Parts of the stadium extend about 120 feet below street level. Gas drilling in the Barnett Shale often happens at a depth of about 1 1/2 miles (or 7,920 feet).

Ed Ireland, executive director of the Barnett Shale Energy Education Council, said he's not sure there is any research that would back up the city's stance.

"I'm not aware that there ever has been any correlation between anythingthat happens on the surface and drilling," he said. "Most of that 8,000 feet is various layers of rock."

Doegey said that when he lived in Southern California, oil extraction had caused some surface collapses and seawater had to be injected into the rock to mitigate that.

Ireland said he's not familiar with what happened in Southern California, but he said that could have been the result of drilling at a shallower depth or a different makeup of the underground formations.

Sodd said he's not too concerned with the city's policy as long as Arlington officials still intend to lease the land eventually. He said that was a significant part of his negotiations with the city.

Arlington officials balked at first, saying that such a deal could potentially allow private property owners to have surface access to the stadium property. One official raised the possible threat of former property owners demanding that a drilling rig be placed in a Cowboys parking lot.

Sodd's clients were among the last to sign a deal with the city, a settlement with no mention of mineral rights. He said he couldn't remember who suggested keeping the mineral rights out of the contract.

While gathering the land needed for the stadium, Arlington bought some property and condemned other tracts. Instead of taking the straightforward route, the city dropped its eminent domain cases against Sodd's clients. He then had a portion of the mineral rights deeded to a company owned by his law firm, according to county records.

Soon after, a deal was struck without having to mention the mineral rights in the public settlement.

Doegey said he wasn't involved in the negotiations on this case. But he said that other property owners weren't as insistent as Sodd's clients about keeping the mineral rights.

Sodd said this type of quiet approach is common in eminent domain cases. He said that many government agencies don't want details of settlements to be released because they could affect negotiations with others.

"If that was their intention, I don't blame them," Sodd said.

Although the mineral rights are now worth only a fraction of what they once were, Sodd said patience could eventually be rewarded.

"The one that is a certainty in the oil and gas business is that prices are going to rise and fall," he said. "The question is not whether it's going to [rise in price], it's when it's going to."

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