Murrysville Council OKs lease for gas, oil rights under 2 parks

Murrysville Council has approved oil and gas rights leases for several hundred acres of land beneath its two largest parks.

Council voted 4-2 Wednesday to enter into separate leases with the sole bidder, Olympus Energy, for 74 acres below Duff Park and just under 306 acres of Murrysville Community Park, after soliciting bids this year.

Those voting to approve the agreement were council members Dayne Dice, Jason Lemak, Mac McKenna and Jamie Lingg. Councilmen Carl Stepanovich and Tony Spadaro voted no. Jamie Lee Korns recused herself as her husband is an attorney representing the Washington County driller.

Opposition to the leases has grown during the past two months of council meetings. Several residents spoke against the leases and presented a petition purported to have 174 signatures to council at its meeting Wednesday night.

“Obviously, this is a community that supports fracking,” resident Meredith Juchniewicz said. “But there is a big difference between the risk private property owners wish to take, and the risks a local government wants to take with public land designated for use by families and children.”

Allan Martin of Murrysville works in the oil and gas industry.

“I’ve seen both good and bad sites,” Martin said. “I believe oil and gas is a great benefit to everyone. But I do have some concerns about how it’s extracted. My request is: Let’s make this a good one, that’s beneficial to Murrysville.”

David King of Murrysville said he is not opposed to fossil fuel extraction.

“I just don’t think it should ever be done under a park,” he said. “Don’t give a corporation control over our parks. We didn’t vote for them, and we wouldn’t vote for them.”

Murrysville Solicitor Wes Long said access to the shale formations several thousand feet underground would originate at Olympus’s Poseidon well pad in Penn Township. There would not be a well pad or any construction happening at either park.

In addition, fracking beneath Duff Park would only take place in the Utica shale formation, which is even lower underground than the Marcellus shale formations.

The upfront payment offered by Olympus for the leasing rights would bring in $2 million, and the municipality would receive 18% of gross proceeds in future royalties.

Several council members took issue with members of the public accusing them of rushing to approve the leases.

“There’s been a lot of discussion about this and a lot of people taking a hard look at it,” McKenna said. “I’ve listened to both sides and learned a lot.”

Lemak said he feels the municipality needed to rely on the state’s Department of Environmental Protection as to the potential risks of drilling beneath the parks.

“We could have a public hearing, but we’re going to have biased experts from Olympus and biased experts from people who oppose it,” Lemak said. “Fracking’s here. We have it all around us.”

Lemak pointed to fracking operations around the Beaver Run Reservoir in Washington Township.

“We’re talking about parks, but there has been fracking going on for a long time below the water supply for us and 120,000 people,” he said.

Stepanovich and Spadaro wanted to table the leases and hear more.

“The DEP is the boss on environmental protection, but the people of Murrysville are our bosses,” Spadaro said. “Let’s give everyone a chance to be aware, and see how it turns out.”

Darlene Leslie has lived in Murrysville for four decades. Murrysville’s schools and parks were a large part of why she moved to the town.

“We continue to see pollution in Turtle Creek from a coal mine that operated 60 years ago,” Leslie said. “We don’t need the money from frackers. Are we going to leave a legacy like our forefathers, that we can just pollute and get away with it? Just say no.”