Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) has announced that its subsidiary, Sunoco Pipeline has received an approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to resume operations of its Mariner East 1 pipeline.
Image: Mariner East construction is estimated to have a potential economic impact of more than $9bn in Pennsylvania . Photo: courtesy of bejim/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
Mariner East 1 is a major transporter of propane to local communities in Pennsylvania, supplying fuel to heat homes and run businesses.
It is part of a larger public utility system including the Mariner East 2 and Mariner East 2X pipelines, which are currently under construction.
ETP said in a statement: “SPLP has worked diligently with the PUC’s I&E Division and their outside experts on the matter for several weeks and is pleased that all investigations concur regarding the safety and integrity of the pipeline. The procedures to resume public utility service on the pipeline will begin immediately.”
The company said that construction on Mariner East 2 mainline, which is claimed to a critical energy infrastructure project for Pennsylvania’s economy, is 98% complete.
Mariner East construction is estimated to have a potential economic impact of more than $9bn in Pennsylvania.
The project is expected to support nearly 9,500 total jobs each year over six years of construction, with estimated wages of nearly $3bn.
In January, Sunoco Pipeline was ordered to suspend the work associated with the $2.5bn Mariner East 2 pipeline by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), after finding construction permit violations.
The Mariner East 2 project is part of Sunoco’s Mariner East project, which is expected to provide a combined 345,000 barrels per day of NGL capacity from the shale regions.
While the Mariner East 1 project has capacity of 70,000 barrels per day, the Mariner East 2 project is designed to have an initial capacity of 275,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids (NGLs).
The Mariner East 2 project is intended to deliver NGLs from the liquid-rich shale areas in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Eastern Ohio to Sunoco’s Marcus Hook Industrial Complex on the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.