A Mechanicsburg-area couple has joined the lengthening list of property owners who have tried, and failed, to keep Sunoco from taking their land for its Mariner East II pipeline.

Patricia and Thomas Perkins of Upper Allen Township joined that roster Thursday when a Commonwealth Court panel denied their appeal of a Cumberland County ruling that okayed the condemnation.

As with the other unsuccessful appeals, the state court rejected the Perkins' contention that Sunoco should not be allowed to seize their property because it is not a public utility.

The couple also claimed there is no vital public interest in the pipeline project and that it is simply a money-making venture for the energy firm.

Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer wrote in the Commonwealth Court opinion that County Judge Skip Ebert was right to conclude that Sunoco has condemnation power because the state Public Utility Commission has given it that authority.

The public benefit is that the pipeline will expand the capacity to provide Pennsylvanians with propane during the winter heating season, Jubelirer found.

Sunoco plans to take a quarter-acre slice of the Perkins' property in the 1200 block of Market Street. The pipeline is to cross southern Pennsylvania from Washington County to Delaware County.

The Perkinses could appeal the Commonwealth Court ruling to the state Supreme Court. However, the high court refused to even hear an appeal filed by another set of Cumberland County pipeline opponents.