West Goshen vote put off on pipeline settlement

West Goshen Township officials faced anger at a meeting Tuesday from residents who urged them to reject a proposed settlement that would let Sunoco Logistics continue limited construction for its Mariner East pipeline project - and would, critics said, make fighting future pipeline projects more difficult.

Late Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors tabled a vote on the measure until its May 13 meeting.

Under the proposed agreement, the company would scuttle plans to build a second pump station in the township, a plan residents opposed, and agree to safety and aesthetic improvements. But it would continue with plans to build a flare stack, which residents also oppose, saying it is too close to homes.

Township officials and their lawyers hailed the proposed agreement as a victory, because it would confine construction to a certain area and would avoid a further legal battle against Sunoco Logistics - which they said the township could not win. But critics continued to voice safety concerns about the pipeline project and their belief that Sunoco Logistics would benefit more than residents under the proposed plan.

"This is not a settlement. This is a surrender," said Chris Pielli, a resident and one of more than 150 people at Tuesday's meeting at West Chester East High School.

He and other residents said they opposed the settlement because they think it ties the township's hands. Under the proposal, the Board of Supervisors would not file safety complaints with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission against Sunoco Logistics as long as the company took the proposed safety measures.

According to the agreement, those measures include the addition of several automated valves that would close in a pipeline emergency. Richard Kuprewicz, president of Accufacts Inc., a pipeline safety firm hired by the township, suggested the improvements.

The township also would not challenge Sunoco Logistics' public utility status, a designation that could allow the company to bypass local zoning laws. The township's lawyers said a fight against the designation is unlikely to succeed.

Township officials said individuals are free to pursue legal action against Sunoco Logistics if they wish.

Some residents who spoke Tuesday supported the agreement, given Sunoco Logistics' construction and safety concessions and testimony by lawyers and the safety firm.

"I would support the board accepting this agreement and not spending further township funds on the matter," said resident Shaun Walsh.

The proposed settlement was a collaboration among West Goshen, Sunoco Logistics, and members of the Concerned Citizens of West Goshen Township, a group of residents who live within 1,000 feet of Sunoco Logistics' property.

The company is repurposing its Mariner East pipeline to transport Marcellus Shale natural gas liquids to Marcus Hook.

Lilli Middlebrooks, who spoke on behalf of the citizens' group, asked residents and township officials to consider information given to them by experts.

"The laws just don't support the average citizen in these kinds of situations," said Middlebrooks, a lawyer. "As depressing as that may be, that's the reality."

West Goshen officials and residents had protested Sunoco Logistics' earlier plan to go around its local zoning laws to build a pump station as part of its Mariner East pipeline project. The township has been in a legal dispute with Sunoco Logistics over its plan for a new pump station for about a year.