Pittsburgh council opposes drilling at nature reserve
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Pittsburgh City Council today passed a resolution opposing Marcellus Shale gas drilling at Powdermill Nature Reserve.
The nonbinding resolution, called a "will of council," urges the trustees of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History not to allow drilling or extraction on the 2,200-acre site in Westmoreland County. Powdermill is the museum's biological research station.
Sam Taylor, museum director, has said that the institution wants to know whether it can reap the economic benefits of gas extraction "and still maintain the environment" at Powdermill. The Carnegie isn't considering drilling, only gas extraction.
It can allow extraction without allowing drilling on the property because of the technology of horizontal drilling. Such drilling would allow a company to drill a well off of the Powdermill property and extend the line horizontally underneath the site to extract its gas.
The "will of council" says Carnegie trustees may lease Powdermill land "for shale gas exploitation" because of a potential royalty windfall. The resolution urges the trustees to "reject any and all offers" from gas companies.
The resolution was introduced by Councilman Doug Shields, the sponsor of council's recently enacted law banning gas extraction citywide.
First Published December 7, 2010 12:22 pm
