Cowboys Stadium Likely Off-Limits For Drilling

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The Dallas Cowboys' new $1.15 billion

stadium will probably be off-limits for underground natural gas

drilling under the team's contract with the city of Arlington.

City Attorney Jay Doegey tells The Dallas Morning News there are

concerns about the possible risks of drilling under such an

expensive and huge structure, reported Sunday. The stadium weighs

more than 805 million pounds.

Former property owners whose land was acquired for the stadium

were allowed to keep some mineral rights.

But language added before five small earthquakes shook the town

of Cleburne makes it potentially harder to lease the property for

drilling.

In recent years, thousands of wells have been drilled in the

areas of North Texas. The region sits upon the Barnett Shale, a

geologic formation that is perhaps the nation's richest natural gas

field.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)