CALL the DEP on Thursday to demand the chance for the public to respond to Sunoco Logistics’ latest pipeline application. Tell them you want the them to establish a public participation process for the resubmitted Mariner East II application.
Acting Secretary McDonnell’s office: 717-783-3004
We’re prioritizing phone calls so we can jam the phone lines at DEP, but you can also email McDonnell at pmcdonnell@pa.gov or tweet @SecMcDonnell
Communities in the 17 counties the Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East II pipeline project would affect are saying NO to the pipeline. They have generated tens of thousands of comments on the pipeline over the many months since this project was first proposed and now want the chance to go through an application Sunoco Logistics resubmitted last week to note deficiencies that haven’t been satisfactorily addressed and comment on them. To date, DEP has no plans to offer a comment period.
We’re asking everyone to take a few minutes this Thursday to call and then email and/or tweet at the PA DEP to say it’s time for the agency to respond to the people. The agency has not responded to a letter it received calling for a public participation process nearly a week ago.
Background:
Last week, more than 400 affected landowners, concerned citizens, and organizations submitted a letter to Governor Wolf and DEP Acting Secretary McDonnell calling for a public participation process to be established to give the public a chance to respond to Sunoco Logistics’ resubmitted application for 105 and 102 permits the company needs in order to get its pipeline project approved. The company has been seeking these permits for more than a year, yet more than a year after its initial application was submitted, the PA DEP still found several hundred of deficiencies in the application, gave the company a chance to address them, and even granted an extension of the deadline. You can read the letter here: http://www.gastruth.org/
If you are unfamiliar with Sunoco Logistics, it is one of the companies behind the Dakota Access pipeline. It is owned by Energy Transfer Equity and is about to purchase Energy Transfer Partners.