LAND NEAR LAKE PULLED FROM B.L.M. AUCTION

  

Six parcels of federally-owned property at Lake Somerville have been removed from a petroleum lease auction for the Bureau of Land Management.

Four of the proposed parcels are on the Washington County side of the lake.

Bureau officials told State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst that the land will not be included in Wednesday’s auction in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Those leases would have allowed drilling beneath Lake Somerville.

BLM’s New Mexico state director told Sen. Kolkhorst, the Lake Somerville parcels are being removed “due to the additional time needed to evaluate public feedback.”  Those parcels total approximately 1,407 acres,

Agency officials say they had received numerous protests—in particular, protesting the six parcels near Lake Somerville.

Officials also told Kolkhorst that there are already 14 federal oil and gas leases near Lake Somerville on property owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with four leases on private property, totaling about 3,500 acres.

The Brazos River Authority, which oversees water in the lake, asked BLM to delay auctioning the Lake Somerville parcels to allow more study.

Kolkhorst also objected to the proposal, expressing “severe disappointment” in a letter to the bureau.