AG Shapiro you have the power to Halt Mariner Now!
Attorney General Josh Shapiro
The Mariner East pipeline project in PA is slated to take fracked gas liquids out of the US to be made into plastic in the overseas market. The line traverses 129 exceptional value wetlands, including Marsh Creek Lake, a drinking water source for 1.75 million people. In August 2020, a 28,000-gallon fluid spill contaminated the area’s 535-acre Marsh Creek Lake.
In October 2021, the PA Attorney General’s office announced 48 criminal charges for environmental crimes against the operator of this dangerous pipeline. However, those charges only resulted in fines that Energy Transfer Partners can easily absorb. Despite all of this, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection approved new permits at this site. And now Marsh Creek lake continues to be contaminated as construction resumes.
In response, PA Senator Katie Muth, Representative Friel Otten and Representative Herrin have called upon AG Shapiro to take stronger action. He has the power to use an emergency injunction and a more decisive type of lawsuit, a public nuisance suit, to stop the progress of this widely opposed corporate profit project. Josh Shapiro is also running to become the next PA Democratic Governor.
Petition by
To:
Attorney General Josh Shapiro
From:
[Your Name]
Attorney General Josh Shapiro,
I am calling on you to take decisive action to halt the Mariner East pipeline project, operated by Energy Transfer Partners. This pipeline is broadly unpopular in PA, for many reasons that you are already familiar with– it has polluted natural spaces and residential drinking water; it has seized people’s properties under eminent domain, despite offering no public utility benefit to PA; and it has imposed a risk of catastrophic explosions in highly populous areas.
Democratic Representatives Friel Otten, Herrin, and Muth have championed PA residents by identifying a clear action that you can take to hold these corporate polluters accountable. You are in a powerful position to manifest the will of the people of PA against a corporation that has sacrificed our safety and well being in order to further its profits.
Under the PA Clear Streams Act, the AG has the authority to abate “public nuisances”, a term which includes various acts of water pollution and acts of DEP Regulatory violations, both of which have been committed by Energy Transfer Partners. This authority allows for the following actions:
1. Order immediate emergency injunction to halt further construction until further steps can be taken to reduce harm.
2. File a public nuisance lawsuit on behalf of the Commonwealth, calling for remedy to abate the nuisance completely.
I urge you to act now to protect PA residents and PA natural spaces from further harm. I stand by the letter written to you by three Democratic Legislators, calling for these actions.
As a PA voter, I will be watching this pipeline issue very closely in the upcoming election for Governor. AG Shapiro, this is an opportunity to show us what kind of leadership Pennsylvanians could expect from you, should you become Governor in 2023.
Thank you for your time and consideration,