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Construction Equipment Vandalized in Sullivan County

ELKLAND TOWNSHIP — Construction vehicles at a natural gas pipeline work site in Sullivan County were damaged over the weekend according to state police.  ...

ELKLAND TOWNSHIP -- Construction vehicles at a natural gas pipeline work site in Sullivan County were damaged over the weekend according to state police. 

Diggers and other construction vehicles were damaged to the tune of more than $350,000.

"It looked like a demolition site. Somebody destroyed all of our equipment here on this little location. Equipment upside down, smashed into each other it was just a pretty big mess," said Precision Pipeline master mechanic Dave Matthews.

Precision Pipeline employees have been working tirelessly to pick up the pieces.

"Engines and engine compartments ripped apart, and the cab, the corner ripped off a cab, oil coolers ripped out and things like that," said Matthews.

Workers are putting in a pipeline from Dushore to Forksville in Sullivan County and say this vandalism is something they take personally.

"It`s pretty important to us, it`s our livelihood," said Precision Pipeline greaseman Fred Matthews.

Construction workers say they have enough other vehicles to continue working on the pipeline while they clean up this mess, and they`re glad with damage like this that no one got hurt.

"From what we know anyway, nobody got hurt, because they could have killed themselves pretty easily," said Fred Matthews.

Workers believe young kids were playing with the machines, which had the keys left inside.

"That`s what it looked like. The way they landed they were kind of fighting the equipment with each other. It`s just a big setback cost-wise. It`s costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars from the damage and our timeline to get this done, so it`s going to be really expensive for us," said Matthews.

Workers say construction on the pipeline will continue, as state police try to figure out who's responsible for all the damage.

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