Wolf passes the buck 4-28-20

Governor Wolf has announced that all construction can resume on May 1, unless local governments decide on more strict requirements. In his announcement, the Governor said, “Local governments may elect to impose more stringent requirements than those contained in the guidance and in such instances, businesses must adhere to those more stringent requirements.” County officials should act immediately to enact those requirements.

Chester County Commissioners in particular must be contacted today, prior to their meeting tomorrow morning.

The county governments of Delaware and Chester County are already on record as opposing the construction of the Dragonpipe (Mariner East pipeline system) during the Covid-19 pandemic. In a letter on April 13 to the state officials overseeing business restrictions, they wrote, “Our request is simple. During the current public health crisis, when our residents are staying home to achieve the common good, no special exemption should be provided to Energy Transfer in its construction of the Pipeline…. We respectfully request that [apart from work absolutely necessary for public safety, the state should] halt all other work as a threat to public health given the present pandemic.”

Now, the Governor has given the power to restrict local construction to local governments. It is time for county government to do what it said it wanted the state to do: shut down pipeline construction during the pandemic. Tell your county representatives they need to act immediately. Their contact information is at the end of this post.

For Chester County, the need is particularly urgent: the monthly Commissioners’ meeting is tomorrow (April 29) at 11 a.m. Please contact them NOW. Tell them: no pipeline construction during the pandemic.

Given how hard-hit southeast Pennsylvania has been by Covid-19, it will most likely be months before the state relaxes the stay-at-home orders in our region. During that time, Sunoco’s workers should not be out, potentially spreading the virus among us. They should honor the stay-at-home orders just as the rest of us are doing.

Here are the email addresses for the county officials. Write to them today!

Chester County Commissioners:

Marian Moskowitz mmoskowitz@chesco.org

Josh Maxwell joshmaxwell@chesco.org

Michelle Kichline mkichline@chesco.org

General email address: CCCommissioners@chesco.org

Delaware County Council:

BRIAN P. ZIDEK  ZidekB@co.delaware.pa.us

MONICA TAYLOR TaylorM@co.delaware.pa.us

KEVIN M. MADDEN MaddenK@co.delaware.pa.us

ELAINE PAUL SCHAEFER SchaeferE@co.delaware.pa.us

CHRISTINE A. REUTHER ReutherC@co.delaware.pa.us