DEADLINE TO OPPOSE LAKE SOMERVILLE LAND SALE NEARS

  

Residents of Lake Somerville have until Wednesday to protest the auction of land on the southern edge of Lake Somerville.

Five parcels will be up for an August competitive oil and gas lease auction by the Bureau of Land Management.

A similar 2017 auction was opposed by U.S. Congressman Michael McCaul and State Senator Lois W. Kolkhorst.

Numerous environmental groups and local residents also opposed the 2017 auction of land for use of directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas from beneath the lake.

The Brenham City Council also opposed the sale, saying a contamination would be disastrous because the lake is the sole source of water for the City of Brenham.

The Bureau later auctioned off the parcels of land after finding there would be no significant impact by allowing the sales to continue.