Supporting State Game Lands Before, During and After Pipeline Construction

By Chris Koop, Lead Specialist, Public Affairs

With the Mariner East pipeline project nearing completion and only a few construction sites remaining in southeastern Pennsylvania, we have enjoyed participating in a number of construction “close-out” meetings with townships and municipalities across Pennsylvania. We have appreciated the recognition we have received not only for a successful transition from construction to ongoing pipeline operations, but also for our consistent communication with municipal officials, emergency responders, landowners, and community members.

What you may not know is that the 350-mile Mariner East pipeline system traverses seven State Game Lands (SGLs) throughout the Commonwealth. The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) owns and manages more than 1.5 million acres of Pennsylvania’s State Game Lands with primary purpose of managing habitat for wildlife and providing opportunities for lawful hunting and trapping, according to the PGC. In order to construct our pipeline system beneath these tracts of land, we coordinated closely with the PGC.

In September, I had the opportunity to present at the PGC’s Board of Commissioners meeting to acknowledge the completion of pipeline construction and the successful restoration occurring across these State Game Lands.

PGC closeout 1 - Supporting State Game Lands Before, During and After Pipeline Construction

I was also honored to talk about some of the long-term improvements we were able to implement on SGL 12 in north central Pennsylvania, where we have gathering pipelines through our subsidiary, Regency Marcellus Gathering. Through these efforts, we:

Expanded and improved roadway and parking places;
Created large turkey habitat, including special tree and seed planting;
Planted special seed and trees to attract wildlife and support pollinators; and
Made two separate donations to the Ruffed Grouse Society to create ruffed grouse habitat.

We are currently finishing restoration work in some areas and are working toward several other improvement projects. Below are two photos of pipeline rights-of-way we have restored: