Flower Mound has expanded its moratorium on new permits for gas pipelines and collection facilities and halted the drilling of new wells.
Critics of natural gas drilling told the City Council that Monday's massive gas line explosion in rural Johnson County show that accidents can happen.
The City Council unanimously voted Monday night for a 180-day moratorium on new permits and issued a 90-day moratorium on the drilling of any new wells.
"This is a temporary suspension," Councilman Tom Hayden said.
But property owners such as James Wallace, who has 90 acres he wants to drill on, argued against the proposal.
"When you do a blanket moratorium, you may feel like you're doing the right thing, but you're harming people," he said.
The City Council will now begin the process of appointing a newly created Oil and Gas Advisory Board to help the city write a permanent ordinance on the drilling of natural gas wells.
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"We have a valuable asset that's underneath our town. We have a more valuable asset that sits above our town -- and that is Flower Mound, Texas," Hayden said just before the council's vote.
