Mariner pipelines could have $9B impact on state, study says
The Mariner East pipelines could be a pipeline for big bucks for Pennsylvania, according to a report published Monday by an economic consulting firm.
Econsult Solutions found the Mariner East 1, 2 and 2X natural gas pipelines and a plant serving them could have a $9.1 billion impact statewide over the next six years. Sunoco/Energy Transfer Partners, which is building the pipelines, paid the Philadelphia-based consultant for the report. It is an update of a study Econsult conducted in 2015, estimating the economic impact of the Mariner East project while the first pipeline was being built.
The results came out one week after state Department of Environmental Protection halted much of the work on Mariner 2 because of multiple permit violations.
Mariner 2 cuts across the breadth of Washington County. The plan is for all three pipelines to carry natural gas liquids from eastern Ohio to a processing plant in Marcus Hook Industrial Complex, near Philadelphia, more than 300 miles away. All three pipelines will cross Pennsylvania. Mariner 1 has been completed, and Mariner 2X is in the planning stage.
The report said the project will lead to 57,070 jobs paying $2.7 billion over six years, with Philadelphia and the surrounding area being the major beneficiaries.
Patrick Grenter, senior campaign representative for the Sierra Club, an environmental group, questions the veracity of the findings.
“The report doesn’t take into account social, environmental and property value impacts,” said Grenter, former director of the Washington-based Center for Coalfield Justice. “I see other studies that take those factors into account. This is a rather obvious attempt to misconstrue the true impact of the Mariner East pipelines.”
Referring to the recent suspension of Mariner 2 work, Grenter said, “The timing of this report adds further suspicion to the veracity that the industry would want to take away. We know about construction being stopped because of continued environmental impacts and the inability of (Sunoco) to comply with the law.”
David Spigelmyer, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, issued a counterpoint.
“Pipelines and energy infrastructure are creating good-paying jobs across our region,” said Spigelgmyer, whose group represents oil and gas exploration and development companies and their supply chain partners working in the Marcellus and Utica shales.
“Important projects like these, built overwhelmingly by local laborers, safely move affordable energy to consumers – which is so critical in cold weather like we’ve experienced recently – while providing a boost to manufacturers across the commonwealth.”
The Washington County Chamber of Commerce, a founding member of the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance, also weighed in. Chamber president Jeff Kotula said in a statement:. “We are not just building a modern energy infrastructure with the Mariner East projects. We are giving a huge, sustained boost to our entire commonwealth economy.”