Phila. judge: Pipeline suit can proceed
A Philadelphia judge has ruled that an environmental advocacy group and Delaware County landowners can proceed with legal action to try to stop Sunoco Pipeline from using eminent domain for its latest project.
A Philadelphia judge has ruled that an environmental advocacy group and Delaware County landowners can proceed with legal action to try to stop Sunoco Pipeline from using eminent domain for its latest project.
"This is a great victory for Pennsylvania residents and landowners," Joseph Otis Minott, executive director and chief counsel of the Clean Air Council, said in a statement Wednesday.
Sunoco is expected to appeal the ruling to Superior Court.
Common Pleas Court Judge Linda Carpenter ruled last week that the Clean Air Council and a Delaware County couple could pursue their lawsuit against Sunoco. Other residents near the proposed pipeline also have standing to sue, Carpenter ruled.
Sunoco had argued that the group and residents lacked standing and that the Public Utility Commission, not the court, should decide how the company could use landowners' properties along its pipeline route.
Jeff Shields, a Sunoco spokesman, emphasized Wednesday that the judge simply said the lawsuit could continue and made no final decision on it.
Other recent court rulings across the state have upheld Sunoco's right to exercise eminent domain as the company builds its Mariner East 2 pipeline project. The company's plan to transport Marcellus Shale natural gas liquids to Marcus Hook has angered residents along the route.
Judges ruled against landowners in Cumberland, Washington and Huntingdon Counties within the last several months.
But the Philadelphia ruling "has set the stage for a statewide ruling on whether Sunoco can continue to get away with using eminent domain for private profit at the expense of the environment and the citizens of the commonwealth," said Michael Bomstein, a lawyer representing himself and his wife in the suit against Sunoco.
He and the environmental group sued in August, asking the court to rule that Sunoco is not allowed to use eminent domain against landowners. The Clean Air Council holds that Sunoco's plan to transport natural gas liquids out of Pennsylvania disqualifies it from eminent domain rights.
Sunoco said the pipeline's products also will be used within the state.
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