Dec 5, 2016 3 min read

Pennsylvania urgently needs pipelines to move clean-burning natural gas from the shale basins to market. We are home to one of the most substantial shale gas plays in the world, but existing, dated infrastructure is so limited that gas producers in Western Pennsylvania are getting less than half of the free-market price available on the eastern side of the state.

Over the last five years, more than $1 billion in tax dollars have returned to the communities in which operators have produced gas through impact fees to ensure that tax revenue benefits the communities that are providing the resource.

But our operators can afford to go elsewhere, pay less taxes and get more for their product. Many have heard over the last few years about the Mighty Marcellus, but in nearby Ohio, it’s the Utica formation that is driving growth and activity. And with such activity happening just over the border, it’s important for Pennsylvania to stay competitive and business friendly.

Pipelines, like Sunoco’s Mariner East 2, need people. People who live in this community, who take their kids to the same schools you do, drink the same water and breathe the same air. Those people rely on quality jobs that pipelines and the future of the oil and gas industry create. From office administrators and accountants to construction workers and pipefitters – this state has an opportunity to create a long-lasting industry for white-collar and blue-collar workers to grow.

For our part, Rockwater is hiring as many high-quality people as possible to meet the demand of this generation’s projects to create the next generation’s industry. Without infrastructure projects like Sunoco’s Mariner East 2, the future of the industry may shift to nearby states and take the jobs with them.

The safest way to transfer gas from our mineral-rich land to the homes they heat, the power plants they supply, the lights they keep on – is in a pipeline. It’s not just about the oil and gas industry though, it’s about all of us. Local energy costs are kept low because of the industry and our proximity to the gas shale beneath us. It translates into real cost savings for everyone, whether it is your grandmother turning on the heat during a snowy Pennsylvania winter, or powering your TV so you can watch the Penguins – and without pipelines like the Sunoco Mariner East 2, electricity and heating costs will rise hurting the most vulnerable of our neighbors.

I support the Sunoco Mariner East 2 pipeline project because it is the best interest of all Pennsylvanians.

Keith Ryals

Canonsburg

Ryals is a region vice president for fluids management at Rockwater Energy Solutions.