PITTSBURGH — On the evening of July 19, when Allegheny County Council met to override Rich Fitzgerald’s veto of a fracking ban in county parks, council members were shown a black-and-white video of natural gas rushing from a well in Boyce Park.
The hearing — where the ban on future leasing was sustained by a 12-3 vote, followed by a standing ovation from the crowd — featured testimony from some oil and gas industry supporters and many opponents, some arguing against the entire practice of shale gas extraction and others specifically against fracking in the park.
The video, which was also sent to council members earlier in the day, showed a conventional well, rather than a fracked well. Still, it was a visual cue.
