Public Utility Commission Rejects Pittsburgh's Fracking Ban

Susan Phillips

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Susan Phillips tells stories about the consequences of political decisions on people's every day lives. She has worked as a reporter for WHYY since 2004. Susan's coverage of the 2008 Presidential election resulted in a story on the front page of the New York Times. In 2010 she traveled to Haiti to cover the earthquake. That same year she produced an award-winning series on Pennsylvania's natural gas rush called "The Shale Game." She received a 2013 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award for her work covering natural gas drilling in Pennsylvania. She has also won several Edward R. Murrow awards for her work with StateImpact. In 2013/14 she spent a year at MIT as a Knight Science Journalism Fellow. She has also been a Metcalf Fellow, an MBL Logan Science Journalism Fellow and reported from Marrakech on the 2016 climate talks as an International Reporting Project Fellow. A graduate of Columbia School of Journalism, she earned her Bachelor's degree in International Relations from George Washington University.

September 11, 2012 | 6:05 PM

The PUC says Pittsburgh City Council overstepped its authority by banning fracking, something the commission says only the Commonwealth can do. The PUC has just begun to issue opinions on local drilling ordinances, a task delegated to the commission under the state’s new drilling law, Act 13. Last week, the PUC also issued an opinion against gas drilling regulations in Fayette County. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has more on the PUC’s decision.

Pittsburgh’s local rules, passed in November 2010, are more restrictive than most of the other ordinances before the commission. It says gas production poses a “significant threat” to residents, and that drilling permits issued by the state and federal governments will not be recognized in the city.
The PUC letter says that in banning gas extraction, the city created its own environmental regulation, which only the commonwealth has the right to do. Provisions stating that Department of Environmental Protection permits are invalid also is in conflict with state law, according to the letter.

According to the Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh City Council plans to ignore the PUC’s censure.