FAQs

Propane is a common fuel for home and industrial heating, cooking, crop drying and motor vehicles. Propane can be used as a basic material in the manufacturing of chemicals such as propylene, which is used to make plastics, textiles and many other goods. It can also be used as a peaking fuel in electric power utilities. Over 95 percent of propane consumed in the U.S. is produced in North America, and today approximately 200 trucks leave the Marcus Hook Terminal per day with propane for domestic/local use.

Ethane has uses as a fuel for generating electricity and is widely used as an essential building block of plastics, textiles, detergents and coatings. There are also a number of trucks delivering ethane locally out of the Marcus Hook Terminal for use as a refrigerant. Butane and natural gasoline can be blended as an ingredient in gasoline, and butane can also be used as a fuel in industrial applications and as a refrigerant, and it has many other chemical applications.

Increased access to these economical supplies of NGLs will continue to attract manufacturers into the mid-Atlantic region. For example, the CPV Fairview Energy Center in Cambria County, Pa., receives NGLs from the Mariner East pipeline system that will be used to generate enough electricity to power over 1 million homes and businesses.

Our presence as a corporate citizen, employer and benefactor in Pennsylvania has had a positive impact on its communities and citizens. Over the last five years, Energy Transfer has contributed more than $5.8 billion to Pennsylvania’s economy, including more than $7 million in donations to local causes from our Energy Transfer/Sunoco Foundation and corporate commitments. From 2013 to 2019, we contributed:

• $3.7 billion in taxable wages
• $50 million in taxes paid
• $1.9 billion in sales tax
• $52 million in property tax
• $7 million in donations

The Mariner East projects, the fractionation facility and the associated improvements at the Marcus Hook Terminal produced $140 million to $210 million of ongoing annual economic impacts in the commonwealth, supporting 360 to 530 direct, indirect and induced jobs with earnings of $30 million to $45 million.

The critical infrastructure built as part of the Mariner East pipeline system:

• Increases the reliable supply of propane to Pennsylvania and surrounding areas, including planned offtake points in Lebanon and Berks counties, exerting downward pressure on prices
• Will provide ethane to fuel an electricity-generating plant in Cambria County, Pa.
• Increases the supply of butane to the region for use in gasoline
• Provides feedstock for potential manufacturing businesses in the state
• Keeps the resources of the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania for marketing, distribution and use for manufacturing businesses, rather than sending business, jobs and revenue to the Gulf Coast

All of this helps increase our energy independence and has helped make the U.S. the No. 1 producer of natural gas in the world, leaving us less dependent on foreign energy sources while reducing our carbon emissions.

We believe the Marcus Hook Terminal – the former refinery built in 1902 – can become the preeminent hub for natural gas liquids on the East Coast. There are a number of development opportunities at the terminal for industrial processing facilities, such as a propane cracker to create propylene. This new market can anchor the resurgence of manufacturing in the region and create hundreds of additional high-quality jobs.

The Marcus Hook Terminal began receiving propane in January 2015, and it ships approximately 70,000 barrels a day of propane and ethane for distribution to local, regional and international markets. In December 2018, the facility commissioned a first-of-its-kind ethane truck-loading rack to complement its existing propane terminal that supplies propane for local and regional delivery.

We are very proud of our work to revitalize the Marcus Hook facility and surrounding communities. Our infrastructure was the catalyst that transformed the former Marcus Hook Refinery into the current Marcus Hook Terminal, a world-class energy and petrochemicals hub that required 9 million man hours involving more than 5,000 workers.

On the Mariner East pipeline system, we initially expect to have offtake points in Berks County and Lebanon County for local propane retailers, and in Cambria County for an electricity-generating station powered in part by ethane. At the Marcus Hook Terminal, the natural gas liquids are distributed to destinations in Pennsylvania and other domestic and international markets.

Energy Transfer meets or exceeds all federal safety requirements, and a safety inspection of the construction of the Mariner East pipeline system by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission resulted in no adverse findings.

In 2015 and 2017, a Chester County township commissioned an independent study of our safety practices and integrity management. It found that Energy Transfer meets or exceeds federal safety requirements at every level. Here is one passage from the 2015 report by Accufacts Inc.:

“It is Accufacts’ opinion for the section of 8-inch pipeline that crosses the Township, that Sunoco far exceeds a number of requirements of the federal pipeline safety regulations, that it embraces the intent of integrity management, or IM, regulations that are meant to prevent pipe mainline rupture failure, and that their IM approach is currently prudent.”

Accufacts performed a similar analysis for the township on Mariner East 2, with similar conclusions published in early 2017: “Accufacts finds that Sunoco has incorporated additional processes in excess of minimum federal pipeline safety regulations that should assure the safety of this proposal across the Township.”

A Delaware County Council-sponsored risk assessment has confirmed that the Mariner East 2 pipeline is safe and poses no great risk. The 79-page report paid for by county taxpayers found that risk from common sources such as traffic accidents, house fires and falling down stairs is 20 to 35 times greater than a pipeline. This comparison was made with the assumption that someone is standing directly above the pipeline 24 hours a day, proving that in reality the pipeline is even safer than the assessment calculates.

Delaware County’s independent risk assessment was conducted by G2 Integrated Solutions, a Texas-based company that provides expertise to pipeline operators, utility companies and others related to the energy industry to manage risk, ensure compliance and optimize performance.

Yes. We conduct testing of water wells along the Mariner East pipeline system in Pennsylvania and fulfill our monitoring, testing and reporting obligations per the protocols as agreed upon with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

The total wetland area of 118 acres was reduced to 36 acres of impact by using approximately 800 drills/bores to bury the pipeline well below the surface, narrowing the construction right-of-way in certain sensitive areas and rerouting around others.

The horizontal directional drilling or boring technique allowed us to install the pipe deep below (20-180 feet) the surface and avoid disturbing wetlands and wildlife habitat.

Less than half an acre of wetlands, the approximate size of an NHL hockey rink, was converted from its original state. This total is divided among 19 wetlands over 12 counties.

Affected wetland was replaced and upgraded at a ratio of more than 5:1.

We have demonstrated total commitment to protection of public and private water supplies around the project with detailed plans.

Mariner East 2 used existing rights-of-way where possible, as recommended by the Pennsylvania Pipeline Infrastructure Task Force. We studied all reasonable route options, including the use of adjacent rights-of-way, such as electric power lines, highways, railroads and other pipelines. This reduced the amount of clearing required for the project, minimizing environmental disturbance and disruption to property owners. In Pennsylvania, we made reasonable efforts to place the route adjacent to our existing pipelines.

Each property owner will be assigned a specific land agent to serve as primary contact. In the event the land agent cannot address all your questions or concerns, please call the Energy Transfer information line at (855) 430-4491 and your Mariner East issue will be directed to the right person.