Study highlights concerns over planned route of Shell pipeline
That picture shows a massive undertaking. According to FracTracker, the pipeline will run through 25 municipalities in three states. As part of the process of securing easements for the pipeline, FracTracker said, Shell surveyed more than 2,000 properties, eventually reaching agreements with 765 separate landowners.
If the pipeline follows the route currently anticipated, it will intersect with 319 streams and 174 wetland areas, according to the study, while it will also be in close proximity to “550 family residences, 20 businesses, 240 groundwater wells, 12 public parks, five schools, six day-care facilities and 16 emergency response centers.”
For Beaver County specifically, the group is concerned that the Falcon pipeline will come in close proximity to the Ambridge Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 30,000 people. The group is also concerned the pipeline will cross under Raccoon Creek in two locations, and it will run next to the Raccoon Municipal Park.
The study makes it clear why FracTracker is so concerned with the pipeline. According to the study, building a pipeline is a “highly disruptive process.” It also called the ethane traveling through the pipeline “a hazardous and highly volatile liquid.”