Dish Texas Votes On Drilling Moratorium

By BJ Austin, KERA News

Dallas, TX –

In Dish Texas tonight, the Board of Commissioners is expected to pass a 90 day moratorium on new gas drilling permits. KERA's BJ Austin says the Mayor wants the "time out" to go greener

Dish Mayor Calvin Tillman expects the moratorium on new drilling permits will pass. He says he wants to make sure Dish is using every regulatory tool it has. Dish recently sparked state testing of drilling sites across North Texas after high levels of toxic benzene registered in the air. Mayor Tillman says he's encouraged that Fort Worth has requested more testing.

Tillman: We have a lot of energy and we've tried real hard to get something done. But it you get cities on board like Fort Worth, trying to make change, I think you're going to see change come a whole lot quicker than you will if it were a city like Dish.

Devon Energy is the only driller inside the Dish city limits. Mayor Tillman says he wants to make the company's voluntary emission capture system part of city ordinance - so it would be required of any other company requesting a permit. Mayor Tillman says he's asking Devon Energy for input - especially on vapor recovery systems for storage tanks. Devon Energy says it has always been willing to work with local communities.

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