Center City Protest Targets a Pennsylvania Oil Pipeline Operator
By John Ostapkovich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- About 40 activists braved snow and cold during the noon hour today outside a center city office tower, to protest a fracking-related project at the headquarters of the firm behind it.
"No fracking exports!"
That was just one of the complaints of those protesting the Mariner East pipeline, by Sunoco Logistics. Other concerns include health, safety, property rights, and climate change.
Iris Marie Bloom, of Protecting Our Waters (at left in photo), told protesters that this spreads the pain of fracking.
"It hurts people who are already being hurt even more, and we can't take it anymore," she said. "Who's being hurt? People in the shale fields, people whose air is already toxic. We can't have one more pipeline!"
But to a large extent, this is not more pipeline. It's an existing one, repurposed. Instead of moving products of the Marcus Hook refinery west, it is now moving products of fracking east, to Marcus Hook.
A new section of pipe is being built, near Pittsburgh.
