For many communities and small businesses along the Mariner East footprint, our investment is far more than just a pipeline — it’s a lifeline.
Mary Fulton, owner of Coatesville’s Birchview Campground, said she has seen an uptick in business every year since Energy Transfer began construction of the Mariner East pipeline project in 2016. She’s even been able to expand on her 72 acres and, by mid-2019, the campground was at maximum capacity.
“Pipeliners have been good to us,” she said. “Families come and spend the summer. They establish a community feel.”
As a Downingtown resident with children in elementary, middle and high schools in the Downingtown Area School District, Fulton has been immersed in all angles of the pipeline debate. She fully appreciates the benefits.
“Construction is a disturbance. But people need to think about how the pipelines will contribute to their everyday lives,” she said.
Beyond the economic benefits, Fulton said, a pipeline is a safer and cleaner way to transport natural gas liquids than using trucks and rail, and natural gas is cleaner energy to use. Plus, pipeliners embrace their communities and shop locally.
She said the pipeliners have been “amazing,” and she would “rather rent out my [monthly] campgrounds to pipeliners because of the quality of customers.”
Fulton said, she and the entire region will continue to see the economic and social benefits of Mariner East for years to come.
