Pittsburgh bans gas drilling: City becomes first in state to prohibit Shale activity over health and environmental concerns.

On Tuesday, Pittsburgh became the first city in gas-rich Pennsylvania to ban natural-gas drilling after city council members, citing health and environmental concerns, unanimously approved the measure.

The council received a standing ovation after voting 9-0 to approve the ban within city limits.

On Monday, Tom Jiunta, of the grassroots group Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition, requested for the second time that the Lehman Township supervisors consider a similar ordinance, drafted by the same authors as Pittsburgh’s, banning hydraulic fracturing within the township.

The Lehman supervisors refused to advertise and debate the ordinance, stating it violated the state municipal planning code and would be challenged in the courts if adopted.

Jiunta was excited to hear of the adoption of Pittsburgh’s ordinance, despite the rejection of his own.

“It shows that people are willing to take steps necessary to protect their environment, even if the Oil and Gas Act tells them not to,” Jiunta said.

Jiunta admitted the ordinance he proposed, drafted by the nonprofit Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, may violate the state Oil and Gas Act, but he also called the act an unjust law that “needs to be modified.”

“My argument was, if the people didn’t oppose an unjust law in the past, we would still have slavery today, too,” Jiunta said. “If people don’t oppose this unjust law, then were all going to end up with polluted aquifers.”

Opponents of the natural gas industry practice of hydraulic fracturing claim links between the activity and water contamination.

Jiunta said Pittsburgh and Lehman Township had to choose between the risk of having their water supplies polluted and the risk of being sued by the gas industry.

He said he spoke with Pittsburgh City Councilman Doug Shields, the bill’s sponsor, who agreed with his perspective.

“He said the same thing I said,” Jiunta said. “He feels that the risks of drilling in the city of Pittsburgh are more serious than the risks of fighting a lawsuit to prevent them from doing such.”

Before Tuesday’s vote in Pittsburgh, Shields talked about what he called the “arrogance of this industry” that he said puts money ahead of trying to figure out the health, environmental and municipal effects of drilling.

About 362 acres, or about 1 percent of the land in Pittsburgh, has been leased for drilling, according to the University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research.

But no companies are currently drilling in the city or actively pursuing drilling on the leased properties.

City Council President Darlene Harris said her biggest concern was people’s health. She said claims by the industry of the thousands of jobs being created wasn’t worth the risk.

“They’re bringing jobs all right,” Harris said. “There’s going to be a lot of jobs for funeral homes and hospitals. That’s where the jobs are. Is it worth it?”

The bill now goes to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who has 10 days to decide if he will pass, veto or elect not to sign it. Ravenstahl has indicated he opposes a ban, but had no immediate comment Tuesday, his spokeswoman said.

If he vetoes the bill, the council would need six votes to override it; if he doesn’t sign the bill, it becomes law.

Gas company attorneys have said they may sue to challenge the ban because they say drilling is rightly regulated by state and federal environmental protection agencies. Meanwhile, the Canonsburg-based Marcellus Shale Coalition, an industry group, called the vote “a blow to the city’s weak financial standing” and an attack on property rights.

Matt Hughes, a Times Leader staff writer, contributed portions of this report.