We the undersigned residents of Middletown Township support a Resolution of Concern regarding Sunoco's proposed Mariner East 2 pipeline project, as submitted by the Middletown Coalition for Community Safety.   We urge Middletown Township Council members to adopt this Resolution of Concern to protect the health and safety of Middletown residents.

Our concerns are as follows:

·         The proposed Mariner East 2 project consists of a pair of high capacity pipelines that would operate at the extraordinary pressure of 1,500 pounds per square inch. These pipelines, if built, would transport so-called “natural gas liquids” through our area in industrial quantities to Sunoco’s deep water export terminal at Marcus Hook for export to other countries.

 ·         These “highly volatile liquids” are liquid under high pressure but will vaporize in the event of a leak, becoming invisible, odorless, and extremely flammable or explosive gas. A leak of these materials from a similar HVL pipeline, just over a year old, exploded in Follansbee, WV in January 2015 when over 1,000,000 gallons of liquid ethane was released and burned five acres.

·         A Sunoco leak in Aston on May 27, 2016 released 424 gallons of a toxic, highly volatile liquid, which expanded into a 200,000 gallon gas cloud. Sunoco's own report of the event confirms that the gas reached a “high consequence area,” meaning it drifted beyond the boundary of the facility. With the winds at the time moving 9 mph in a north-northeasterly direction, the highly combustible gas cloud could have reached Sun Valley High School grounds within two minutes.   

 ·         Mapping data obtained by MCCS and Sunoco’s own submissions to the PA Department of Environmental Protection reveal the closest portion of Glenwood Elementary School building to be within 650 feet of the proposed pipeline, and within 1000 feet of many other sensitive sites, including many of our own homes.

 ·         Sunoco has the worst safety record in the industry (averaging  2 hazardous liquids leaks per month, every month for the last ten years).

 ·         Sunoco’s current evacuation plan is for residents to test the direction of the wind and then evacuate on foot to a distance of at least on-half mile in an upwind direction. Given the densely populated nature of the area, and close proximity of the proposed pipeline to private residences, schools, day care, geriatric, and assisted living facilities, Sunoco’s plan is impossibly impractical and insanely reckless.

THEREFORE, we the undersigned hereby do support Middletown Coalition for Community Safety in presenting a Resolution of Concern to Middletown Township Council acknowledging the risks posed to our community, as well as the need for a comprehensive risk assessment study of all of Middletown Township, including Rocky Run YMCA, Sleighton Park, and all sensitive sites, and a credible area specific safety and evacuation plan to be developed in collaboration with local first responders.  

We further request that Middletown Coalition for Community Safety and other concerned residents of Middletown Township be given sufficient time on the Council's agenda to present new information pertaining to community safety, the resolution of concern, and this petition in support of a more comprehensive risk assessment study and evacuation plan signed by local residents.

We urge Middletown Township Council members to adopt the Resolution of Concern and ensure that area specific emergency preparedness and evacuation plans to be in place before Middletown Township Council signs off on an ordinance granting any pipeline easements to Sunoco.