• Marathon Pipe Line (MPL) received the 2024 Common Ground Alliance (CGA) President's Award of Corporate Excellence for their leadership and dedication to public engagement and damage prevention efforts.
• This honor is awarded annually to one of the 3,200-member underground utility companies for demonstrating exceptional dedication to damage prevention.
• At the conference, MPLX Senior Vice President Logistics & Storage Shawn Lyon detailed MPL’s Journey to Yes and how they built a culture focused on being a guardian of public safety.

The Journey to Yes. This was the topic of MPLX Senior Vice President Logistics & Storage Shawn Lyon’s keynote presentation to underground utility operators at the 2024 Common Ground Alliance (CGA) Conference & Expo. More than 1,400 individuals attended the conference April 14-18. Lyon’s inspirational address walked attendees through Marathon Pipe Line’s (MPL) years-long transformative journey from the landowner-required compliance postcard to MPL’s award-winning public engagement program, Earning Your Trust. Throughout the keynote, he shared examples of the challenges and the many rewards of developing a culture built on being a guardian of public safety.

During the Journey to Yes, MPL recognized that if it was going to be an advocate for public safety, a transformation from awareness to engagement would need to occur. This transition was emphasized by the introduction of the MPL pipeline finder app and how it made a positive impact on landowners across the country.

The industry recognized the efforts of this journey and awarded the 2024 CGA President’s Award to MPL. In the 24-year history of CGA, only one other liquid pipeline company has ever won this award. Rich St. Amour, MPL President, and Lyon accepted the award on behalf of each MPL employee.

“This award serves as a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire MPL team,” said St. Amour. “As an organization, we have a responsibility to not only safely operate pipelines, but to be guardians of public safety. Our culture is centered on humility, serving as a constant reminder of existing threats and the need to continually enhance our programs and processes.”

The CGA was established in 2000 and has a diverse group of member companies that include oil, gas, state one call, telecommunication, electricity and contractors. Since the start, member companies have united in a shared responsibility to the public and have remained committed to preventing damage to North American underground infrastructure. Each year they present this award to one company for upholding their mission and demonstrating their dedication to damage prevention.

“It’s not just the work you do, but it's about how you do it,” said Sarah K. Magruder Lyle, CGA President & CEO. “Your company's leadership commitment to damage prevention sets the standard for excellence in our industry and your unwavering focus on safety, collaboration and innovation in damage prevention is what makes MPL stand out among the rest.”