Sunoco Logistics has opened the Mariner East 1 pipeline, sending the first wave of natural gas liquids flowing toward Marcus Hook and a neighboring site straddling the Pennsylvania-Delaware border, writes Jeff Montgomery for the Wilmington News Journal.

This milestone represents a turning point in the natural gas industry projects that will, according to Sunoco officials, turn Marcus Hook into a global energy hub, petrochemical center, and export site.

Residents have been notified that the filling of the Mariner East 1 pipeline is underway. According to the company, the first propane should begin arriving in the planned 70,000 barrel-per-day line by the end of this month, with ethane to follow.

Mariner East 2, the company’s second project, is expected to deliver an additional 275,000 barrels of methane, ethane, and butane to the area by the end of this year. Sunoco has already started developing storage and tanker-loading docks at the exit side of the pipelines, with groundwork for a plant to make propylene also in progress.

Michael J. Hennigan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sunoco Logistics Partners, said in November that the company’s $2.5 billion investment plan would fuel job creation and development in Marcus Hook.

However, Sunoco is still facing a potential legal minefield as a number of residents along the route are disputing the eminent domain rights claimed by the company.

Read more about the projects in the Wilmington News Journal by clicking here.
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Top photo credit: Harcus Hook, PA via photopin (license)