DISH — After only a few minutes of discussion, town leaders declared a 90-day moratorium on issuing new drilling permits inside town limits, citing concerns about emissions from production equipment and their effect on human health.

Commissioners William Sciscoe and Charles Smith told Mayor Calvin Tillman they were comfortable with the reasoning for the moratorium.

Dish town leaders commissioned an ambient air quality study last year, which focused on a complex of natural gas compression facilities on the edge of town and found a host of toxic substances at troubling levels. State environmental officials followed that study with a broader look at a variety of production equipment in the Barnett Shale and found many of the same toxic substances.

Chemist Wilma Subra, together with the Oil and Gas Accountability Project and its Texas chapter, followed Dish’s air quality study with a survey that showed many of the health symptoms residents were experiencing could be associated with exposure to toxic substances. Currently, state health officials have conducted biological samplings and are awaiting lab results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tillman told the commissioners and the crowd that he had already visited with Devon Energy, the only active driller inside town limits. Company representatives had indicated they were willing to talk about the proposed new rules, Tillman said.

“What we hope to accomplish is to require environmentally friendly technology to cut down on emissions,” he said.

While about a dozen residents attended the meeting, only Geri Pegg spoke up. Pegg lives on Chisum Road, near the complex of compression engines, pipelines, dehydrators, metering and other facilities.

“Will this reduce the compression and the odorizing over there?” Pegg asked.

Tillman said the ordinance affects only new drilling permits, and not current operations. He told Pegg he had already issued a cease-and-desist order, which the energy companies were ignoring.

“I’ve asked them to shut down,” Tillman said. “Short of an injunction, that’s all we can do.”

Tillman assured her that he wasn’t giving up the fight for the community.

“This [ordinance change] is just a start to get what we need,” he said.

Dish’s moratorium is not the first time a Denton County city has imposed a moratorium in order to craft better ordinances since drilling began in earnest about 10 years ago. However, it is the first moratorium declared since health concerns emerged last year.

From May to July 2006, Argyle declared a moratorium on new permits as it crafted a pipeline ordinance. To protect private property rights, town leaders pushed for pipelines to be built in rights of way and protect the public by forbidding the transport of hydrogen sulfide inside pipelines that are in the town limits.

Flower Mound imposed a lengthy moratorium from 2002 to 2003, as it developed its initial gas drilling ordinance.

Despite intense political pressure by residents concerned about a potential cancer cluster in the Wellington subdivision, the Flower Mound Town Council declined to impose another moratorium on new permits in December. Council members also voted in January to allow for centralized collection of drilling wastes in agricultural zones.

Residents there have since organized a referendum drive to overturn the zoning change.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .