Sunoco and Chesco residents continue pump talks
For opponents of Sunoco Logistics' plan to expand its pipeline operation in Chester County, last week's meeting in West Goshen Township was a small victory of sorts.
For opponents of Sunoco Logistics' plan to expand its pipeline operation in Chester County, last week's meeting in West Goshen Township was a small victory of sorts.
After hearing residents' concerns about health issues and further pipeline construction, township supervisors on Tuesday held off on deciding whether to sign a settlement agreement with the pipeline company, surprising those gathered for the vote.
The meeting was a fleeting victory for local critics, who are part of a wider fight against pipelines, because they see few major victories as development nationally shows no signs of slowing. The township supervisors are expected to vote on the agreement at their May 13 meeting.
Theodore Murphy, vice chair of the Board of Supervisors, said the board was looking to get a few questions answered and clarification on some of the language of the agreement.
The settlement is meant to resolve a yearlong legal dispute over a new pump station in the township and includes several concessions by Sunoco Logistics. Under the agreement, the company will not build a second pump station the township opposes, will restrict other construction to a certain area, and will install automated valves that would close in an emergency.
Those concessions were more than the township could hope to get by fighting Sunoco Logistics in the courts and were significant benefits, West Goshen Township officials said.
"The laws just don't support the average citizen in these kinds of situations," Lilli Middlebrooks, who represented the Concerned Citizens of West Goshen Township, said at the meeting. "As depressing as that may be, that's the reality."
Sunoco Logistics does what it can to address municipalities' concerns and thinks the settlement is reasonable, spokesman Jeffrey Shields said.
A member of the Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County, a group formed to challenge Sunoco Logistics' pipeline projects in West Cornwall Township, spoke at West Goshen's meeting to show her support.
"We're fighting each one of these battles township by township by township by township," Pam Bishop said.
She said she worried that any agreement West Goshen signs could affect pipeline projects in other towns.
The Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County are challenging permits the county issued to Sunoco Logistics for a pump station and building it constructed. If the township rules in favor of the citizens group, Sunoco Logistics could be required to dismantle the building, Shields said.
Tom Casey, a West Goshen resident who started the grassroots Chester County Community Coalition in response to Sunoco Logistics' plans, and other pipeline critics worry that the proposed settlement agreement might take away the township's ability to fight future pipeline construction.
"Saying yes would have been a nightmare," he said.
Township officials acknowledged that no settlement agreement was likely to please all residents.
"Winning on some issues," Township Supervisor Murphy said, "is better than losing on all issues."
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