CORINTH — The City Council agreed Thursday to spend $4,000 of a $15,000 contingency fund on several natural gas emissions models, to be completed by Sage Environmental.

Council members Bruce Hanson and Randy Gibbons, who serve on the committee, said the work should help the group as it rewrites the city’s drilling and production ordinances to protect the health, safety and welfare of residents.

Hanson told the council that he’d learned that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality recently proposed new rules for oil and gas production equipment. The rules, which were unveiled this week, should go into effect in February.

“We need to be prepared if we want to write emissions controls — or if we need to at all,” Hanson said. “TCEQ is moving along, but it may — or it may not — come along in time for the next people to come out to our community and ask to drill.”

Corinth has just one pad site inside city limits. XTO Energy recently applied to drill multiple wells on a pad site at Lake Sharon Christian Center, but the City Council denied the permits, in part because it came with requests for 12 variances. As a result, the City Council declared a six-month moratorium on new drilling and production permits until city leaders could rewrite the ordinance.

Hanson said that no one knew for sure what the emissions models might tell them, but committee members wanted to have some backing for every decision they make about the ordinance.

Experts have told city leaders that drilling in the southern portion of the city may yield “dry gas,” which comes up with produced water but not much condensate. In the northern portion of the city, gas may come up with condensate, which could contain as much as 2 percent to 5 percent benzene, Hanson said.

Council member John Booher said he agreed in principle that scientific backing was helpful, but he said he hoped that Sage Environmental could provide additional assurances.

Specifically, Booher said he wanted to know whether the models being used had ever survived a court challenge, and if not, had they been published in independent or peer-reviewed journals. He also wanted to know whether anyone at the firm was an expert witness, and if not, whether they could help the city find one if it became necessary. Finally, if the ordinance or the models were challenged, he wanted to know whether anyone at the company would be able to assist in defending the work.

The remainder of the contingency fund likely will pay for legal advice needed during the rewrite. The city’s regular attorney, Debra Drayovitch, has been working with the committee. The committee will seek additional counsel from Bryn Meredith, municipal attorney for the town of Dish.

The committee is expected to release a preliminary draft of the ordinance for a joint workshop with the City Council on Sept. 16.

The committee plans to be ready for the City Council to have a public hearing on the new ordinance Oct. 7.

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