KOLKHORST PROTESTING AUCTION OF OIL, GAS LEASES AT LAKE SOMERVILLE
State Senator Lois Kolkhorst has voiced opposition to an upcoming oil and gas lease auction of land at Lake Somerville.
(courtesy Office of Lois Kolkhorst)
Ahead of today’s (Wednesday) deadline to protest, Kolkhorst on Tuesday filed an official letter of protest to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), concerning six parcels of oil and gas leases on the southern edge of the lake.
The lake serves as the main source of drinking water for the City of Brenham and Washington County, along with many residents in Burleson and Lee Counties.
In her letter to the BLM, Kolkhorst said while she has been a “staunch advocate” for oil and gas drilling in the state, she believes the parcels included in this sale notice could “unnecessarily pose a credible risk” to the drinking water of thousands of her constituents.
Kolkhorst criticized the environmental assessment of the BLM, saying it fails to indicate the potential risks to public health, analyze the effects of leasing the parcels on environment and water resources that are important to the region, and disclose site specific methods that would mitigate significant flow reductions from the new activity resulting from the leases.
Further, Kolkhorst said the assessment does not completely account for the impacts on vegetation and soil resources near the lake, including the total amount of land that could be cleared, how much erosion and sedimentation could occur, and the resulting impact to soil, air, and water quality.
Kolkhorst said, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services, she is “gravely concerned” that the proposed leasing could lead to contamination of the water at the lake, and urged the exclusion of the parcels “to ensure the public health for thousands of Texans”.
U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul has also opposed oil and gas auctions at the lake in previous years, although his office has not yet responded to a request for comment from KWHI in regards to this auction.