A nonprofit environmental organization has released a study outlining the potential impacts of Shell Pipeline Co.'s Falcon ethane pipeline.
The FracTracker Alliance combed through every aspect of the pipeline project, which will feed ethane into Shell Chemicals' $6 billion cracker plant in Potter Township.
In the extensive study, the group also outlined its concerns about the pipeline, which will be about 97 miles long and will feature two legs: one running from Ohio and West Virginia into western Beaver County, and another from Washington and Allegheny counties into southern Beaver County.
The pipeline, which is expected to carry up to 107,000 barrels of ethane per day, is currently in the permitting phase. Construction isn't slated to start until next year, and it won't become operational until at least 2020.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is reviewing the project and is accepting public comment on it, which is why the FracTracker Alliance published its study to give residents the full picture of the pipeline.
That picture shows a massive undertaking. According to FracTracker, the pipeline will run through 25 municipalities in three states. As part of the process of securing easements for the pipeline, FracTracker said, Shell surveyed more than 2,000 properties, eventually reaching agreements with 765 separate landowners.
If the pipeline follows the route currently anticipated, it will intersect with 319 streams and 174 wetland areas, according to the study, while it will also be in close proximity to “550 family residences, 20 businesses, 240 groundwater wells, 12 public parks, five schools, six day-care facilities and 16 emergency response centers.”
For Beaver County specifically, the group is concerned that the Falcon pipeline will come in close proximity to the Ambridge Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 30,000 people. The group is also concerned the pipeline will cross under Raccoon Creek in two locations, and it will run next to the Raccoon Municipal Park.
The study makes it clear why FracTracker is so concerned with the pipeline. According to the study, building a pipeline is a “highly disruptive process.” It also called the ethane traveling through the pipeline “a hazardous and highly volatile liquid.”
Kirk Jalbert, the manager of community-based research and engagement for FracTracker, said Friday that the reason for the study isn't solely to trash plans for the pipeline.
Instead, he said it's because DEP is offering only a 30-day public comment period that ends Feb. 20, which he said isn't even close to enough time for residents to digest the necessary information about the project.
Permits for these types of projects are often thousands of pages long, he said, and aren't easily accessible for the general public.
“One of the unfortunate aspects of how pipelines come into being is that, in many instances, communities don't realize they are implicated in the project until after pipeline operators have acquired the easements they need for a right of way and construction plans are well underway,” he said. “When FracTracker discovered the vast archive of data pertaining to the Falcon, we immediately recognized it as a unique opportunity to address this problem.”
Jalbert, who also serves as a visiting research professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, added that FracTracker's primary purpose for the study is “making the information accessible and understandable in a timely manner.”
At least one local group is calling on the DEP to modify the public comment period from 30 days to 60 days. Citizens to Protect the Ambridge Reservoir has also requested a DEP-hosted public meeting be held in Ambridge to further inform residents about the project.
Bob Schmetzer, a member of CPAR and a South Heights councilman, said Friday that people don't have to look far to see the dangers in an “inadequate” permitting process. He said Sunoco's Mariner East 2 pipeline currently being constructed in eastern Pennsylvania has been plagued by numerous accidents and other problems that have impacted communities.
“These pipelines have a history of leaking over time, as evidenced by the recent history of Mariner 2,” he said. “If these pipelines leak or blow up, the Ambridge Water Authority only has enough water for people to drink for 24 hours.”
To further protest the pipeline and the permitting process, a group of environmentalists are planning to hold a conference Tuesday in front of Gov. Tom Wolf's Pittsburgh office. The group will deliver a petition signed by more than 3,000 citizens who will “voice their concerns about the negative health impacts of the petrochemical industry in the Pittsburgh region.” The group will also specifically address its concerns with the Falcon ethane pipeline.