Years ago, Sunoco Pipeline committed to bringing American materials, local workers, and domestic ingenuity together to safely build the Mariner East 2 pipeline that will deliver the energy our nation needs.

Now, construction of that pipeline is nearing the finish line, with the mainline from Scio, Ohio, to the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex nearly 99 percent complete.

This brings the multibillion-dollar economic development project that much closer to delivering the natural gas liquids that touch nearly every sector of our economy.

“We realize that pipeline construction can be disruptive, and we thank you for your support and patience throughout this process,” said Lisa Dillinger, spokesperson for Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company of Sunoco Pipeline. “When we build a pipeline, safety is our top priority. Our highly skilled engineers, environmental scientists, wildlife biologists, and geologists design our pipelines to follow the safest routes with the smallest environmental footprint possible.”

Safety has been a top priority for Energy Transfer Partners. The company pledges to the communities it crosses and the customers it serves that it will operate its pipelines with the highest level of safety at all times. It accomplishes this by following a stringent Integrity Management Plan on all asset operations and by going above and beyond regulations when constructing pipelines:

• It starts in the pipe mill, where inspectors oversee the manufacturing of the pipe to strict standards. The pipe is inspected again when it arrives on the construction site.
• Before and after the pipeline is buried, and ongoing once they are in operation, Energy Transfer Partners puts its pipelines through rigorous testing above and beyond what is required by federal safety regulations. Then, it monitors them 24/7, 365 days a year, from its central monitoring facility.
• The company employs heavier pipe-wall thickness than required by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The higher quality of pipe reduces the risk of damage from sources such as excavating equipment or ground movement.
• Energy Transfer Partners buries the pipeline deeper underground than required in most cases — at least four feet and up to 200.
• The company inspects 100 percent of the pipeline’s mainline girth welds by X-ray, rather than the 10 percent required.
• Energy Transfer Partners patrols its Mariner East pipelines more frequently, by ground and air, than required.
• The company teams with local emergency responders along the route to provide information and training on emergency pipeline response. Since 2014, it has trained more than 2,000 emergency responders and public officials.
• State and federal regulators spent more than 100 inspection days during 2017 on the Mariner East project, more inspection days than on any other pipeline in Pennsylvania.

“We use state-of-the-art technology and testing protocols, so we know our pipelines will operate safely for decades to come,” Dillinger said.

Click here to learn more about the Mariner East pipeline.