After holding five public meetings in January and February on saltwater disposal wells, the City Council appeared divided Tuesday March 20,2012 over whether to lift the moratorium on the wells or to permanently ban them.

Briefing the council, Rick Trice, assistant director of planning and development, laid out options including moving forward with a hearing, extending or lifting the moratorium, and prohibiting the wells. The council opted for the hearing, but there was no consensus.

A number of members asked about the council's authority to restrict disposal wells. They also asked about the amount of water used and voiced concerns about the risk of earthquakes from injecting wastewater into the ground.

The council has scheduled a public hearing April 3 to allow public comment on possibly lifting the moratorium. The council could then vote at a later meeting or go back to the drawing board.

City staffers have said allowing the disposal wells would decrease truck traffic, which now moves the wastewater out of the city.

"I think there's a split," Councilman Sal Espino said after the meeting. "Either allow them in superheavy industrial districts or you prohibit them altogether. There doesn't appear to be any middle ground."

Espino has pushed for allowing a pilot project in the Alliance Corridor, where a pipeline is in place. He believes that it is legal to allow that project without lifting the moratorium citywide, noting that many far north Fort Worth neighborhoods have nearby disposal wells just outside the city limits.

It is too early to predict the council's decision, but Mayor Betsy Price expects the public hearing to bring more clarity.

"I think we'll come to a decision on it," Price said