The Senate and House Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committees will hold a joint hearing in Harrisburg November 16 on natural gas and petroleum pipeline emergency preparedness and response.

The hearing is being held in the wake of the Spectra Pipeline explosion in Westmoreland County in April and more recently in Lycoming County where a Sunoco gasoline pipeline broke during local flooding.

Among the witnesses expected to provide comments to the Committees are:

-- Sen. Tom Killion (R-Delaware) and Rep. Christopher Quinn (R-Delaware);

-- Representatives of the State Fire Commissioner’s Office, Lycoming County Office of Public Safety;

-- PUC Commissioner Andrew Place, a representative of PA One Call utility notification program;

-- Pipeline operators Sunoco, UGI and a representative of Associated Petroleum Industries;

-- A citizens panel with representatives from the Philadelphia area; and

-- A representative of Cleveland Electric Labs on leak detection technology.

The hearing will be held in Hearing Room 1 of the North Office Building starting at 9:00 a.m. Click Here to watch the hearing live online and for copies of written testimony when available.

Sen. Randy Vulakovich (R-Allegheny) serves as Majority Chair of the Senate Committee and can be contacted by sending email to: rvulakovich@pasen.gov. Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by sending email to: costa@pasenate.com.

Rep. Stephen Barrar (R-Delaware) serves as Majority Chair of the House Committee and can be contacted by sending email to: sbarrar@pahousegop.com. Rep. Chris Sainato (D-Lawrence) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by sending email to: csainato@pahouse.net.

(Photo: Spectra Gas Pipeline explosion, Westmoreland County, April 2016.)

NewsClips:

Repairs Nearly Complete On Lycoming Flood-Damaged Gasoline Pipeline

Crable: FERC To Consider Re-Routing Atlantic Sunrise Lancaster Properties

Sunoco Blames Permit Delays For Mariner East 2 Pipeline Start-Up

Sunoco Delays Mariner East 2 Pipeline, Citing Permit Issues

Former DEP Chief Says Sunoco, Not Regulators, Caused Pipeline Delays

FERC Reopens PennEast Pipeline Comment Period

Approval Of PennEast Pipeline Delayed At Least 2 Months

Federal Decision On PennEast Pipeline Delayed 2 Months

UGI Customers Facing New Fee To Fix Service Pipelines

Scranton Protesters Back Opponents Of Dakotas Pipeline

Blast-Damaged Gasoline Pipeline Back In Service

AP: Colonial Gasoline Pipeline Back In Service After Explosion

11/14/2016