The "Do The Right Thing...Just Once For Goodness Sake!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Tuesday, July 17th and I had just posted a story about the Atlantic Sunrise gas pipeline which I had taken photos of as it was being placed along its route in nearby Mount Joy, Pennsylvania.  Many people were upset about the pipeline coming across Lancaster County, but realized it was going to come through our area no matter what we did or how hard we protested.  Well, as posted in the newspaper today, there is suddenly a slight wrinkle in that pipeline that is almost totally completed in Lancaster County.  Seems that about three weeks ago Lancaster County experienced a remarkable storm that dropped 10 inches of rain in Mount Joy, home of the Pinehurst Manor mobile home park.  And as the local newspaper stated, a river of water rushed off the bare-earth Atlantic Sunrise gas pipeline site east of Mount Joy and barreled toward a community of two dozen mobile homes.  Seems that just before the storm struck, the pipeline company temporarily destroyed a storm water detention basin that had stopped the flood waters from Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972 and Tropical Storm Lee in 2011.  And, the mobile home park isn't even near a stream!  Williams Partners, owner and installer of the pipeline, had asked Rapho Township, where the mobile park is located, for approval to remove the storm-water barrier and were refused permission.  Didn't matter to Williams, who went over the heads of the local township and went to the state of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection who gave them permission to remove the storm water detention basin.  When the township saw what Williams had done, they requested Williams to redo the basin.  Twice they requested them to do so.  Then August 31 rolled around and the 10 inch storm arrived storm struck.  Two girls had be rescued from trailer windows by a human chain as water filled their mobile home.  Fire companies in boats had to help other escape the storm waters.  

My photo of the Mount Joy pipeline installation.

And the entire problem was created because they disobeyed the local township ruling and bulldozed the detention basin.  One good deed that Williams did do was to offer to pay for hotel rooms for the mobile-home owners made homeless.  Six homes were totally destroyed while 18 others were severely damaged.  Sounded to me like they realized what they had done and were trying to make amends!  But, they then said they were investigating  the incident and found the flooding wasn't because of their construction.  Give me a break!!  A mobile park community that for years had weathered storm after storm, plus two hurricanes, and was never remotely threatened by rising water due to their storm water detention basin all of a sudden being destroyed by the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline company, and the company, Williams Partners says they had nothing to do with the flooding.  But yet they felt the need to pay for rooming for those in the path of the storm?  Heavens, the place has been declared a federal disaster area!  Then one of the mobile home owners talked with a Williams representative who came to the park after the flood had resided.  The resident said Williams basically admitted they were at fault and were going to help out the ones whose homes were condemned first and then work on everybody else.  Whoops!!  Bet that guy did that on his own because he knew it was the correct thing to do.  Wait until Williams Partners finds out about that!  As of now the investigation  continues and all those mobile home owners are out of a home due to the fault of the company that was told by the local township not to remove the storm-water barrier, but went over their head and did it anyway.  Don't these people have insurance to cover the mistakes they must make all the time?  They have to know that the right thing to do is buy all these people new homes and furnishings.  Hey, we didn't want them here in the first place and they found a way to be here.  Guess they will find a way out of doing the right thing once again.  It will come back to haunt them someday.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.