From the Clean Air Council (http://www.cleanair.org/):
In order to slow the spread of COVID-19, Governor Tom Wolf ordered the shutdown of all non-essential non “life sustaining” businesses in Pennsylvania. Energy Transfer, parent company of Sunoco, then applied for and received multiple waivers from the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to continue construction of its dangerous Mariner East pipelines at multiple sites across Pennsylvania.
Sign on to a letter to the Governor at http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/51176/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=26685!
Then call the Department of Community and Economic Development at 1.866.466.3972. Tell the DCED your name, where you live (municipality and county), how your family is impacted by continued pipeline construction. Most importantly, tell the DCED not to issue any new waivers to Sunoco and to revoke waivers it previously issued by mistake.
Construction of the Mariner East natural gas liquids export pipelines is not life-sustaining. On the contrary, these pipelines have always posed a public safety risk. Continued construction of these pipelines amidst a pandemic now also poses a serious and unnecessary public health risk across Pennsylvania. Residents in densely populated communities have reported workers congregating on construction sites, in residents’ backyards, near long-term nursing care facilities, and adjacent to essential businesses.
While there may be some extremely limited circumstances under which Energy Transfer may need to continue work to ensure the safe closure of a work site, the first set of waivers DCED granted were broad and lacked critical supporting detail. More recently, DCED issued a second round of waivers that it later revoked, indicating that the waivers were granted in error. DCED has stated that it is still considering this second round of waivers. Any waivers for Energy Transfer demand the highest level of technical scrutiny before being granted.
In addition to calling the DCED, please also sign your name on a letter urging the DCED and Governor Wolf NOT to issue any further waivers to Energy Transfer, and to re-evaluate and revoke any waivers previously granted in error.
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