Sunoco Pipeline LP, intervenors and the residents asking the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) to halt operations and construction on the Mariner East (ME) pipeline system have until Dec. 7 to file final briefs. Residents in southeast Pennsylvania — where construction spills, water issues and sinkholes have raised local ire and slowed down the ME 2 and 2X projects — filed an emergency petition and formal complaint on Nov. 19 to stop operations. They argued that Sunoco’s public awareness program fails to adequately inform communities about how to deal with a major leak or rupture. Hearings on the petition concluded last week, and an administrative law judge is expected to make a decision on Dec. 11, a PUC spokesman said. If the judge rules in favor of the residents, ME 1 operations and construction on other projects would be stopped until the full commission reviews the ruling at a meeting on Dec. 20.