware.
Sunoco initially asked the PUC to circumvent the zoning ordinances, stating in court records the stations serving the pipeline are “reasonably necessary for the convenience and welfare of the public” and therefore exempt from local control.
“Since the commencement of the proceedings last year, Sunoco Logistics has been committed to cooperating with municipalities to address their respective needs and concerns, and the PUC’s Administrative Law Judges had already approved the withdrawal of 22 of the original 31 petitions,” company spokesman Jeff Shields stated in a news release.
It has since determined some of the zoning permits already have been approved and others will not be needed because of redesigned engineering that won’t require above-ground buildings, the PUC petition indicates.
Larry Spahr, chairman of Union supervisors, said Sunoco had yet to approach his township about building any such structures.
“The industry is here,” Spahr said about the gas drilling boom in Washington County. “You just have to deal with it the best way you can.”
Frank R. Siffrinn, North Strabane’s manager, said that township also has not received any zoning requests from Sunoco about pump or valve stations. He said redesigning the valve stations without buildings is a “positive step.”
Chartiers manager Jodi Noble said that township received a letter from Sunoco regarding its decision to withdraw from the case, but it had yet to apply for any zoning permits for the pipeline.
The pipeline construction project was expected to completed in late 2013.
While the pipeline has been sending propane to Southeastern Pennsylvania, all of its facilities won’t be completed until October or later, Shields said.