Allegheny County Council voted to override county Executive Rich Fitzgerald’s veto of the bill to ban fracking in county parks Tuesday during a special council meeting.
In a 12-3 vote, an indefinite ban on fracking in parks prevailed after months of debate by council members, hours of testimonies from residents, a public hearing and last week’s veto by the county executive.
The three votes against the override came from council members Sam DeMarco, Suzanne Filiaggi and Nick Futules, all of whom voted against the bill on July 5.
The one notable change in position came from Bob Macey, who previously voted against the ban yet voted in favor of overriding Mr. Fitzgerald’s veto on Tuesday. His switch was met with applause and cheers after he cited the two parks located in his district, District 9, and constituent concerns brought before him.
Bethany Hallam, the fracking ban bill co-sponsor, called this decision the easiest vote she has passed in her time on County Council.
“Nothing changed in the past 14 days about the nature of fracking, about the harmful practices of fracking, about the need, the want to preserve one tiny little space in our community,” Ms. Hallam said. “Yinz are fracking everywhere else. Can we please save this one little space for the enjoyment of county residents?”
The call to vote came after nearly two hours of public comment from residents, the majority of which implored the council to vote override the veto, echoing sentiments and personal testimonies expressed at numerous previous council meetings by speakers.
Olivia Perfetti, of Pittsburgh, shared that “parks were the one place we could go to get peace and quiet and away from toxins” and were a safe place people relied on during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Out of the approximately 50 speakers, eight spoke in favor of the veto.
“Why are we chasing business away?” Robert Johnson, of McKeesport, questioned. “Fracking has been around for 60 to 70 years. We need the jobs and have the economic development.”
Mr. Fitzgerald and others against the ban often refer to the drilling leases for Deer Lakes Park that were approved by council in May 2014, a decision that brought the county millions of dollars in royalties to date.
Although the county executive does not plan on issuing a statement regarding Tuesday’s override, according to county spokeswoman Amie Downs, Mr. Fitzgerald has previously called the bill propaganda to benefit council members’ own political interests.
“Consideration of natural gas rights leasing should be conducted on a case-by-case basis by the leaders elected to make those decisions,” Mr. Fitzgerald said in a statement following the July 5 passing.
While the first motion on the special meeting’s agenda passed, the second proposed override fell to a 9-6 vote, one vote away from the 10 needed to pass.
The vetoed bill was aimed to provide the council power to override the appointment of department directors and division directors, which Mr. Fitzgerald has previously called a violation of the Home Rule Charter.
Council members Mr. DeMarco, Tom Duer, Ms. Filiaggi, Mr. Futules, Mr. Macey and DeWitt Walton voted against the override of that bill.
Hannah Wyman: hwyman@post-gazette.com and Twitter @Hannah_SWyman.
First Published: July 20, 2022, 2:30 a.m.
