Sunoco Pipeline is leaving a trail of litigation

The representative, who worked for an engineering firm hired by Sunoco, wanted to survey Clancy’s property. The company was considering building a pipeline at the rear of Clancy’s suburban lot, next to an existing pipeline it operated beneath Boot Road.

Clancy, who had commissioned a title search on the property a few months earlier when his family bought the house, was unaware of any pipeline easement. He declined to sign.

Thus ensued an exchange of certified letters with Sunoco’s attorneys, and Clancy ended up before a Chester County judge in March. Sunoco argued that it has the right to survey and potentially obtain an easement to his land because, as a public utility in Pennsylvania, it has eminent-domain authority.